Ed Kouri founded Bemars Inc., building a broad range of front loaders in Montebello, California, just 25 miles southeast of the S. Vincen Bowles factory. The name "Bemars" is an amalgamation of the first names of the founders' wives. Kouri, a former shop foreman at Bowles, had built may of the earliest production front loaders that hit the streets in the early 1950s.
The firm enjoyed a reputation for high quality construction, and the Bemars half-pack front loader was extremely popular in California and several other western states. Twin, single-stage pack cylinders were angle-mounted at the front. Bemars also made a full-pack version, as well as a lightweight and economical top-pack model. The latter featured a short blade that cleared only the upper part of the hopper area.
BEMARS HALF-PACK
Far and away their most popular model, the half-pack combined light weight and high capacity. Single stage packing cylinders were efficient and reliable, and their location (ahead of the blade) protected them from direct contact with the load. The truck shown below is believed to be the first Bemars front loader ever built, a 1962 half-pack delivered to Obradovich Disposal of El Segundo.
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Scott Blake identifies this truck as a half-pack model. The unusual bracing/construction of the hopper side walls indicates this was probably a wide hopper version, to accommodate lift arms that were fitted with side-forks.
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A standard-width hopper with flat forks and over-the-wheel lift arms, as commonly seen in the 1960s (Dana Gregory)
Standard hopper with OTW lift arms ad side forks, with a somewhat narrow width. Rearview mirrors
automatically retracted
as the lift arms passed by the cab (Dana Gregory)
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Vintage video of a 1964 Bemars front loader owned by Haul-Away Rubbish of Montebello, California
Special thanks to John Beliakoff, Sr. and Zachary Geroux
This later model half-pack has over-the-cab (OTC) arms and side forks (Dana Gregory)
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Big Diamond Reo tandem with half-pack and flat forks, which were more commonly used in western states (Dana Gregory)
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BEMARS FULL PACK
Here are some rare shots of the big Bemars full-pack. These were basically the same as the half pack, except full-travel, telescopic packing cylinders were used in place of the single-stage rams, and the body panels were heavily reinforced to withstand the high pressures encountered in this type of front loader.
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BEMARS TOP PACK
The top pack front loader was perhaps the first "ultralight" front loader, and also required a minimum of maintenance. The short, top mounted blade kept the hopper cleared, and imparted mild, churning pressure as the body filled.
An early Bemars top-pack with horizontal cylinder mounted in the cab shield.
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Top pack with "carry bucket" for hand-loaded residential collection (Zachary Geroux)
This 1966 Bemars top-pack owned by Southern California Disposal was actually still in reserve duty as late as 2008. The packer panel is actuated by a single ram which can be seen protruding through the cab shield, just above the windshield. A complete photo and video documentation of this truck is available here at CRT in the SCD Classics album.
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1960s Bemars roll-off on a Mack chassis (Scott Blake)
