Classic Refuse Trucks LEACH

Various Leach Rear Loaders

The Leach rear loader product line, consisting of the 2-R Packmaster, Sanicruiser and Standard Packmaster, remained virtually unchanged through 1984. The 2-R became the undisputed king of high compaction rear loaders having captured over 50% of the U.S. market by the late 1970's. Among all rear loaders (low, mid and high compaction) Leach had garnered an astonishing 35 to 40% share of the market. Hopper capacity for the 2-R was eventually up-rated from two to three cubic yards. This change appears to have had more to do with how the industry rated hopper capacity, than any actual changes to the design.

Leach had also been exporting their refuse trucks around the world since the 1950's. Standing out amongst worldwide sellers were Lacre, which sold both the Standard Packmaster and the 2R under the Lacre-Leach name in England, and Schorling in Germany. It was the latter that perhaps sowed the seeds for the takeover of Europe by the 'slide-sweep' rear loader method. The Schorling 2-R was one of the first slide-sweep designs to hit the continent and became a popular bulk loader. Schorling constantly improved the 2-R, producing even more advanced versions than were available in America. The German company was quite proud of demonstrating their machines power by feeding it small automobiles, which it consumed without effort. Like America, the slide-sweep method is now prevalent in Europe as well

Furniture is merely a light lunch for the mighty 2-R Packmaster

Residential refuse, bulk items and commercial containers are all serviced by a single 2-R Packmaster. The 80 x 56 inch hopper opening easily accommodates just about anything likely to be set at the curb. Operators typically crush furniture and white goods in the hopper before fully packing them into the body

This British Lacre 2R Packmaster hoists an 8 cubic yard skip using an overhead winch

A Lacre Standard Packmaster from 1976. U.S. models were designated "S-II" in the 1970's

Fittingly, the slightly larger Sanicruiser models were designated "SC"

1978 Sanicruiser from a Leach brochure

A 2-R Packmaster in front of the Unisphere at the 1964 New York Worlds Fair

A White conventional for CRT's 2-R 50th Anniversary edition

From Germany; a Schorling 2-R makes quick work of an old Goggomobil.
Few , if any rear loaders could match the power of these machines

Photo courtesy of Michel Ferro

Even this larger Volkswagen is no problem for the 2-R

23 February, 1978; Leach delivers the 10,000th 2-R Packmaster. The historic body was a 25-yard
unit sold to the Caramango family and Commercial Removal Co. of Southfield, Michigan.
At the time, it was a milestone that few (if any) refuse bodies had likely ever achieved

REFERENCES

Solid Wastes Management/Refuse Removal Journal, March 1978, page 15
10,000th Leach 2-R Marks an Industry Milestone

10/4/09 (updated 3/8/21)