New Way Rear Loader     Following close on the heels of the Minni-Packer, The New Way Rear Loader was actually built upon the same basic body design. Like the side loader, it had the open front section, auto-locking tailgate and telescopic ejection cylinder. Vertical ribs reinforced the rear loader versions, which were offered in 11, 13 and 16-yard capacities. A slide-sweep type tailgate utilized external in-line packer cylinders with a hopper volume of 1.75 cubic yards. Optional automatic cycling could also be manually over-ridden by the operator if needed.     The rear loader underwent only minor changes in its first decade or so, with a 20-yard version eventually joining the line. At the other end of the scale, even smaller versions down to 6-yards were added for trucks in the 1-ton range. Norman Melos' only known patent was was filed in 1973 for a refuse container/dumper for use on job sites and factories, with an onboard compactor. In 1984, the company was sold to John McLaughlin, becoming a subsidiary of his Scranton Manufacturing, a producer of farm equipment. Melos assisted in transitioning the company from Des Moines to Scranton, Iowa. The next decade some more minor improvements to the product line, most notably larger versions of the rear and side loaders. Early-model New Way rear loader, which was built around the existing Minni-Packer side loader design Slide-sweep packer had provisions for fully automatic cycling New Way was one of the first companies to offer auto-locking tailgate on a rear loader, which was standard The rear loader had many minor refinements over its early years, and could be custom-outfitted Interior of the body, which was derived from their side loader Norman Melo's patented self-dumping stationary packer unloads into a Leach Packmaster By the 1990s, the rear loader body bracing had shuffled, tailgates were streamlined Under Scranton's ownership, smaller and narrower rear loaders were introduced The original series rear loader grew to 25-cubic yards; New Way was no longer just a 'Mini' SELECTED PATENTS Patent # Description Inventor Assignee Date US3861298 Refuse handling device Melos May 2, 1973 6/9/19 © 2019 All Rights Reserved Logos shown are the trademarks of respective manufacturers Photos from factory brochures/trade advertisements except as noted