 
Equipment Manufacturing, Inc.
Detroit, Michigan
by Eric Voytko
The short-lived Quad-O-Matic appeared in the early fifties and was at once both a throwback to the earliest refuse loaders, and a foreshadowing of things yet to come. Quad-O-Matic was not a packer, but a mechanically loaded dump body in the tradition of the Colecto, the pioneering 1930s side-bucket loader. Whereas Colecto utilized a single bucket, the Quad-O-Matic had four; two on each side, all operable independently.
The buckets were track-guided, and hoisted by cables to the top of the body where they were inverted and emptied their contents into the body. Controls for the buckets were located in the cab and on the side of the body. In transit, the buckets remained stowed in the top position to form a cover over the load.
One of three 25 cubic yard Quad-O-Matics ordered by Brookline, Massachusetts in 1952
The Quad-O-Matic body was constructed of lightweight aluminum, and a hydraulic hoist emptied the body by gravity through an automatically unlocking end gate. Though lacking a compaction feature, this body style was still quite popular at the time. The Quad was particularly suitable for collecting separated garbage, which has a higher density than mixed garbage and combustible rubbish.
The Quad-O-Matic was one of the last mass-produced bucket loaders, and after a short run, was gone by the end of the decade. However, its concept would be resurrected over twenty-five years later. During the 1980s, the need arose for a collection truck to handle separated, dense materials of another type: recyclable glass, plastic and paper. Thus, the modern recycler body would emerge looking and functioning very much like the Quad-O-Matic of the 1950s. These successors to the Quad would feature internally partitioned bodies and 'tucked in' side buckets that could remain lowered during travel. Many would also have compaction blades. It is a tribute to the Quad-O-Matic that these bodies were so similar in function and appearance to theirs.
THE TRASHTAINER SYSTEM
Just as the Quad-o-Matic was becoming antiquated, Equipment Manufacturing introduced a model in 1959 that was so advanced, it's hard to believe it came from the same company. They completely redesigned the body as a full-pack hydraulic side loader, and replaced the four fixed troughs with a detachable container system. Dubbed the Trashtainer system, it used special wheeled 2-cubic yard containers which could be emptied into the generous hopper from either side. Combined with hydraulic compaction and ejection, Equipment Manufacturing now had one of the the most modern refuse trucks in the industry, just as containerization was becoming popular.
Despite the fresh update, Equipment Manufacturing Inc. bowed out of the refuse body business shortly thereafter. In 1961, the identical system would be marketed by Marion Metal Products as the Hydropaka-Q Trashtainer system.
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1/2/11 (revised 6/22/24)
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