  
Colecto
The Collection Equipment Corp. / Municipal Sanitation Corp.
Bridgeport, Connecticut
B. Nicoll & Company Inc.,
New York, New York
An early Colecto side loader owned by the City of Philadelphia
EARLY COLECTO
The first Colecto refuse bodies appeared around 1928, from a patented design by William S. Howard. Like ATIA, the Collection Equipment Corporation was one of the first to market mechanized collection bodies specifically designed for municipal refuse service. The Colecto was the most successful of these pioneers, developing improved models throughout the 1930s. These were almost all of the self-loading, enclosed body type, without compaction plates. Howard must have been intimately associated with Collection Equipment Corporation, being the inventor of all of the early Colecto designs. He was a resident of New York City, and later Detroit, but little else is known about him.
By contrast, the sales agent for Colecto was the firm of B. Nicoll and Company Inc, a highly successful firm owned by a well-connected New York family. They could trace their American roots to 1664, when Mattias Nicoll arrived at what was then New Amsterdam as an official with the British colonial administration. In 1672, he was appointed 6th Mayor of New York City, and through land grants owned much of present-day Long Island. Benjamin Nicoll was born about 1855, and sold ore for a mining company before starting New Jersey-based B. Nicoll & Company in the 1880s. Here, he made his fortune as a trader and import-export sales agent of steel, and added coal by the turn of the century. In January 1921, the firm was incorporated in New York, setting up offices at 292 Madison Avenue, New York City. However, Nicoll died suddenly in June of that year. Presumably, his son Courtlandt Nicoll took over in his stead, having been an officer of the company for many years. Courtlandt served as a New York City Alderman and in also the state senate.
The original Colecto looks so much like the ATIA Refuse Collector (patented 1925) that the two are easily mistaken for one another. Indeed, almost every aspect of the ATIA was copied by Colecto; both were 8-cubic yard, side bucket self-loading bodies with a dust-proof shutter. The only substantial difference was in the lift mechanism which operated the bucket. Howard's Colecto used an endless roller chain loop, with two cables attached to this loop which raised the bucket. The bucket was drawn up, and then back down in an almost continuous motion, while the power take-off never changed its rotational direction. This setup alleviated the need for a reversible gearbox, as on the ATIA, which had a drive system more like a conventional winch, which had to be reversed to return the bucket back to ground level. Additionally, the Colecto had a connection from the vehicle driveline that was constant, through a horizontal driveshaft and u-joint, while the ATIA had a vertical shaft with separable connection, which split from the vehicle PTO when the body was raised to dump.
Predictably, Howard's Colecto immediately drew a patent infringement lawsuit by ATIA. Somewhat miraculously, he actually prevailed on a technicality, but that decision was quickly reversed on appeal in 1929. The appeals court found that the differences in Howard's bucket drive did not make it distinctly different from the ATIA. The court determined that the Colecto was indeed an infringement, unless the ATIA patent could be shown to be invalid, due to prior art or other reasons.
The City of Boston owned this Heil-built Colecto side loader
In an amazing twist, and despite having lost (apparently) to ATIA, Colecto then went on to become one of the biggest names in the refuse body industry of the 1930s. Unless Howard was able to pull off an eleventh hour victory in court (he had ten days to respond to the appeal), one can only speculate that Howard settled, and licensed the rights from ATIA. Despite having to pay the royalty, this type of deal would have been potentially lucrative, given the wide-open field of the industry at that time. Colecto's well-heeled sales agent, B. Nicoll and Company, would have been financially capable of such a settlement. And the big prize, potentially, was the New York Department of Sanitation (DSNY), which had yet to adopt a mechanized refuse body.
At least some, if not all of the early Colecto bodies were built by The Heil Company, which was already one of the biggest truck body manufacturers in the country at that time. Milwaukee-based Heil had eastern branch offices, as well as a factory in Hillside, New Jersey. However, these bodies were still advertised and sold as Colecto brand products. Heil appears to have been merely a contract manufacturer, but may also have been involved in distribution within their own extensive dealer network. The Collection Equipment Company soon listed a Bridgeport, Connecticut address, which may have served as an assembly plant. New York-based B. Nicoll and Company was deeply connected with the steel industry, and could have easily supplied a manufacturing operation of their own. Whatever their earlier relationship, Colecto and Heil would ultimately become further intertwined, as the latter became more involved in the refuse body business in the late 1930s.
COLECTO SHORT-BUCKET SIDE LOADER
1932 Colecto short-bucket side loader
By the beginning of the 1930s, a new version of the Colecto side loader appeared with a smaller bucket (approximately half the length of the body). The bucket was now fully enclosed during most of its travel into the body, reducing dust. The body could be hoisted periodically if it became necessary to consolidate the load towards the rear. The back end of the body could also be manually loaded through roof-level doors, which were advertised as being made for snow loading. This feature would seem to be an attempt at attracting municipal customers, particularly the DSNY, who were also responsible for snow removal. The bucket lift system appears to have been the same as on the early model Colecto, using roller chain drive connected to the lift cables for continuous raise/lower motion.
Colecto short-bucket side loader demonstration from a 1930 advertisement
City of Cleveland Colecto on White chassis
Tilting body for dumping load
COLECTO REAR LOADER: FIRST GENERATION
William Howard designed a rear-trough version of the Colecto in 1929, which became a highly popular model, and spawned many imitators over the years. In some ways, it can be said to be the genesis of the modern residential rear loader. Similarly, its rigid lift arms and bucket also pointed the way for the front loaders which emerged two decades later. This first version rear-load Colecto used the same roller chain arrangement as the side loader, but with a loop on each side of the body. A rod was connected from each loop to a rear trough, which spanned the width of the body. Rotation of the endless chain loops alternately lifted, dumped and then lowered the trough in a continuous motion.
Shown above left is truck No.2, City of East Rutherford, New Jersey, from a 1930 advertisement. This is one of two known images of a first generation Colecto rear loader. The illustration at right shows the endless roller chain drive (53) and connecting rod (50) used to raise the bucket arms. Another roller chain at the front of the body (71) connected the PTO to a cross shaft, which turned the chain drive sprockets. The body was tilted to dump by a cam-and-roller type hydraulic hoist. This was a short-lived design, but set the stage for several improved models which followed. Leach, Gar Wood and Galion also fielded rear bucket loaders of this basic type from 1932 until the mid-1950s.
The only other known image of a 1st generation Colecto rear loader. It was in service with the Boston Public Works Department in 1931. The hoist was provided by St. Paul Hydraulic, which had been acquired by Gar Wood Industries the previous year. To see the entire advertisement in which this truck appeared, click here.
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HYDRAULIC COLECTO: REAR AND SIDE LOADERS (SECOND GENERATION)
Hydraulic Colecto rear loader with bucket lowered, ready for loading at street level
For 1932, Howard completely revised both the Colecto rear and side loaders, switching to hydraulic power for all loading and dumping functions. A single, vertically mounted hoist was used to raise and lower the bucket, as well as hoisting the body to unload. On the rear loader, an ingenious interlock system automatically secured the body from tilting while the bucket lift arms were in motion, and prevented the lift arms from moving while body was raised. Operation of the lift arms was accomplished by connecting them by cables to the truck chassis. The hydraulic hoist was raised against a sheave arrangement, drawing the cables in and doubling the range of its effective stroke. This "reeving" hoist arrangement is today commonly used for roof-mounted container lifts on rear loaders, and in some roll-off hoists. Since elevating the lift arms and bucket left the hoist piston rod exposed above the roofline, a double-arm and latch system enabled the bucket to lock in the raised position while the hoist was lowered. Thus, the truck could be driven with the bucket raised without danger of striking the hoist on overhead objects.
A pair of hydraulic Colectos for New Bedford, Massachusetts, shown with their buckets in transport-lock position
Note how the inner (short) arms have lowered fully, while the outer (long) arms are locked in the raised position
To empty the body, the loader arms were switched to the raised-locked position, which elevated the bucket clear of the rear body door. The body was unlocked from the chassis, causing the continued movement of the reeving hoist to raise the front of the body, pivoting it on its rear hinges and dumping the load. The system looks more complex than it actually is, and was a great improvement over the original models. It was clearly less expensive to build, and used a single power source (the hydraulic hoist) to perform all operations. There were still mechanical elements (cables and sheaves), but far fewer moving parts than on the earlier versions.
A hydraulic Colecto, parked with the arms in the power raise position. Note how the inner and outer lift arms are parallel,
and the hoist piston rod is extended above the roof line
Patented concurrently with the rear loader in 1932 was a re-engineering of the original full-length bucket side loader. Like the rear loader, a vertical hydraulic hoist and reeving cable system was used for all loading and dumping operations. In the case of the side loader, the vertical cylinder was used to turn a shaft atop the body, to which the bucket lift cables were attached. To return the bucket to ground level, the operator merely shifted the hydraulic valve to exhaust ram oil to the tank, causing the lift to retract, and the bucket to descend by gravity. The bucket could be locked at the top for transport, by means of an operator-controlled latch, while springs assisted the piston of the lift cylinder to retract. The stroke of the lift cylinder was limited so that at no time could it extend higher than the top of the body, which protected it from damage.
To empty, the body was unlocked from the chassis and the hoist lift cable was attached manually to a hook underneath the front of the body. The hoist then lifted the front of the body to dump the load. The new side loaders were designated model "SH", while Colecto rear loaders became model "RH". Some model SH bodies are known to have been equipped with a Gar Wood hydraulic hoist, indicating that Colecto was independent from Heil during this period. These improvements made to Colecto were significant, and the company was virtually alone in the market for self-loading refuse bodies in 1932. Their closest rival was the Refuse Getter, Leach's first entry into the refuse body field, which had only been introduced the same year. The strength of Colecto remained in the Northeast, where the urban population of the United States was highly concentrated. Municipalities had been their biggest customers, and the company name was changed appropriately to Municipal Sanitation Corporation by 1936, still under the control of B. Nicoll & Company.
1936 Colecto SH series side loader
Colecto SH working in Bridgeport, CT, the city where Municipal Sanitation Corporation was based
HYDRAULIC COLECTO REAR LOADER: THIRD GENERATION
Third generation Colecto 8 RH (8-cubic yard)rear loader from 1937, with direct-acting underbody lift cylinders
Colecto introduced another completely revised version of the RH rear loader around 1935, now with lift arms powered directly by an underbody hoist. This was their cleanest design yet; good looking and well-engineered once again by William Howard. Twin long-stroke hydraulic cylinders, mounted underneath the front of the body, served to raise the bucket and tilt the body to unload. In loading mode, a hydraulic oil bypass valve was manually opened, which limited the stroke of the cylinder to the relatively short distance needed to raise and lower the lift arms. In hoisting mode, The body was unlocked from the chassis and the bypass valve was closed. Thus, operating the hoist raised the bucket to the top of the body, and continued pushing the body up to discharge the load out the rear door.
The hydraulic Colecto RH was a significant development in the history of refuse trucks, featuring the first known use of pivoting lift arms operated directly by hydraulic cylinders. This principle would eventually be applied to shovel-type truck loaders, and eventually to front loading refuse bodies when they first appeared in the early 1950s. Colecto was arguably the leader in its field, with a cleaner design and fewer moving parts than its competition, which in 1935 was still primarily the Leach Refuse Getter. The latter had a far more complex mechanism, with rack-and-pinion gears driving a roller chain bucket lift.
Third generation Colecto RH cycle: hoist cylinders operate bucket, and tilt body to unload
Third generation Colecto 6 RH rear loader on an International Harvester cabover
Colecto 8 RH rear loader
THE MUNICIPAL AUGER COMPACTOR AND KOMPAKA SIDE LOADER
The Municipal Auger: Bevel gears (18) drive inclined auger shaft which loads and compresses refuse
Later in 1935, John E. Doran of Fairfield, Connecticut, fielded a design for a compaction rear loader, the first ever for Municipal Sanitation Corporation. This body was sold under the Municipal brand name, and a small number were known to have been supplied to the City of Philadelphia beginning in the late 1930s. Doran's loader was a variation of European designs by Krupp and Norba. It consisted of an enclosed 12-cubic yard body with a small rear-loading hopper. An inclined screw, powered by the vehicle driveline, carried refuse from the hopper opening to the top of the body, depositing it therein. When the body became filled, compaction would occur as the screw pressed the refuse progressively. The screw was also effective at shredding, as refuse was forced through the twists of the auger. Doran's auger loader is notable as the first body built by Municipal that was designed by someone other than William Howard.
The years following 1935 seem to mark downturn in the fortunes of the Colecto/Municipal organization. The refuse body industry had become more crowded than when the first Colecto was produced in 1928. Leach, Gar Wood and Heil were becoming important players, and smaller companies like Marion Metal Products, were beginning to enter the field both nationally and regionally. The New York City Sanitation Department (DSNY) had adopted a refuse loader of their own design in 1937, and was contracting for hundreds of these escalator-loader bodies to be built by Gar Wood and Heil. Against this backdrop, a distribution agreement was reportedly inked with the Heil Company, and that firm would figure prominently in the future of Colecto. What most likely spelled the end for Colecto as an independent entity was the death of Courtlandt Nicoll, who suffered a heart attack and died on September 20, 1938, at the age of 57. He was the son of Benjamin Nicoll, founder of B. Nicoll & Company, which controlled the patents for the Colecto.
Municipal auger: Philadelphia was the only known user
The last design known to be sold by Municipal Sanitation was the Kompaka, a side-loading packer body which was advertised in 1940. This appears to have been a nearly identical copy of the Marion Compressor, using mechanical worm-drive to operate a sliding packer plate with rear discharge. It is possible that Municipal Sanitation Corporation was split from Colecto/Heil at this time, becoming a separate entity. However, there is no evidence that Municipal produced anything in the post-war period. William Howard and Colecto have a place of great distinction within American industrial history, as the first specialist designers and builders of mechanized refuse bodies. Colecto spawned many technical innovations, and Howard's accomplishments since the 1929 lawsuit filed by ATIA prove that he was a capable designer in his own right. Indeed, some of his innovations are with us to this day. The rear bucket loader was widely imitated, and was undoubtedly an inspiration for the first front load refuse trucks of the 1950s. Variations are still used in the rendering industry. Along with ATIA, Howard's side loader was one of America's first mass-marketed refuse trucks, and its most successful in those fledgeling years of the industry. Although the side-bucket loader mostly disappeared after World War II, it enjoyed a renaissance in the late 1980s, finding new life during the recycling boom as a multi-compartment collector for glass, metal and paper.
1940 Kompaka; the last known design from Municipal
HEIL COLECTO (FOURTH GENERATION)
1940 Heil Colecto: Lift cylinders are mounted behind triangular plates at front of body
The marriage of Heil and Colecto can be definitively traced to 1940, when Paul Schutz and George Kuhlman patented the fourth-generation Colecto rear loader, assigning the rights to the Heil Company. Kuhlman was at that time Vice President of the company, and manager of the Hillside, New Jersey factory. His involvement with this particular product may indicate an increasing importance placed on refuse bodies by Heil in the late 1930s. Aside from their non-compacting dump bodies, Heil also won bids to produce escalator-loaders for New York City (designed in-house by the DSNY) and introduced their own design of this type in 1938. Although now clearly under the auspices of Heil, Colecto was still identified as Municipal Sanitation Corporation product. By the 1940s, Heil's defense work for the war effort probably delayed the complete integration of Colecto into the company fold.
The Heil Colecto used two single-acting lift cylinders, positioned vertically in pockets located inside the front corners of the body, to operated the lift arms. The arms were connected through a transverse rock shaft. The bucket was raised under power, but coasted back down under the weight of the bucket and arms. This principle became a staple of front loader design in the 1950s, and has been with the industry ever since. To unload, the rear door was unlatched and a set of chains were attached which connected the lift arms to the door. As the lift arms were raised, the door was pulled open automatically. A single underbody hoist raised the body to discharge the load.
A revised version of the Colecto rear loader had been drawn up by John Doran in 1939, but there is no evidence that it was ever built by either Municipal or Heil. Doran's design was very similar in principle to the 1940 Heil version, with two small horizontally mounted cylinders which actuated the bucket lift arms. These were double-acting (powered in both directions), and pushed rearward against the lift arm brackets.
1940 Heil Colecto; single-acting lift cylinders (23) were mounted at front of body (24) and connected by a common shaft (21)
To open the rear door, a chain (34) was hooked to the door which was pulled clear as the lift arms raised
John Doran's 1939 version, with double-acting "pusher" cylinders (19); there is no evidence it was ever in production
HEIL COLECTO (FIFTH GENERATION)
The final variant of the Colecto appeared around 1941-42, featuring a streamlined appearance and with bucket lift cylinders mounted horizontally, beneath the body. Otherwise, it was functionally the same as the 1940 version. The transfer from civilian products to defense work put the brakes on Colecto, as well as most of refuse truck industry during the World War II. By January of 1945, it re-emerged as the Heil Colecto, available in either 9 or 12-cubic yard capacity. Despite the great efforts to re-engineer this design since 1940, it ultimately saw only brief production in its post-war lifespan. The introduction of the all-new Heil Colecto-Pak would make the original Colecto mostly redundant.
PATENTS:
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Patent # |
Description |
Inventor |
Assignee |
Date |
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US1833872 |
Self-Loading Vehicle (Colecto side loader) |
William S. Howard |
Collection Equip. Corp. |
April 5, 1928 |
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US1865318 |
Self-Loading Vehicle (Colecto rear loader-chain drive) |
William S. Howard |
Collection Equip. Corp. |
September 11, 1929 |
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US1922851 |
Self-Loading Dump Body (Colecto rear loader-hydraulic/cable) |
William S. Howard |
B. Nichol & Co. |
April 30, 1932 |
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US2020245 |
Apparatus for Handling Material (Colecto side loader-hydraulic/cable) |
William S. Howard |
B. Nichol & Co. |
December 14, 1932 |
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US2020246 |
Apparatus for Handling Material (Colecto side loader-hydraulic/cable) |
William S. Howard |
B. Nichol & Co. |
November 15, 1934 |
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US2101067 |
Material Handling Apparatus (Colecto rear loader-hydraulic) |
William S. Howard |
B. Nichol & Co. |
October 22, 1935 |
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US2110207 |
Self-Loading Vehicle (Municipal auger) |
John E. Doran |
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October 22, 1935 |
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US2231058 |
Material Handling Apparatus (Municipal rear loader-hydraulic) |
John E. Doran |
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May 26, 1939 |
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US2271444 |
Self-Loading Vehicle (Heil Colecto rear loader-hydraulic) |
Schutz, et al |
Heil Co. |
July 19, 1940 |
7/2/16 (updated 8/28/21)
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Photos from factory brochures/advertisements except as noted
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