Jasper County Democrat, Volume 12, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 April 1909 — BUYS A DRY LAND DREDGE. [ARTICLE]

BUYS A DRY LAND DREDGE.

D. H. Yeoman Purchases a New Style Dredge Machine for Use On Contracts In Laporte County. D. H. Yeoman, who has in the past couple of years developed into a prominent dredge ditch contractor, last week purchased a big Austin dry land dredge to use on the Bull ditch in Laporte county, which he has the contract for digging. There is about 9 miles altogether in this ditch, and the land owners wanted a dry land dredge used. These dredges are comparatively new, to this section of the country at least. They operate without a boom, this one having two buckets each of 1% yards capacity. Mr. Yeoman is not familiar with the way these buckets are operated, but the dredge is guaranteed to cut a ditch 12 feet deep and 40 feet wide. It cost $7,000. A track of railroad ties and rails is laid on each side of the ditch and the machine moves along on the track. It cuts a nice sloping bank and deposits the excavated jlirt 15 feet back from the ditch. It is said to do much better work than the old floating dredge with its long boom and dipper, and because of the sloping banks cut by it there Is no caving in. This slope can be regulated at will, and for this reason land owners who are familiar with its work want the dry land dredge used on contracts in which they are interested. The machine is being loaded this week and Mr. Yeoman expects to begin erecting it next week on the Bull ditch.