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1 CONC Bruce Nodwell  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1 CONT Bruce Nodwell (born 1914) is a Canadian inventor who invented the Nodwe
1 CONC ll 110, a multi-purpose two-tracked vehicle capable of traversing a wide v
1 CONC ariety of adverse terrain, including sand, mud, muskeg, swamp, and sno
1 CONC w.  In 1970, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
1 CONT
1 CONT Petroleum Pulse February 27, 2006
1 CONT Bruce Nodwell, An Inventor With Drive
1 CONT Bruce Nodwell had an unusual birth certificate: Province of Saskatchewa
1 CONC n, Section 22, Township 36, Range 9, West of the 3rd. Born the son of a ho
1 CONC mesteader on May 12, 1914, he died in Calgary on January 20, 2006. Duri
1 CONC ng the intervening 91 years, Nodwell became the world's foremost invent
1 CONC or of industrial tracked vehicles. His signature offroad machine, the Nodw
1 CONC ell 110, sold more than 1,500 units, primarily to the North American oilpa
1 CONC tch. Half a century later, its direct successor remains in production, alb
1 CONC eit much improved and flanked by a fleet of other models.
1 CONT
1 CONT Foremost Industries, founded by Nodwell and his son Jack in Calgary, h
1 CONC as a market capitalization above $250 million, and operates in Russia, t
1 CONC he United States and elsewhere. Yet success definitely did not come easil
1 CONC y. "I've worn out three or four companies along the way, and quite a few c
1 CONC ustomers, too," the self-educated pioneer once remarked.
1 CONT
1 CONT His father Howard, raised in North Dakota, homesteaded 25 miles west of Sa
1 CONC skatoon (population 500 in 1903) near the village of Asquith at age 16. Th
1 CONC en as now, farming was unpredictable. When hail destroyed a grain crop ju
1 CONC st before harvest, Bruce Nodwell said his parents used the ice to make i
1 CONC ce cream and to his recollection made no complaint about seeing a year's w
1 CONC ork wiped out.
1 CONT
1 CONT His father became a grain buyer, moving frequently from town to town. Form
1 CONC al education, under the circumstances, was erratic. "I never learned a thi
1 CONC ng in school," Bruce Nodwell stated flatly in a private family memoi
1 CONC r. In 1923, the Nodwells migrated from Carmangay in southern Alberta ba
1 CONC ck to Asquith, where Howard bought an interest in a hardware store. The
1 CONC ir 1918 Dodge Touring car, towing a buggy converted into a trailer, travel
1 CONC led on prairie trails used earlier by Red River carts. Colored strips pain
1 CONC ted sporadically on telephone poles marked the route; the only accommodati
1 CONC on was a tent.
1 CONT
1 CONT The hardware store in Asquith sold cars, tractors, machine parts and a n
1 CONC ew apparatus just arriving on the prairies, radios. Working alongside h
1 CONC is dad, the son learned well the knack of making do with what's at hand. B
1 CONC arbed wire fences, for example, made good radio aerials. In 1929, Howard N
1 CONC odwell took over a Dodge agency in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. A ye
1 CONC ar later, he hired out an ageing sedan to a five-member railroad survey cr
1 CONC ew with his son as driver, a job rendered difficult by the vehicle's la
1 CONC ck of brakes. Whenever Bruce Nodwell (then 16) overshot a tight corner, t
1 CONC he head surveyor would remark, "You don't have the brains of a jack rabbit
1 CONC ."
1 CONT
1 CONT By then, the Dirty Thirties had begun in earnest. The Nodwell Dodge dealer
1 CONC ship sold 39 cars in 1929  only two the following year. As economic depres
1 CONC sion and drought ravaged the West  Bruce Nodwell shovelled cinders, s
1 CONC et up pins in a bowling alley, laboured in a powerhouse and on railroad co
1 CONC nstruction, and more. In his mind, to refuse work of any kind became ak
1 CONC in to sin. One contractor took him on as an apprentice, crediting the 21-y
1 CONC ear-old with extra hours in lieu of wages and enabling him to become Saska
1 CONC tchewan's youngest licensed electrician. In 1936, he and his new bride Phy
1 CONC llis moved to Calgary, where they shared a single house with six other fam
1 CONC ilies.
1 CONT
1 CONT The couple took to ranging the three western provinces in a Dodge half-t
1 CONC on pickup, towing a tiny home-made house trailer (five by twelve feet) wi
1 CONC th two other workers. The team specialized in quick construction jobs li
1 CONC ke erecting new service station signs. On one occasion, they were ab
1 CONC le to eat only because a stranger loaned Nodwell five dollars. Another tim
1 CONC e, Bruce and Phyllis fixed a leaking flange on a bulk gasoline tank - fu
1 CONC ll at the time - with a hammer and chisel, being careful to avoid spark
1 CONC s. In exchange for risking their lives, they earned five dollars.
1 CONT
1 CONT In 1938, Bruce Nodwell landed a job constructing a refinery for British Am
1 CONC erican Oil Company, mainly because he had constructed a pipe threading mac
1 CONC hine out of old car parts and was willing to rent out the machine. BA pa
1 CONC id him 30 cents an hour. Two years later, with World War Two destroying Eu
1 CONC rope but the North American economy finally in recovery, he got a better j
1 CONC ob as a construction superintendent for Texaco. Between 1941 and 1947, t
1 CONC he Nodwells had a daughter and two sons.
1 CONT
1 CONT Another man might have settled down but not Bruce. In 1943, he and his bro
1 CONC ther Jack (his older son's namesake) formed Nodwell Brothers Ltd. They wor
1 CONC ked with concrete and steel, erecting bridges, schools and tunnels. To hou
1 CONC se their workers at remote sites, Nodwell Brothers developed the first por
1 CONC table camps. These pioneering units would soon evolve into the wheeled a
1 CONC nd skid-mounted camps used later by oil exploration crews. To boost sale
1 CONC s, the camps were later built by United Trailer, owned by Calgarian Ted Ri
1 CONC back. After ATCO Ltd. began to manufacture similar products, Bruce Nodwe
1 CONC ll and Riback decided that demand was pretty much satisfied in this partic
1 CONC ular sector and looked for other ventures (a market assessment that in ret
1 CONC rospect was remarkably incorrect).
1 CONT
1 CONT In 1947, Imperial Oil Limited struck oil at Leduc, and construction of pip
1 CONC eline gathering systems went into high gear. In just four months, Nodwe
1 CONC ll developed a mobile wrapping machine that would clean steel pipe, pri
1 CONC me it, apply a coat of hot tar and wrap it in treated fabric, all in one o
1 CONC peration. Made mostly from war surplus parts, the machine worked well. Nod
1 CONC well partnered with Banister Construction in 1949 to wrap flow lines at Le
1 CONC duc and Redwater, and then sold two machines along with the patent righ
1 CONC ts to Banister.
1 CONT
1 CONT Imperial Oil approached Nodwell and Riback in 1951 to see if they would bu
1 CONC ild a prototype vehicle capable of transporting a five-ton payload acro
1 CONC ss muskeg. This boggy stuff, very common in the Canadian bush, was severe
1 CONC ly hindering exploration initiatives in northern Alberta. Nodwell creat
1 CONC ed two vehicles following an Imperial design, but neither functioned prope
1 CONC rly. Although the oil company then abandoned the effort, Nodwell decid
1 CONC ed to devote himself full-time to developing a tracked offroad vehicle.
1 CONT
1 CONT He operated as North King Equipment (Canada) Ltd., a name that impli
1 CONC ed it was the subsidiary of an American company because American produc
1 CONC ts were generally deemed more acceptable at that time. Nodwell heavily con
1 CONC verted a Ford tractor into his first prototype, which could operate in whe
1 CONC eled or tracked mode. A rear trailer-like section was also developed. Hydr
1 CONC aulic articulated power steering between front and rear sections prov
1 CONC ed a winner (right), and that feature is still in use today. Overall, howe
1 CONC ver, an Imperial Oil crew found that the first North King prototype cou
1 CONC ld not handle the required loads.
1 CONT
1 CONT The company came up with a second prototype, and sold 16 machines. Agai
1 CONC n, Imperial purchased, as did geophysical companies. But the vehicles sti
1 CONC ll lacked sufficient mobility and were mechanically weak. The army and a
1 CONC ir force each bought one machine. After their initial tests went badl
1 CONC y, an airman and soldier tossed a coin, with the "winning" service forc
1 CONC ed to take both unwanted units.
1 CONT
1 CONT Nodwell came up with yet another prototype, using a two-engine concept th
1 CONC at provided the mobility required in muskeg, as well as snow, water, mud a
1 CONC nd rough terrain. In fact, the machine could traverse muskeg that would sc
1 CONC arcely hold the weight of a man. Even so, it was ungainly, oversized, cost
1 CONC ly to maintain and unsaleable. At that point, Riback backed out of the pro
1 CONC ject. But he provided a loan which enabled his still-determined partn
1 CONC er to launch Bruce Nodwell Ltd.
1 CONT
1 CONT The new firm created three small tracked vehicles called Scout cars, and I
1 CONC mperial gave a grant of $2,000 to develop a powered tracked trailer. In th
1 CONC is project, Nodwell came up with a substitute for a simple loop track. Ins
1 CONC tead he used conveyor belting with an overlap splice. He also invented a d
1 CONC ouble sprocket which made it possible to drive this wide track and also ke
1 CONC ep it in place while using a single row of wheels. The combination of spli
1 CONC ce and sprocket could accommodate tracks 40 inches wide. The Scout car pro
1 CONC vided navigation, while the trailer could haul the required five tons. Imp
1 CONC erial bought 30 of each.
1 CONT
1 CONT The Scout car was still too underpowered to be fully practical. Instead, N
1 CONC odwell set about providing his powered trailer with a cab and differenti
1 CONC al steering device, turning it into a self-operating vehicle. This prototy
1 CONC pe evolved into the Nodwell 110, indicating its payload in 100-pound unit
1 CONC s. California-based Western Geophysical gambled on the new equipment, outf
1 CONC itting an Alaska crew with five drill carriers, two seismic recorder vehic
1 CONC les, a mechanics shop, kitchen unit and sleeping quarters. The tracked flo
1 CONC tilla proved capable of negotiating severe muskeg conditions.
1 CONT
1 CONT Although the developer called his breakthrough creation a "tracked truck
1 CONC ," the industry dubbed it the "Nodwell." (The stripped version at rig
1 CONC ht is typical.) The designer immediately started work on the Nodwell 20
1 CONC 0, essentially a Model 110 coupled to a powered trailer with a long sing
1 CONC le deck above both units and equipped with 48-inch tracks. The new vehic
1 CONC le had a 10-ton capacity, enabling it to haul drilling rigs across muskeg.
1 CONT
1 CONT Nodwell's business setbacks were far from over. Shell Oil Canada, which co
1 CONC mmissioned the first Model 200, aborted the project due to broken sprin
1 CONC gs and steering cables, leaking hydraulic lines and other operational prob
1 CONC lems. About that time, Riback decided to shift into real estate developme
1 CONC nt and called his loan. Robinson Machine and Supply Ltd. bought contr
1 CONC ol of the offroad vehicle business, forming Robin-Nodwell Manufacturing Lt
1 CONC d.
1 CONT
1 CONT As luck would have it, big sales occurred shortly after the takeover, incl
1 CONC uding a $250,000 delivery for South America and a 45-unit order from the U
1 CONC .S. Army. American officers told Bruce Nodwell that they'd never before pu
1 CONC rchased a civilian vehicle without requesting a single modification for mi
1 CONC litary use. Success, it appeared, was in hand at last.
1 CONT
1 CONT But the inventor's creative impulses mixed badly with the new management
1 CONC 's style at Robin-Nodwell and he felt increasingly sidelined within the op
1 CONC eration. In 1965, Nodwell left the firm to join his son Jack in establishi
1 CONC ng a competitor in the same market, Foremost Developments Ltd. This partne
1 CONC rship proved a better match.
1 CONT
1 CONT Born in 1942, Jack Nodwell had been working as an electrician on the porta
1 CONC ble camps since age 14. He learned sheet metal work two years later a
1 CONC nd at 17 shot a company marketing film in Alaska which Foremost still us
1 CONC es as historical footage.  During a summer break from university in 196
1 CONC 2, the student designed and manufactured a tracked farm tractor, registeri
1 CONC ng Foremost as a company one year later. His next machine was even more am
1 CONC bitious; it could plough and condition unbroken virgin land in one pass. T
1 CONC he prototype did work but proved too expensive to operate.
1 CONT
1 CONT When Bruce Nodwell joined his son at Foremost, their initial offroad oilpa
1 CONC tch hauler was the six-ton 6T. Early customers complained about difficu
1 CONC lt steering and gearing, and the fledgling company found itself in seve
1 CONC re financial distress. On a trip to the emerging Rainbow Lake oil pl
1 CONC ay in northern Alberta, Bruce Nodwell had a chance encounter with two Pea
1 CONC ce River contractors, John McMillan and Vern Estabrook, whose $40,000 inve
1 CONC stment saved Foremost.
1 CONT
1 CONT Robin-Nodwell launched a lawsuit against Foremost, alleging that Bruce Nod
1 CONC well had poached trade secrets and customers. Bitter emotions were arouse
1 CONC d, with a number of oil and gas firms supporting Foremost in the form of v
1 CONC ehicle purchases. Jack Nodwell and his bride Leila spent their honeymo
1 CONC on in court, where father and son eventually won on all counts.
1 CONT
1 CONT In 1966, a nine-person trade delegation from the Soviet Union led by an fe
1 CONC deral energy minister named Sashin came to Alberta, and realized that t
1 CONC he novel "snow-swamp" vehicles was tailor-made for Siberia. When the Russi
1 CONC ans visited Foremost, Bruce Nodwell calmly asked the minister if he'd li
1 CONC ke to drive a 6T. His son was horrified, aware of the troubles experienc
1 CONC ed by other novice drivers. But Sashin maneuvered the tracked truck li
1 CONC ke a pro, thoroughly enjoying himself - he'd been a driver in the Red Army
1 CONC .
1 CONT
1 CONT Later, after a marathon two-week negotiation, sometimes running to 14 hou
1 CONC rs a day, the Soviets placed a $1.2 million order for 32 Foremost units. T
1 CONC he breakthrough came a critical time when Canadian oilfield activity had h
1 CONC it a low point. Foremost's bank, concerned that the Russian order would st
1 CONC rain the weakened company, cut its line of credit in half. Bruce Nodwell o
1 CONC bserved that "a banker gives you an umbrella when the sun is shining but w
1 CONC ants it back when it starts to rain." The Soviet order was filled by recru
1 CONC iting support from suppliers and later new investors.
1 CONT
1 CONT Big Russian sales came through again in 1969 and 1970, and Foremost went p
1 CONC ublic the following year. New models found customers as far afield as Sout
1 CONC heast Asia and Iran. In 1976, the firm recovered the trade name "Nodwel
1 CONC l" when its rival folded. Over future decades, Foremost diversified into h
1 CONC eavy oil pumps, pipe manufacturing, drilling systems, tanks and coil tubi
1 CONC ng rigs. In 2001, the company converted to an income trust.
1 CONT
1 CONT Bruce Nodwell became an officer of the Order of Canada. Also, this western
1 CONC er who did not complete junior high school was made an honorary lifetime m
1 CONC ember of Alberta's professional engineering association. He retired in 197
1 CONC 7, and became adept at restoring old cars. His wife Phyllis died in 2004.
1 CONT
1 CONT Oddly enough for such an energetic man, the inventor himself was not a hea
1 CONC lthy person. At 42, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which fail
1 CONC ed to advance for unknown reasons. At his funeral memorial, his son Jack s
1 CONC aid, "He had lots of strange illnesses, many of which one would have expec
1 CONC ted to finish him off. But he would bounce back." Resilience, it seems, ca
1 CONC me as naturally to Bruce Nodwell as mechanical ingenuity.