A Lasting Legacy

WO

What is the heritage of the Cat rope shovel line, and why was the factory located in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin?

FR

The history dates to a December 1880 meeting in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Bucyrus Foundry and Manufacturing Company, located in Bucyrus, Ohio, was founded shortly thereafter. By 1889, the company was manufacturing large excavators, steam shovels, and dredges.

Between 1889 – 1894, the company had branch offices in New York and Chicago, with distributors established in Denver, San Francisco, Houston, and Boston. This resulted in heavy demands on the plant in Bucyrus, so manufacturing operations moved in 1893 to vastly improved production facilities in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This helped to increase the manufacturing efficiency of the company’s core large machinery – steam shovels and dredges.

In August 1893, the company officially incorporated in Wisconsin as the Bucyrus Steam Shovel and Dredge Company of Wisconsin.

WO

What types of equipment have been produced by Bucyrus over the years and especially in South Milwaukee?

FR

Through company mergers and acquisitions over the decades, many different types of products were produced by various Bucyrus companies beyond its core rope shovel product, today known as Cat 7295, 7495, 7495 HF, and 7495 HD Electric Rope Shovels (ERS). The types of machines include crane equipment, small excavators, drills, trucks, and walking draglines. By the middle of the 20th century, Bucyrus was a global company with an expanded product offering, and over 74 000 Bucyrus machines had been produced and used in over 166 countries.

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