Cleveland's Forgotten Hulett Unloaders

[@RailroadStreet]

Editing error made the audio slower than normal. Please change the video playback speed to 1.25x.

[@lewiemcneely9143]

VERY GOOD Video. FM Nut has one of them working. I've watched it several times. Tanks again!

[@Bardmusic66]

Great video, very comprehensive

[@gogocube3924]

Well after learning the leverage of a bridge repair for cleveland these are even more important to history. But eventually they do need to be moved or scrapped or learned upon. The point of machinery is to outdate it or improve it. If we're restoring these machines we Should be improving them beyond their previous uses, that's prob what the inventor would want to. Also why not move these things to an old quarry and show off the round about ways they are used?

[@Irobert1115HD]

if you believe it or not: there are some modfied excavators in a dock in the port basel birsfelden that work exactly like huletts. vor at least in a super similar fashion.

[@matthewkornafel1059]

So they where using horse and buggy, but managed to build boat locks? Hmm, seems we have been fed some more fake jesuit created history. Those locks look ancient. Old word/hidden american history. Probably tartarian.

[@osagejon8972]

My dad worked for Conrail and was never shy about trying to get me into places. I got to visit the dock twice and ride in the leg where I was told to push or pull a particular lever by the operator. 47 years old now and good memories... thanks dad and Joe Ried who was the division superintendent at the time who gave the ok, I still have the white hard hat you gave me.

[@robertweldon7909]

Wow, now that's special, kind of like my dad being a musician who played in the band at the Indians games in the early 1950's. He would take ne to the game with him every so often. Because of that I actually knew Bob Feller and the other Indians pitchers 1954. What a great memory, I would have loved a chance to do what you did. ;-)

[@rcdogmanduh4440]

Think how now we have OHSA to make sure such a wonderful memory will never happen for your grandkids.... lol not so sure!

[@boundarysentinel4181]

These stories right here are why Dads are so important. Hang in there men, times are tough but stay the cause, your children are worth every inch of the fight.

[@trainstrains1]

Yeah. most dads did similar things in most western countries I think, maybe the whole world too. It gave sons an appreciation for the work our fathers did and helped to direct the next generation in their career aspirations. Sigh, now laws, rules and regulations have made that almost impossible and modern kids whine because daddies ALWAYS at work!

[@littlejackalo5326]

When I was 7 me, my dad, and my grandpa went to pick up my grandpa's 42 foot Morgan sailboat from drydock after 4 months of work. They were moving it with a "maybe travel lift" (has 3 posts each with wheels on the bottom, and a sling in the middle to carry the boat), and my grandpa asked if could get up in the driver's platform and help. The operators platform is only big enough for one person. So the guy let me on the platform, while he stood on the ladder leading to the platform that go up the side of the leg. Long story short, I slammed the hull into something, and they had to turn the machine around and park the boat for more repairs. LOL.

[@dew12u]

In 1965, when I was 5 years old, my dad used to take us for a night drive, and drive us under the Huletts down by the lake. It scared the hell out of me because they were humongous and looked like alien monsters to me. I love this video!

[@VictorianMaid99]

same, I remember the as a child

[@GasketManzrevenge]

@JK There is always a doubter in the crowd.. I guess in this crowd, you're it.

[@monteyoung7126]

Cleveland ROCKS!!

[@ferdtheterd3897]

Ahhh, the good old days, back when people had fathers

[@mitchcumstein9808]

What manufacturing powerhouse this country use to be. Leave it to our leaders to ruin it. Of course corporations, unions and some Wall Street is to blame as well. But it starts with our political class easily bought off buy the union, corporations and Wall Street. See how that works

[@OCPyrit]

As a former Hulett unloading operator it breaks my heart to see them rotting in the yard.

[@dickJohnsonpeter]

That's awesome! Did you operate on group C or D or F? Do you know why they got rid of A and B because no one has been able to give me a good answer.

[@cindykerr-friberg5284]

That’s awesome! What was it like

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

Back in 1977 I was deckhand on the ship the Paul Tiejen which was unloaded by Huletts. This had to be one of the oldest ships still on the Great Lakes at that time as it was built in 1907!!

[@VitaKet]

@harrisonashley1631 Apparently there is a pair awaiting restoration to be placed in Wendy Park.

[@akrillalex6810]

They are free Just go and take em💪

[@SMGJohn]

The fact this design was in operation for 100 years, goes to show a machine can be built well to stand the test of time.

[@jerrycny5519]

Absolutely, many things truly were built better in earlier times. "Engineered obsolescence" wasn't a consideration in the designs of early engineers and inventors. Things were built to work well, and keep doing so for a long time. Firearm design is a good example. Now, too much manufacturing process is dictated by CFO's and accountants and not engineers and skilled tradesmen who take pride in their work. I have unfortunately seen this first hand, when I inquired about galvanizing vehicle body panels at GM. They don't want a truck body to last as long as the drivetrain, they typically don't in the North. I was told that rust and body panel failure was deemed to be "more acceptable as a point of vehicle failure by the consumer." I had a 2015 GMC Sierra 2500, it was a great truck, except the "chrome" steel rear bumper had rust under the chrome after two New York winters, right in the middle of the bumper. The bed later followed. To the contrary, I have a 1972 Pontiac that has great factory chrome, and it sat outside many years in its life. Something is simply wrong there.

[@FiltyIncognito]

@@jerrycny5519 It's not all bad. Like many things, it's a sword that swings both ways. Over-engineering is expensive, and unsustainable on a mass scale. Greater consumption of resources means less resources to go around and increased prices due to that scarcity, not to mention all the other associated costs. It also means that replacing those over-engineered products when new and much more economical tech comes out is many times more expensive than it could be. This means that the cost of production is increased once again. By the time the product reaches consumer hands, the price has increased to the point of inaccessibility to many people. A well planned product design means that predictable product failures start to accumulate when the next generation's tech has sufficiently saturated the market and the now functionally obsolete tech can safely be taken out of circulation and easily recycled....in addition to the tens of other considerations for various other aspects of a product. Scummy business practices however are just scummy business practices no matter what means are used to do it. The appropriate thing to gripe about is the lack of regulation against scummy business practices.

[@SMGJohn]

@@FiltyIncognito Free market is an economy of wealth accumulation, if you inherently gonna force government to pass regulations to prohibit certain acts of private companies to produce capital and wealth to sustain themselves, you destroy Capitalism. Planned Obsolescence is actually very good under Capitalism, it sucks for you and me as every consumers, but for the companies that design and manufacture goods, it keeps them in business, it keeps us buying more and more while they can produce more and more, you see its a contradiction, thats Capitalism, its a system of contradictions. And I just described to you one of them, there a lot more, like housing bubble that keeps growing, another contradiction.

[@FiltyIncognito]

@@SMGJohn Free markets/capitalism itself has proven time and time again that being completely free and unregulated is horrible for humanity. Only non-capitalistic regulation imposed by the government or large enough quantities of people or power has kept capitalism from the worst of: organ and body trading, human experiments, slavery, the death-spiral of dispersing poison and toxicity to the people and the environment, the death-spiral of mass non-human extinction, going back to blatant classism and the forced ignorance of the masses, the degeneration of human rights, etc etc.... Capitalism by itself isn't interested in the welfare of humanity. It trends towards the concentration of power/money with no regard for anything else, even long-term economic growth since all that matters is that the strongest economic entities become stronger than the rest. There is no such thing as an inherent, self-regulating ability for the mass of individuals to 'vote with their money'. The division of labor plus encorporation makes for an inherent disparity in trading power. In the battle of corporation vs individuals, the corporation will always have more knowledge and leverage.

[@miguelsaucedo8789]

@@FiltyIncognito Good argument for maintaining a healthy balance in economics. P.S. I would like to know where you get your information/knowledge from and if there's any books or articles that made you think of this in such a way? Thanks.

[@michaelbrand99]

I lived in Cleveland when the last of the Huletts ceased operation. Always thought preserving and displaying parts of those machines was a suboptimal solution. As a symbol of the rise of the USA as an industrial power, preserving a Hulett only works if you display the entire machine and give future generations an appreciation of the massive scale. Anything less would be like displaying one engine from a Saturn V while trying to explain what it took to get to the moon.

[@buildthings79]

I was the demolition contractor hired to cut the rails off the dock for the Bethlehem steel plant in Baltimore for their ore unloaders. There were I believe 3 that were a bit larger then these but different in function. They employed a similar clamshell bucket that was suspended from a horizontal boom arm that had a track on it. The 25 ton load would come out of the ships hold then taxi back to the center of the unloader opening over a large funnel. ( about the size of a house) this would then dump onto a conveyor belt system that ran under the 3 unloaders all the way back to ore furnaces a couple miles away. I ended up using an Oxygen lance to cut the clips off the track and cut the track into truckable sections. These track sections had a profile unlike any train track I ever seen. The web was 3 times thicker and the top rail was twice as thick as any full size track. Apparently they had been made at Bethlehem steel just for that purpose to hold the enormous weight of these towers. Standing under them it was a good 100ft to underside. I would say 4 good size 2 story homes could fit under one of these unloaders. We ended up cutting 1700 ft of track off the concrete pier they were supported on just so the port could use it for self unloding ships and use wheel loaders and trucks to go to each customer bulk storage. It was one of the most memorable jobs I've ever done.

[@psychiatry-is-eugenics]

Ore dock for Great Lakes Steel on the Detroit River used similar electric ore cranes . I worked on them in the 1970s . Believe the Edmund Fitzgerald unloaded at this dock .

[@mattfinn341]

I used to run loaders inside the ships . The cranes and hoppers were huge. Sad they were destroyed

[@dogshake]

@@mattfinn341 Ever see any injuries during your time? Watching things like this, I can only imagine how much could've gone wrong. I'm sure you were all trained heavily though.

[@mattfinn341]

@@dogshake never personally witnessed anything but guys were killed while working in the steel mill while i was there.

[@danwake4431]

@@dogshake I keep thinking of the large chains moving inches from the leg operators face.No shields or anything. lol. There wouldn't be much left of your head if the chain snapped.

[@abbrad17]

This video's production quality is very high. I'm amazed at how well you were able to match video to the narrative in a way that makes the viewer forget that this type of historical footage doesn't grow on trees. Very well done.

[@rs4425]

Top notch video... would like details of equip and software used for such a quality presentation. Thanks

[@rustythecrown9317]

Except I'm pretty sure that Sault Ste Marie is in ontario , not michigan.

[@robertmartel8721]

@@rustythecrown9317 It is in both.

[@rustythecrown9317]

@@robertmartel8721 rightio then... weird.. hope the mayor is making the yamks pay for the rental of the name.

[@duncandmcgrath6290]

@@robertmartel8721 Are you from the Soo?

[@bettyhart4099]

My grandfather was a Hulett operator for 46 years in Cleveland at the Ore docks. He only missed 2 days of work in 46 years! He was a great guy. My grandparents raised their family of 4 kids on his income while my grandmother was a homemaker. He usually worked the night shift when I was a kid. He was an extremely hard worker with an uncompromising work ethic. We lived in the west suburbs of Cleveland then after high school I visited Huron near Cedar Point, and saw that they had huletts as well. Huron’s were eventually dismantled and taken away. This video was very interesting! Thank you.

[@sirthomasnolan]

My grandparents lived in Huron, 2 houses from the lake!

[@lancebedour1473]

As a youngster growing up in Toledo Ohio I can still remember laying in bed at night listening to the distinctive sound of the Huletts across the river unloading ships. Great memories and a great video !

[@tommurphy4307]

and you were lying there, as well

[@johng.8600]

419 In da house

[@gilzor9376]

Since I can remember, I have always been fascinated by our country's Auto and Steel Industries and all the innovation associated with them through the years. One of the biggest let downs was the lack of interest in preserving live examples of our growth through the years. The unloaders/blast furnaces at the Rouge Plant being an example. The impact of seeing things like this for the younger, learning and growing generations is huge. To see such accomplishments done without the aide of technology, will no doubt inspire greater feats of engineering. For a school age child to walk aboard on ocean liner, steam powered locomotive, crane, etc., could prove to motivate our next Thomas Edison. Great job collecting and presenting this information. Thank you for the upload. I have searched and looked for info on the fate of the Hulett Unloaders over the years. Thinking that the pile of pieces will waste away before any single, complete Hulett ever gets reconstructed out of it . . . . . . . sad sight.

[@babydriver8134]

Our controllers are too busy destroying us, no time for this history stuff. History being destroyed right before our eyes. A pity.

[@Oldbmwr100rs]

The destruction of our past industrial might is very intentional. The powers that be don't want the peasant classes to know we once were able to do so much, they want us to think we only served food and did nothing jobs and everything came from out of the country.

[@tommurphy4307]

you people need to live in a steel-making town for a few years. stinky, nasty, rough, smelly, smoky, dirty, and those are just the residential parts of town. i was born and raised near akron ohio and visited my grandparents often in the hubbard and youngstown areas. we were always glad to get home to our nice, clean city on sunday night. the only good thing about living there was the street maintenance outfits used slag on the roads- no salt. the slag was a by-product of steel-making and their cars didn't rust out like our cars in akron. its hell on the storm-sewer systems and takes lots of money to clear the slag from the sewers every so often. nowadays places in mahoning and trumbull counties use salt on the roads.

[@babydriver8134]

@@tommurphy4307 Going off on tangents are we?

[@gilzor9376]

@@tommurphy4307 Of course there is that side to every aspect of the "industrial revolution". As knowledge grew, methods changed and it is today, much cleaner. But, outside of your tainted view, there is history rich in motivational, inspirational qualities that make saving some of these pieces of history all worth while, despite your non-inspirational, hateful view of the whole lot rather than take the good with the bad till it gets better. Maybe it's not made there anymore, but where steel is made today, it's cleaner. btw: Where I grew up in the 60's &70's in PA, they used coal cinders on the roads . . . . . nasty!

[@veramae4098]

For those who don't know -- Lake Superior iron ore was extraordinary. It needed only a small amount of treatment, then melted and used to make iron. During WW II it was almost all used up. To stay in business and with help from Michigan university researchers, a method was created to process the rest of the iron ore to be almost as good as original "Lake Superior ore". This industry continues to thrive. In the same region there are also extensive copper mines, which might be reopened if the price of copper continues to rise. Copper and iron both the gift of a volcano, 90 million years ago.

[@copperheadmarine]

I lived in Wawa, home of AOD, Algoma Ore Division, it was closed down years ago and Wawa has been slowly dieing ever since. There was still ore left we heard it was a MOE thing. Ministry of Environment. We has a sinter plant there that used coking coal in the process and that caused a sulfur kill Area to the east of the plant for many miles.

[@coloradostrong]

"90 million years ago." 😅 😂 🤣 🥲 🙄 🤡

[@tylerm8371]

​@@coloradostrongWhat do you mean by this?

[@tomreicher455]

That's right, it's called Taconic pellets

[@SixOhFive]

@@tylerm8371he's probably religious

[@localcrew]

I currently own two of the “Payloaders” mentioned in this video. They are 1960 Clark/Michigan loaders that were sold off after the loaders were shut down or they got too old to use daily. I have found traces of the reddish iron ore when removing parts that have been in place since then. Great video. Just subscribed!

[@connerlee3744]

How could you share some photos?

[@localcrew]

@@connerlee3744 Go to my channel and look for some videos. It’s pretty mundane stuff like adding hydraulic oil and feeding cattle.

[@SchnelleKat]

That's cool! Michigan loaders never die!

[@PatricioGarcia1973]

@Sven Kortjohn he has a video starting it on his channel, 1960 Michigan loader with a Detroit diesel

[@nicholascardenas1791]

Always a treat to trace history like this, currently work on Volvo equipment from which their loaders go back to Clark/Michigan.

[@marcomcdowell8861]

I remember watching these as a kid. Much like everything that has been replaced or an industry that has gone away, I didn't think much of it because they were just a part of the city. I haven't thought about these in 30 years. Thanks for the memories.

[@catdaddy57]

I as well...those were magnificent machines

[@jonnykerley]

Amazing pieces of revolutionary engineering, unfair to call them ugly.

[@leinie6683]

Form follows function- The beauty of a machine is in the work it can do !

[@BoxdHound]

They're grotesque - but that's more reason to honor them, not less.

[@Gottenhimfella]

Even setting aside the fact that they clearly worked a treat, I personally don't find them ugly in the slightest degree.

[@robertweldon7909]

Having grown up in Cleveland, I remember these unloaders quite well, I'm 75. I would. guess that close to 90% of the ore unloaded by those machines never traveled very far from the dock because of the 3 steel mills, yes there were 3 mills, Cleveland was a steel town and a huge portion of the men who worked in Cleveland worked for one of those mills, in some capacity. Thanks for the real nice history lesson about my old home town, one that most folks never knew, except for the big dinosaurs on the lake side. ;-)

[@thomasculkin349]

Very thorough! I lived on W 28th St. within direct view of those Huletts in the Fifties. We could hear the noise when the ore was dropped into the train cars. It was so loud (although those who lived there soon were used to it) that my visiting relatives could not stand it and soon departed. Thanks for reminding me of a time from my past.

[@tomgoad605]

ahhh, the sound of progress

[@donaldstanfield8862]

Maybe not many mothers-in-law came to visit!? BAHAHAHAAH!!💥💨

[@robinmartz9052]

This is very interesting! I've been watching a lot of history lately. My Mom is 94 and she tells me stuff that gets me wanting to know more. These men worked harder than we can imagine, shoveling all that ore!

[@jakespeed63]

Truly amazing collection of information and video. My dad worked at the Erie Ore Dock from the early 60's, until he was finally laid off at it's closing, in the mid 70's. Fond memories, as a child, of going to visit this place either dropping Dad off or picking him up. RJT started out in the ship's hold shoveling ore and graduated up the ladder, finally running a pusher car. Most men nowadays, including myself, have no clue how hard these guys worked. Especially in the cold weather. Obviously, the ships didn't run, when the lake was frozen, but there was still lots of maintenance to do. We have countless pictures my dad took, while working there and I have his logbook of all the boats he unloaded and the tonnage. Would love to share them.

[@RailroadStreet]

I'd love to see the pictures and logbooks your dad recorded. Send me an email at [e-mail]

[@billjames3030]

@@RailroadStreet Wow. Excellent documentary of this equipment. I'd love to go back in time to see this in action 90 years ago. I love the industrial revolution innovations. Keep up the great videos. 👍

[@bobkoski3964]

I was born and raised at Ashtabula Harbor, and I remember the sound of the Hulets very well. Along with the tugboats moving ore boats in and out, Ashtabula was a very busy place at one time. Not so much any more.

[@randymagnum143]

The shoulders of route 11 used to be red from the ore that fell off the trucks hauling it to the river.

[@kevindunlap5525]

But china is very busy.

[@larselder874]

The Cleveland lakefront ore dock with huletts could only unload one ore boat. About 1957. My dad’s ship patiently waited behind. Both pointed west. We waited about eight hours for the first ship to unload and my dad’s to come forward to be hulett unloaded. My younger brother sat on the diesel locomotive’s engineer and throttled the hopper cars the whole day until dusk.

[@briansmobile1]

I don't know you, and I'm proud of you! Great bit of work it took to make this video on a great bit of history. This capability is part of the story of what made the U.S. capable to win WWI & WWII. We didn't have the best planes or tanks on our own, but we had more of them!

[@theobuzat9091]

The US won WW1? How so?

[@gumelini1]

Except US didn't win WWI or WWII.Or is that what they teach you at school?

[@Espacado]

The shots of all of the unloaders working together is so cool! It sucks that these are sitting in a pile. I'd love to see one in person

[@leosypher9993]

My grandpa served on an iron ore ship, I remember him telling me about this very same process, he described them as "Giant cranes with clamshell buckets" I didnt think it was a massive mechanical arm, he also mentioned how the operator for the bulldozers would sit on the dozer as it was being lowered into the hull of the ship, and he mentioned how the bulldozers made a horrid metal on metal sound that echoed and resonated through the hull Its really cool to see such a collection of footage on the very thing my grandfather described to me, and to hear the history of these giant machines

[@gen157]

"Ah, New York City had an ore indus..." "Oh, they used it for garbage. I see." Thanks for the video. Love to learn about the massive structures we as society constructed to reduce labour costs many years ago. Always interesting to hear the history.

[@rfvxrfvx5278]

lmao

[@bodesbodes9408]

Imagine being the controller. You're this dude standing not far above a giant claw at the end of a 1000 tonne steel rod plunging yourself over and over into mountains of garbage.

[@SixbyFire]

Great video! Growing up in Cleveland in the 1970’s/1980’s I used to watch with amazement the four Hulett unloaders that were right along the lakefront from Edgewater Park while fishing there with my dad.

[@ericschreiber1847]

I grew up in Conneaut and my grandpa worked on the Huletts at the Conneaut docks. I have a very old picture of the Huletts from back when they were being used. This video was absolutely amazing to learn about this history!

[@Damien.D]

Pretty sad to discover these wonderful machine only to know that they are endangered and on the verge of being scrapped. I wish at least one could be preserved and put back together as there is no way other way to have a glimpse of its complexity and understanding of how it works. The fact that there was a driver just above the bucket is astonishing. Looks like precise movements were possible despite the sheer size of these things. Real marvel of mechanical engineering. And pretty elegant in a way. Best wishes from France to get it saved. We too have hard time here preserving our industrial heritage...

[@tommurphy4307]

endangered?? its a piece of industrial junk- not an animal

[@Nahbruhsheesh]

@@tommurphy4307 lol right I was pretty floored by how dramatic that take was. It’s literally the least interesting machine I’ve seen on KZbin 😂

[@odriew5014]

Maybe someone should turn one of them into a theme park ride after restoring it. They can replace the shovel part with something that can seat guests. Something similar has been done with construction equipment before. kzbin.info/www/bejne/ammvoIuaormKhpo

[@suprlite]

@@tommurphy4307 A lot of people actualy care about industrial history, even if you`re ignorant on the matter. According to your statement, museums just contain old junk.

[@godbluffvdgg]

Wow, I'm a student of cranes and shovels for decades but, this is the first time seeing these Hulett's in action!...What an amazing piece of engineering...Thanks so much for the upload!

[@richardteale8203]

Fantastic quality vid bro, I'm from New Zealand, so I've never heard of these machines before! It came up in my feed & had to watch the whole thing. Good choice of background music, as it depicts the death & unfortunate loss of these incredible machines of a treasured bygone era, that we sensible sorts long to relive, & especially so in light of the current state of the whole world. Thank you. Cheers, Rich.

[@Kearney62]

My father was born and raised in Conneaut. His father was an ore boat Captain for Inland Steel, who eventually rose to become Commodore of the Fleet with Inland. He was originally based in Conneaut and built a house there, though he quickly began shipping out of Indiana Harbor they continued to live in Conneaut. I spent many months each year there in the summer and my Grandfather and Dad would often times take me down onto the P&C docks where I would watch the Huletts work. Watching them working at night was especially magical. On a good night with the wind blowing west you could actually hear them working all the way down to Reig Avenue where their house was. We’d often go over to Ashtabula in the summer to watch the Huletts there, too. Conneaut was a magical place when the economy was still vibrant and thriving!

[@daltontomlinson3777]

The B&W stills have amazing clarity and detail. Enjoyed the entire story but those stills really impressed!

[@RailroadStreet]

Thank you! Most of those photos were scanned from 8x10 glass plate negatives. When scanned at a high resolution, they produce amazing detail.

[@Scodiddly]

The scale of this stuff is just incredible. The dock at 4:12 - wow!

[@trainstrains1]

A few years ago I found a 3D model of these for the train simulator I use and wondered about how they worked. Your video showed me everything I wanted to know and even while watching the video I came up with questions that were then answered almost as I thought of them. That makes a very good quality video in my mind. Thank you for this.

[@racprint]

Fascinating. My wife grew up in Conneault. We toured what remains of the docks in 2015. It's sad to see how little is left.

[@jaysonschor]

I'm from Conneaut! Brainards are my family

[@LisaBeergutHolst]

Unregulated capitalism in action lol

[@GilmerJohn]

@@LisaBeergutHolst -- Would YOU want to make a living by shoveling iron ore into barrels?

[@LisaBeergutHolst]

@@GilmerJohn You think the owners cared one little bit about workers' health and safety? 🤔

[@GilmerJohn]

@@LisaBeergutHolst -- Some do; some don't. But the miracle of capitalism is that their greed makes everyone better off.

[@dansoch3622]

Lot's of memories. I served my millwright apprenticeship on the hullets in Lorain.

[@leebatt7964]

I went to cleveland once in 1974 with my dad. I was 8, he was a maritime historian doing research and we were onboard a ship while it was being unloaded. He was so dismayed by my fascination with the Hewlett rather than the ship. Those machines were otherworldly in operation. They seemed to have a personality..

[@ModelingSteelinHO]

Thank you. Excellent video ! Steel wouldn't have been King without these ore unloader.

[@RailroadStreet]

Thanks! Indeed, they were an amazing feat of engineering.

[@dieterronsberg5970]

Fantastic documentation and so well presented! Although I`m from Germany I`ve always been fascinated by Great Lakes shipping as well as Northern America`s steam railroads- and here again we find a topic were both genres are heavily involved..... great! :-)

[@clutchmanly1147]

Sometime in the 1960s I discovered and fell in love with the book, "Paddle to the Sea." The book is about traveling the Great Lakes and contains many excellent illustrations showing various animals, plants, land, people, and industries found there. One illustration that always intrigued me showed Hulett unloaders in action. Now I know about them thanks to your great video.

[@yonigle8553]

ever watch the movie? available free at film board of canada

[@TheRAFlemingsMr]

Great Job! I went to college outside Cleveland and have always been interested in the local history. Later on I married a young lady whose family worked the iron mines up in the UP. So from dug from the ground to delivered to Cleveland is a very interesting story and helped win the world wars by delivering the raw materials for steel.

[@johnmccaffery5186]

My dad work in the steel mills on the Cuyahoga River. I remember seeing these every time we went into Cleveland. Thanks for the video explains a lot of things I didn’t understand.

[@jiyushugi1085]

Truly, human ingenuity knows no bounds.

[@loosehandle1]

Cool! I imagine they were instrumental in winning WW2 thus the record in 1942

[@AndTheCorrectAnswerIs]

As a college student in the late 1980s, my Summer job boss took me out on the lake in his boat and we saw the Huletts at work unloading a ship. We sat just off shore for probably half an hour just watching them. They were so massive it was hypnotic watching machines that large move so gracefully. I'm 57 now, and those Huletts are still the largest pieces of moving machinery I've ever seen.

[@bigtony2499]

This was absolutely awesome. I never even knew about these but I love reading and learning about Great Lakes maritime history and this was cool. Thanks for posting!

[@ToshyXx]

I live in Conneaut and worked on whiskey island for 2 years. Crazy to watch a video talking about the docks I used to watch when I was a kid. I love big ships and docks.

[@Rafedial1]

Very clearly explained, fascinating, great visual evidence and experience. Glad I was recommended this channel. Love this stuff!

[@michaelnorman9962]

Excellent documentary! I was born and raised in Superior, Wisconsin and this brings back so many memories of growing up on Lake Superior and seeing the iron ore docks and boats every day. Thanks for this excellent video.

[@ErieRadio]

My uncle was a hulett operator/driver at the port of Conneaut when I was a kid. He said initially they were powered by steam and later by electricity. The machines could not reach the corners in the bow and stern of the hulls of a ship and men still had to work inside the ship and shovel out the corners and throw it out into the center of the hill where the huletts could reach it. When unloaded at Conneaut the Bessemer rail line took the ore to the mills in Pittsburgh.

[@ftswarbill]

*I've been a Clevelander my whole life and this is the first I've heard of them. Thanks.*

[@Infernoblade1010]

Never heard of these before, but this must've been a really crazy job back in those days. I've worked with a lot of machinery, but I can't imagine being on the bucket taking out tons of ore day after day.

[@frsimon7680]

Being ftom Europe I had no idea about it. Extremely professional and interestning. Thanks

[@speeder36]

I worked on Hulett Unloaders for 15 years at the Bethlehem steel Lackawanna Plant. During winter repairs they were stripped and rebuilt. I was an A millright at that time.

[@danwake4431]

wait every winter they were torn down and rebuilt?

[@Colt-tf6xf]

@@danwake4431 they probably didn't want to risk breakdown or failure during the ore season. The wear factor was likely very predictable with so much use.

[@vincentcastor5978]

What beautiful historical archive photos used in this documentary

[@lwilton]

There is a currently in use spiritual successor to the Huletts. This is the Sennebogen 880. I don't know if there are any in the US, but they are in use in some European bulk terminals. There is a KZbin channel run by an operator of these machines that shows operation from the cab and occasionally walkarounds from the outside or on the machine: kzbin.info Don't scream at me that this machine isn't a Hulett, I already know it isn't. But it has the same rotating grab bucket, and a similar counterbalanced structure to hold and operate the grab. They can be configured in various ways. The ones in Istanbul (see channel reference above) are configured somewhat like a large modern crane, so can pivot after dipping a load out of a hold. They can also be used for loading as well as unloading. It isn't a Hulett, but I think Mr. Hulett would approve of the design if he could see it.

[@Moose803]

Doesn't look like a Hulet

[@ljones121]

Not sure if they are used in the USA, I'm pretty sure they are not used on the great lakes as 99% of the lake freighters are all self unloading.

[@theprojectproject01]

Don't quote me on this, but I *think* there's a Sennbogen in Chicago, about a mile inland from where the canal meets the lake. Or at least there was in 2008, I haven't been through there by boat since then.

[@history8192]

The link didn’t work for me but I looked up the channel, and it definitely has the same vibe. I’d go crazy doing that all day, but it made me think that it’s good not everyone is the same.

[@lwilton]

@@history8192 Huh, the link seems to have changed. For anyone else looking, it is now kzbin.info/door/GKS9PzNoPh7SpjIHex-lwg

[@torx82]

Never seen or heard of these things before. Great video, but my favorite thing was reading all the comments about the nostalgia that got stirred up. Some great stories in here!!

[@johnw4590]

They should be preserved and put on display. These machines are part of America and are major engineering accomplishments that have a story to tell! They probably unloaded the iron oar used to build American bridges,buildings and battleships.

[@thomasbarlow4223]

They're trying to erase American history as fast as possible

[@Trevor8Bird]

@johnw4590 There's one on display on the west bank over looking the river in Ashtabula Ohio

[@seanpie5481]

I put this on to help me go to sleep but it was so engrossing I made it to the end. Nice work. Thank you.

[@BA-gn3qb]

When I was young, my aunt and I took a Cleveland river boat tour. The guide said the idea of the Huletts came from a boy watching a grasshopper's legs.

[@jamessones4044]

I love seeing the past. It’s far more brighter than our future. Never before have I been happier to say I HAVE LIVED WITHOUT THE INTERNET. Others will never be able to say that. Great video

[@LeeHawkinsPhoto]

Fantastic amount of research and digging to put together the history of ore loading & unloading! I would love to see more footage of the Huletts working...it’s a shame if didn’t get to see them in action as a kid. Thank you for making this! It’s great to see another Cleveland KZbinr too 😊

[@gun-flintanddeadriverrrco.2706]

Check out the in-cab footage here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z4Otl6GhZ7hmaZI

[@bigolmemoryhole6944]

Those air-conditioned cabs above the loader bucket sure looked comfortable & safe.

[@SteamCrane]

Very bad news - Cleveland has announced that the 2 Huletts are going to be scrapped, despite ASME historic status.

[@luzernerschutze7564]

Always moving to hear to what lengths people go to preserve their local history. Thumbs up!

[@gun-flintanddeadriverrrco.2706]

This is the most comprehensive collection of information about the Huletts that I've ever seen. I can't imagine how long it took to put this video together. Thank you very much. Could you please provide us with suggested places to do further research?

[@RailroadStreet]

Thank you! It took over a month of research and, locating images, plus making/editing the video. Sure, check out Friends of the Hulett Ore Unloaders and Steamer William G. Mather Website: www.citizensvision.org/friends-hm/ The Historic American Engineering Record at the Library of Congress is where I sourced most of the information and photos for the video: www.loc.gov/item/oh0121/

[@copperheadmarine]

@@RailroadStreet your content is superb. I can't see why you only have a few thousand more subscribers than my channel? Keep up the great content. I have friends making $40/$60 k a month off youtube. This channel definitely has that potential !

[@anichols5845]

Great video. I love the comments and peoples memories of their childhoods. Truly KZbin’s best quality

[@ricbarker4829]

I was amazed how fast these things moved. Luckily the man walking past shows the film wasn't sped up, otherwise it would have been hard to believe this huge machines moved so fast.

[@shiyiyin3403]

This is incredible. I lived in Cleveland for 5 years. Played so many volleyball at whiskey island, never paid attention to these marvelous machines

[@danielcoburn8635]

A shunter is also preserved at Bellevue Ohio at the RR museum, and one at the Youngstown Steel Heritage museum.

[@gun-flintanddeadriverrrco.2706]

Another shunter is at the Lake Shore Railway Museum in North East PA: www.railfanguides.us/museums/lakeshore/lakeshoremuseum01.jpg

[@terratrodder]

I have never heard or read about this history, at least the depth of information associated with it. Truly fascinating, and what an extraordinary time of growth and innovation. I can't imagine the noise the operator had to endure with all those large chains moving back and forth. Great work on this video!

[@Joelontugs]

Not the ugliest thing ever made I love them

[@FineTuneCBShop]

They were part of Cleveland where I grew up.

[@scoop4363]

02MAR2022 - Finally! I've been waiting for this video to be made for years. As a 5-year-old in the late 50s Dad would take me down to watch the 2 Huletts on the river before the big 4 were built. They were TERRIFYING to a small fry like me but I couldn't take my eyes off them. How could anything that big even be built much less operate so smoothly and quietly? I'm in my late 60s now and have been collecting every piece of Hulett anything I can get my hands on: photos, slides, videos, even a coffee mug with a Hulett on it. There's no question, at least one machine should be completely restored next to the Mather. Thank you so much for this video. Although I have many of the images you showed in your video, I would love to personally see some of the images and footage you used. I will pour through your citations with the enthusiasm of someone who has discovered a piece of a treasure map. Thank you again. I don't think even Ken Burns could have done a better job.

[@geckolord0337]

Growing up in Cleveland, I always would see our old railroad bridges and other machinery along the lake and river. It's cool to see how much history is behind what always was just some cool junk buried in the trees

[@bigdmac33]

A well-researched andvery interesting presentation.

[@yurisendrew]

For gods sake at least one of these deserves to be put back together. What a unbelievably innovative and proud period in American history.

[@littlewazz]

machinery like this, that helped build this nation should have a proper place to be displayed and showed off, I understand that technology changes and machinery becomes outdated or obsolete, also the current location needs to be upgraded and utilized but these machines are integral in the shaping and growing of our country. These should be relocated with a museum nearby with a fully functioning unit for demo purposes, the same goes for the sliver spade, the captain and big muskie (the largest land machine ever built)

[@annacalise8336]

It's sad to see these machines that completely revolutionized an industry at one time just rotting away now, I don't think a leg or bucket is enough, there's plenty of spaces where they could erect one and preserve it, it should be proudly shown in her entirety, this was an amazing video on them and thanks to you I can now appreciate these magnificent machines too, keep these wonderful historical videos going, they're excellent!!!

[@jaysonschor]

I grew up in Conneaut and I remember being on the arches watching the railcars go under us full of those little red iron balls heading to these massive machines.

[@jerroldkazynski5480]

Awesome video. Railroad, military plus small town commercial to modern business thru 20th century in my heritage. Upper Midwest USA. Thanks for great video.

[@im1who84u]

Back in the seventies there was a guy that worked on one of the ore boats and would attend the church I went to whenever he was in town. On one occasion after church I offered him a ride back to his boat. He normally road a bicycle, but I was able to fit it into my vehicle. In return he gave me a two hour tour of the boat and how it all worked! Everything was crazy big. Things like a chain that was so big no human could even lift or move one link of it. The boat also carried a spare propeller, also very very large. He showed me the large areas the ore was loaded into, the crew quarters, lounge area, the galley and offered me food that was always available. At the time it was roasted chicken, but I turned it down. He explained ballast to me and why you don't want the ship floating in the water like a cork. The laundry room, the bridge, on board waste water processing. That was a very loud area on the boat and we had to wear ear protection. To bad I didn't have a camera.

[@nustde00]

Son of a Conrail/NS engineer here, This is the best.. My Father would have gotten a huge kick out of your channel. Nice work pal!

[@runsolo7418]

I was a sailor in the 90's and we offloaded in Cleveland using those style loaders.

[@bigtractorpower]

Very interesting presentation on the unloaders and Great Lakes shipping.

[@amazinghuppifluppi359]

Old heavy industry facilities are always fascinating. Btw.: How great these Whaleback ships look...

[@budgreen4x4]

the heavy press project is another great one

[@David-yf5fo]

In the early 70s, I was in 5th grade with a kid whose last name was McDowell. We took a field trip to the McDowell-Wellman plant in Cleveland that year where his dad gave us a tour of the plant and offices I believe there was a large scale model of one of these ore unloaders on display by the offices. They were a big part of the company's history. It was probably in 1:48 or 1:50 scale for all I know but still looked huge. Perhaps someone knows exactly what I am talking about and where it is being kept today for all I know. Detailed miniatures of a prototype commissioned for by the manufacturer, not just hobbyists doing it on account of their own interest, was a thing 100 years ago. I had no idea what I was looking at at the time. Some unloaders were still in use at the time, but the general public did not go anywhere near them. McDowell-Wellman was housed in a large brick building that looked like the Battersea Power Station to a 10-year-old kid from the outside and had the appearance of the Wonka Chocolate factory inside with all sorts of activates going on at once and no particular theme that I could remember well. The rich dad is not going to explain welding and forging in any detail to 10-year-old kids, but will impress upon them that he owned the whole place. I still have no clue what the extrusion machine that made black rubber golf balls was all about or what it had to do with material handling buckets. Probably a clue to their undoing... The Penn-Central Collinwood shops, Fisher Body, the lime green wonders around the Euclid plant... it was all there more or less and most of it could be seen from I-90, just east of downtown. Cleveland in the early 70s was really strange to say the least. Had I been a bit older, I might have recognized this strange ambiance for what it really was, an economic disaster that rivaled the great depression in some respects. What was once recognized as one of the world's great industrial centers seems to get in the news today for things really weird kidnapping. At least a bucket or two and a shunt locomotive have been spared. Saving and entire unloader would be nice, but managing even bits and pieces of one is about all a group of enthusiastic working-class people can do. One only needs to learn about "Big Muskie" know how this will end up. Restoring and displaying even minor components of these things as some have apparently done would be difficult, expensive, labor intensive, and extremely dangerous. @15:18, The "can opener" logos on blue locomotives and the Key Bank building towering above the Terminal Tower suggest that this is not vintage footage and probably shot in the 1990s. "Payloader" or Hugh Payloader was a popular rubber tired loader and were probably easier on the hold bottoms and afforded better traction than steel tracks on steel plate. Little dozers probably slid around down there like a bars of soap and did not do much.

[@davenhla]

I am always dumbfounded at the preservation aspect for things like this. Everyone feels things should be preserved. The company that owns them asks, basically, "who will pay for this?" No one really ever has an answer. What boggles me is the idea our elected officials can send a billion dollars overseas for ludicrous reasons but for some reason preservation of our history takes a back seat and they can;t find fifty grand to move and reassemble one of these loaders, as an example. Every year that goes by makes it cost more. Personally, I am sick and tired of watching the industries and the tools they used fall to ruin because a few people are making gonzo dollars by sending all of our resources overseas. We send our raw materials, our GOOD old steel, etc. overseas and get recycled second rate disposable junk in return while they keep the best for themselves.

[@RealJeep]

Our government has become exactly what Thomas Jefferson warned us about. We borrow money from communist China to send to Europe so they can fight wars. We are insane!

[@kentslocum]

Thank you for this video; I appreciate the thorough history behind these incredible machines. I think I know what I am going to be building out of LEGO! 😊

[@harrypenn611]

Those ships must of had mega strong backs to take that flexing of Weight , amazing engineering , grease video , we have nothing like that in the UK lol

[@devinpol4258]

American Steel was second to none before international manipulation of the markets drove it into the ground.

[@tedhardulak7698]

Im so glad that you do these Videos about Cleveland. I grew up in Brooklyn and Dad worked at Shell Oil in the flats. So I got to see a lot of stuff in Cleveland. Our area had an airport, and a golf course {Roseland). All open land, a great place tp grow up. I would love to find some photos of this area. It wasn't Growing up in the city. I still enjoy drives in the flats to find old places that are little known. I really enjoy the old bridges over the Cuyahoga. Especially the one next to Shooters. Amazing work!

[@thejoeshow5]

Fantastic video. Thank you.

[@RailroadStreet]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@colvinator1611]

Yet another brilliant piece of American innovation history. Amazing engineers producing solutions to the many problems of meeting the demands of expanding industry. Great video and explanations. Colin, Yorkshire, UK.

[@blah-po9et]

My city has a coal powerplant and used to be a major hub for coal, we had four of these and the big Lakers came once a month and dropped thousands of tons of coal into piles along the river. Edit: So turns out it wasn't these, they were older gantry style cranes that dropped them into the piles

[@tommurphy4307]

most places have upgraded to natural gas generation- the coal smoke is not only a greenhouse gas but is unhealthy to breathe/be around.

[@blah-po9et]

@@tommurphy4307 my guy, do you know how much they filter that stuff now adays it's mostly steam. They take air quality samples every year and my town right next to the biggest power station in my state ranks better than half the nation.

[@Travellerherethere]

Very well researched and presented!

[@Tybr0]

Thank you for making a vid about these, always have loved seeing them in old shipping videos.

[@Samooray]

Thanks for detailed story, videos and photos of those technical marvels!

[@pfadiva]

This was fascinating! I had seen these before in documentaries but didn't know what they called. I hope at least one can be preserved entire just to show the scale and complexity of this great invention.

[@mlynch001]

Speaking of unloaders, does anyone remember the types of unloaders were installed at the Port of Lorain, OH? I seem to remember that We would drive up to Lorain from Elyria to watch the ore boats unload.

[@larselder874]

Yes, loran had huletts at the steel mill on the black river and huletts at the ore docks in the northern harbor, to the west side. On the river side, was coal loading dock.

[@parkerlong808]

Everything about this video was amazing, from the educational standpoint to the production standpoint. Very well done!