Raymond Alvah Hanson (December 10, 1923 – February 18, 2009) was an American engineer and inventor from

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

. He held over 100 patents, and created and produced equipment that was used on the Trans-Alaskan pipeline, canals in over 50 countries (including the California Aqueduct System) and the self-leveling control for hillside Combine Harvesters.

Background

Hanson was born in

Potlatch, Idaho Potlatch is a city in the Northwestern United States, northwest United States, located in North Central Idaho, north central Idaho in Latah County, Idaho, Latah County, about east of the border with Washington (state), Washington. On the Palouse ...

in 1923, the son of Ray and Orda (Hensley) Hanson. The family later moved to the hills around

Palouse, Washington Palouse is a city in Whitman County, Washington, Whitman County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 1,015 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. History Palouse was first settled in 1869 by William Ewin ...

. Hanson attended the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

, majoring in electrical engineering. In 1941, while farming in Palouse, he combined his engineering and farming knowledge in search of a better way to harvest the fertile but often steep slopes found in that area, leading to his first invention, the self-leveling control for hillside

Combine harvester The modern combine harvester, also called a combine, is a machine designed to harvest a variety of cultivated seeds. Combine harvesters are one of the most economically important labour-saving inventions, significantly reducing the fraction of ...

s. By 1945 the first self-leveling mechanisms were built.Today@Idaho - News Article
/ref> Hanson founded the RAHCO Company to build self-leveling mechanisms, and since then, the company has grown into a major international player in the design and production of custom commercial machinery systems. RAHCO estimates that automatic leveling has saved at least 3% of grain harvested on lands where combine leveling is needed, worth millions of dollars each year. Hanson subsequently began adapting the ideas and principles he had developed into further construction machines used for canal, highway, dam, and airport construction, including the largest canal finishing machinery in the world for the California aqueduct, the world's largest 2,000 ton gantry crane used in the

Grand Coulee Dam Grand Coulee Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation water. Constructed between 1933 and 1942, Grand Coulee originally had two powerhous ...

power plant project, and equipment that has been used on the Trans-Alaskan pipeline project. Hanson has designed and marketed major construction machinery in more than 50 countries, with contracts totalling over $150 million. Hanson died on February 18, 2009.

Personal life

Hanson was married to Lois. At the time of his death, he had six children, 20 grandchildren and 24 great grandchildren.

References

"Hanson was ‘in this world to do things’ Innovator who helped build up Spokane Valley dies at age 85"
The Spokesman-Review 02-23-09
"Famous Palouser will receive recognition for numerous engineering achievements"
The Palouse Boomerang! Newspaper 07-03-08

by Nicholas K. Geranios Associated Press Writer
Ray Hanson, Biography
* "My Memories Of Raymond A Hanson," Peter A. Kerwien, Amazon Books

External links

City of Palouse, Washington's websiteUniversity of Idaho College of Engineering's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanson, Raymond Alvah 1923 births 2009 deaths American manufacturing businesspeople University of Idaho alumni 20th-century American engineers 20th-century American inventors People from Latah County, Idaho People from Palouse, Washington