Edward Huber (September 1, 1837, Dover, Indiana – August 26, 1904,

Marion, Ohio Marion is a city in Marion County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in north-central Ohio, approximately north of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus. The population was 35,999 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down slig ...

) was an American

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

and industrialist. Huber established his role in the modernization of American agriculture when he invented a “revolving hay rake” (patented in 1863) that allowed one man to do in three hours what three men could do in a day. Relocating to

, Huber patented his

hay rake A hay rake is an agricultural rake (tool), rake used to collect cut hay or straw into windrows for later collection (e.g. by a baler or a loader wagon). It is also designed to fluff up the hay and turn it over so that it may dry. It is also use ...

and began a full line of agricultural implements. Huber's production lines ran only in second to that of Cyrus McCormick, the inventor of the McCormick reaper. Huber also began to build and market affordable steam tractors, and was the first producer of modern gasoline-powered

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...

s. Eventually, Huber entered the heavy construction equipment market by pioneering the use of weighted rollers on his steam engines meeting the needs of modern road leveling and grading. This company was eventually combine with Bucyrus-based WARCO Industries to form the Huber-WARCO Corporation of America. Huber-Warco was ultimately taken over by Dresser Industries, which closed the production facilities in Marion. Huber, a division of Enterprise Fabrications, Inc., then operated in Iberia, Ohio until 2009 when they were closed after a hostile take over by Louisiana Crane Company. The Huber brand appears to be being dissolved by Louisiana Crane Company. Edward Huber is also known for providing seed capital to Henry Barnhart, who was seeking to build a better steam shovel in the 19th century. Once capitalized and incorporated in 1884, Marion Steam Shovel (later

Marion Power Shovel Marion Power Shovel Company was an American firm that designed, manufactured and sold steam shovels, power shovels, blast hole drills, excavators, and dragline excavators for use in the construction and mining industries. The company was a ma ...

) became the leading producer of shovels and draglines in the United States until cheaper, foreign made products forced the closure of Marion Power Shovel in the 1980s. Nevertheless, Marion Steam Shovel's contributions can not be overlooked and include their use almost exclusively in digging the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

, and

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

's launch creepers that helped move the Apollo Rockets into launch position. Edward Huber died, aged 66, and was interred in St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery, Marion, Ohio.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huber, Edward 1837 births 1904 deaths American manufacturing businesspeople 19th-century American inventors People from Marion, Ohio People from Dearborn County, Indiana Catholics from Ohio Catholics from Indiana 19th-century American businesspeople