From our August 24, 2000, edition.

Terex scraper to be unveiled Friday 

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

The new Terex S-17E Elevating Scraper, built here in Clarendon, will be publicly unveiled this Friday at 1 p.m. on the east side of the Courthouse Square.

The prototype of the S-17E Terex Elevating Scraper was tested on the campus of Clarendon College last week.  The locally built machine will be unveiled Friday afternoon on the east side of the Courthouse Square. Enterprise Digital Photo

US Rep. Mac Thornberry will be the featured speaker during Friday’s unveiling. Other elected officials will also be in attendance as will representatives from the Scotland company.

The S-17E prototype was produced by Terex Equipment Ltd. of Motherwell, Scotland, and Clarendon Manufacturing & Distributing Co., Inc. For three days last week, the prototype underwent testing on the west edge of the campus of Clarendon College, where it moved approximately 10,000 yards of dirt. The machine reportedly performed up to expectations and did its job extremely well.

The S-17E will compete head to head with similar models produced by Cat, company officials say.

The new scraper has a 17cu. yd. capacity and has several design advances for the elevating scraper market. The tractor section of the S-17E is manufactured in Scotland, and the elevating scraper section is built locally by Clarendon Manufacturing.

Clarendon’s operations director, Stan Leffew, says two more units are scheduled for this year, and Terex is looking at six for next year. The local firm hopes to land a contract to produce 50 of the new scrapers for Terex.

As a result of the partnership with the Scottish firm, Clarendon Manufacturing is projecting up to 70 new jobs to be created in the coming year, along with the construction of a new manufacturing facility. The resulting economic impact will not only benefit the residents of Clarendon and Donley County but also surrounding communities.

Officials with Clarendon Manufacturing say they are happy to be in a position to draw attention to the tremendous assets available in this area.

“We are pleased to be working in partnership with Terex in developing the new line of Terex Elevating Scrapers,” said general manager Darrell Leffew.

Terex Equipment has been a manufacturer of construction and mining equipment since the early 1900s. The company originally manufactured equipment under the Euclid name before becoming a division of General Motors in the 1960s. In the 60s and 70s, the Hancock Division of Clark Equipment in Lubbock  built Terex’s elevating scrapers. Terex has not had an elevating scraper in its equipment line since the early 1980s.

Since 1971, Clarendon Manufacturing has been building tow-style elevating scrapers for the agricultural market. The general manager of Clarendon Manufacturing, Darrell Leffew, has been remanufacturing and converting the Hancock, Michigan, Clark, and Terex machines for use as agricultural equipment for almost 30 years.

For more information, contact Darrell Leffew at 806-874-3584.