Farming revolutionized with inventor's vision, work
PALOUSE, Washington (STPNS) -- My father, who was quite an innovative inventor, once told me that all inventors became just that out of laziness. I don't think that is true but it has some merit.
A person must find a need to make something work better, be easier, more efficient in order to come up with the reason for inventing a contraption to help.
Such appears to be the case with Raymond Alva Hanson, who was recently honored at a dedication in Palouse at Heritage Park for his invention of the self-leveling attachment for combines that made farming the Palouse Hills much more practical. One of his first jobs as a teenager was to stand on the combine platform and adjust the machine to the lay of the land - a very tedious and hot job.
"There has to be an easier way," he said and at the age of 19 he came up with the self leveling switch for combines. He built ten self-leveling mechanisms in 1945. "A mercury switch controlled a vacuum-operated cylinder to level the separation mechanism."
"It isn't always easy to get folks to accept new ideas," Charles Peterson, emeritus interim dean and professor of agricultural engineering, said at the dedication of the beautiful plaque attached to a beautiful stone Sunday. Hanson had to not only overcome the physical limitations of his invention in 1942 but also the social.
"Hanson went out much like a Fuller Brush salesman," Peterson said, "talking to farmers during lunchtime." Hanson built and sold about 2,000 of his switches by going farm to farm, talking to the farmers during their lunch breaks and asked if he could install them for a trial period. If they didn't like it, he'd come and take it right off. No farmer ever asked to have it removed, Peterson said, and in 1946 the RAHCO Company began. The only complaint he got was that it leveled "too much." When the farmers leveled the machine manually they were a little slower and not as accurate. The new machine would move to its level too quickly and miss a little of the grain in the process.
Over the years Hanson worked at perfecting this invention (along with hundreds of others) and applied for another patent in 1993 for the leveling switch which worked out a few of the bugs in a machine that had already revolutionized farming on the Palouse.
Aicha Elshabini, dean of the University of Idaho's College of Engineering - Hanson's alma mater, presented the award, along with guest speaker Chuck Peterson. Peterson worked with the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers to obtain the historical agricultural engineering landmark designation. He said the seed of idea for Hanson's honor began about 15 years ago and took much research and work to complete.
"Dr. Hanson's ability to look at the majestic Palouse hills and not only see their beauty, but to also recognize that the sloping hills presented a challenge for farmers and to visualize a solution, that is something we try to instill in our engineering students ," said Elshabini. "As an engineer, I certainly have great respect for Ray's technical achievements, but, in the two years I have had the opportunity to know him, it is his humanity that captivates and fascinates me. I can attest that he is a wonderful man who can tackle any obstacle in life and rise to any occasion. His spirit of innovation and kindness make him a role model, and I hope I can impact generations as he has."
The invention of the self-leveling mechanism was only the beginning for Hanson. He went on to become a world renowned leader in design and manufacturing solving problems in not only farming but canals, roadways to evaluate construction methods in native desert soils. He developed machines with automated controls to hold direction, grade and cross level and developed self-powered, automated slipforms for specialized work in slope pavement and canal work.
Hanson's canal machinery designs have been used in over 50 countries and were responsible for major portions of the world's land reclamation work. He was given the U.S. Department of Commerce's coveted "E" and "E-Star" awards given to firms by the President of the US for outstanding export success, the highest honor American companies can receive.
He developed an automatic gravel-cleaning machine and worked closely with the Air Force to develop systems and techniques for continuous, horizontal, large-diameter, concrete conduits for the MX Missile Horizontal Shelter Test Project under Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan.
Hanson created the innovative pipeline backfilling machine operated along the Trans-Alaska pipeline project, according to the booklet handed out at the Sunday dedication.
The U.S Department of Reclamation contracted Hanson's company to design exand construct one of the largest gantry cranes in the world (2,000 ton) for the Grand Coulee Dam Third Power House. The dam is the fourth largest producer of hydroelectricity in the world.
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