Cougar's Truck Body West Hollywood, California Bill Tetreault ran across this vehicle, one of two languishing in a yard in Los Angeles. The gigantic top-pack front loader was built by Cougar's Truck Equipment of West Hollywood, and is believed to be about 1980 vintage. Little else is known about this company, which is among the many independent builders who have produced a front loader in southern California. According to Scott Blake, Cougar's was started by a guy who worked at Medallion Truck Body, and then went out on his own. At a distance, these could be mistaken for Bemars-Maxon bodies, which just goes to show how tricky it can be to identify refuse trucks in this part of the United States. I can't think of any other area in the world that has had the variety of equipment found in Los Angeles, particularly front-loaders! Bill has many more detailed pictures of this one in an album at the CRT-MSN Archive. A big three-stage telescopic ram fits easily into the short cab shield, yet extends enough to fully clear the hopper opening Back end of the packer blade assembly Detail of the packer blade, showing the guide shoes and one of the side tracks 9/21/07 © 2007 Eric Voytko All Rights Reserved Logos shown are the trademarks of respective manufacturers Photos from factory brochures/trade advertisements except as noted