Lodal Load-a-Matic front loader, with E-Z Pack body and improved welded-channel lift arm
THE DAYTONA FLYER
In 1961, a refuse contractor named Jack Young was awarded a contract for $254,000.000 to collect refuse for the City of Daytona Beach, Florida. Young was $60,000.00 under the nearest bidder, thanks to a system he devised to efficiently collect refuse using container trains pulled by an International Harvester Scout. The homemade container trains, consisting of three cars, were periodically emptied by Lodal front loaders, summoned by radio-dispatch, and then immediately returned to their collection routes. The long trips to the dump were made only by the Lodal "mother trucks", which also handled commercial containers in the business areas.
Although the system could not be patented, Young joined forces with Lodal to market the system as a package, which was dubbed the Lodal Daytona Flyer system. Although imitated by competitors, the Lodal triangle coupler was better suited to the train system, since there were no side or bottom fork pockets to interfere with the axle and wheels of the container cars. This early innovation was good for Lodal, providing an added sales angle for their Load-a-Matic. The system soon spread to other communities in Florida and the Southeast United States. Eventually, cities as far away as Detroit, Tucson, and Scottsdale were "aboard the train". The latter community, striving for ever-increasing efficiency, created the worlds first fully-automated collection vehicles from a pilot-project using a converted Lodal unit in 1969.
In 1963, Lodal made the first changes to their loading arms, replacing the original radius-rod design with a more robust box-channel type. The new arm used two cylinders on each side to move the arm itself, and an a pair of small cylinders to rotate the shaft holding the triangle. 8-yard containers could now be handled, with loads up to 6,000 pounds. In 1965, the growing company moved operations from the original shop in Norway to a larger factory at nearby Kingsford, Michigan. The Hydro E-Z Pack bodies were soon being equipped with bubble-type tailgates for increased loads, and by 1968 had been replaced with an all-new Lodal-built body. The high-compaction, roller-platen body with bubble tailgate was available in sizes up to 32-cubic yards.
The original small-wheeled train created by Jack Young of Daytona Beach in 1961
Ormond Beach, Florida adopted the Young/Lodal train system in 1964. Truck is a '63 Dodge C-Series LCF, and has the new style lift arm
Ormond Beach also used carry-buckets with riding steps for some routes
Like many train cities, Tucson, Arizona used the International Scout. However, any light-duty truck would work.
Side extensions with drop-down doors made container-car sizes of 8-cubic yards optional
Lodal "torture test"; overloaded container cars taken off-road to prove durability
Train system was used in Lodal hometown of Norway, Michigan. The company moved to nearby Kingsford in 1965
In 1969, Scottsdale, Arizona converted this retired 1964 Load-a-Matic into "Godzilla", an experimental automated loader
Circa 1963 Load-a-Matic video courtesy of Michel Ferro
Lodal designed and built their own Load-a-Matic (LAM) bodies, replacing the original Hydro E-Z Pack units around 1968.
