OPERATING IN THE FIELD

McLanahan Log Washers Still an Industry Staple after More Than a Century

The Log Washer was invented in 1891 by Samuel Calvin McLanahan, the second generation of family ownership of McLanahan Corporation, to remove clay from gravel, various types of ores and crushed stone to improve the quality of the material.

Samuel Calvin’s design featured paddles bolted to squared-off tree logs, which is how the Log Washer got its name. The paddles on the counter rotating log shafts agitated the material to facilitate particle-on-particle scrubbing as well as moved the cleaned material toward the discharge end. Liberated clay was removed with the wash water from near the feed end of the machine.

“It was quite an invention, and we still manufacture it,” said Michael McLanahan, Chairman of McLanahan Corporation’s Board of Directors and Samuel Calvin’s great-grandson.

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How the Log Washer Got Its Name: The History of Log Washers

The late 19^th century brought about an invention that would change the mining industry, and later the aggregate industry, forever. The Log Washer was designed to remove clay from gravel, various types of ores and crushed stone to improve the quality of that material for making stronger concrete, producing quality iron ore for blast furnaces, etc. It was not designed to wash logs as the name seems to imply.

So how did the Log Washer get its name? To answer that, let’s take a look at the history of the Log Washer, starting with its inventor, Samuel Calvin McLanahan.

Samuel Calvin McLanahan: Innovator and inventor

Samuel Calvin McLanahan’s illustrious life as an innovator and inventor began at an early age. The son of James Craig McLanahan, one of the original founders of what is now McLanahan Corporation, Samuel Calvin developed the company’s first accounting system when he was 14. At age 18, he was single-handedly operating the Wheel Press and Car Wheel Boring Mill – a two-man job. After serving in the United States Navy for six years during the Civil War era, Samuel Calvin returned to the family foundry and machine shop business, where he produced all the drawings, estimates, contracts and correspondence, as well as designed and built a four stroke 100-ton blowing engine used in foundry blast furnaces to increase melt temperature.

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