1. MY ENGINEERING + INVENTIONS

Cradle Snatcher

Yes… General Motors came to my father and told him that they’re going to start to change the way they make cars. They won’t have the Chrome bumpers anymore and they’re going to use plastic on the outside were the bumpers used to be. They need a new way to tow the cars because conventional towing would damage the plastic if a conventional tow truck was used.

The rubber sling type which would damage the new plastic bumpers.

I already had the idea to towing by the tires, using the shocks of the car in combination with the stiffer shock-absorbers on the tow truck, would also reduce the stress on both the car and the back of the tow truck itself while going over bumps.

To me, it just makes common sense to me.

I cannot explain how these things pop into my head. My dad sometimes got jealous that I was able to do this.

I can still do it today . So if you have some kind of impossible mechanical problem, just ask me.

www.BookMEin.net and let’s talk about it If you care going to make money on the idea that I give you I want the same thing my dad always gave me. 10% of the sales of whatever it is used in.

I am one of those guys who can dream it up, see the finished product in my head, sketch it down so most people would understand what popped into my head, build the prototype a model to show how it will work) hand it to a great Engineer who can do the actual design but that is not enough Then you need a company who can build it from the design test it to make sure it works, then test the market to make sure you can sell it for a profit.

Usually the guy who comes up with the original idea, gets the least about of money unless you sign a contract.

And for that you need a really good lawyer. Just in case you wanted to know what the process is. But I can help you with most of that stuff and be careful who you tell because, most people will try to steal it from you.

My father came up with an inprovement to mine hence the sling and the cradle snatcher was born. I created the idea behind this mechanism to the right when I was 13. Not bad for a kid, eh???

My father was also the first one to figure out how to tow two cars at the same time using my invention, and another new invention on the top.

The towntruck of the future

It took me 3 seconds to come up with an idea, 10 minutes to sketch it out, 5 seconds for my dad to understand it,
(I was too young to be an engineer) but my dad showed it to his boss. He loved the idea and then it was designed by my dad and produced by Vulcan Equipment Canada and we changed the way cars were towed forever.

Modification to the towntruck

Later we added colors and other toys. It didn’t have a name yet in the picture to the left.

I didn’t come up with the name cradle snatcher but tow truck drivers loved the product. We listened to what our distributors told us and made the modifications to the tow truck, to make it more appealing to both the tow truck independents and the big companies.

Key Innovations and Ideas

The company my dad was working for made Billions.

I remember that Vulcan Equipment, at that time was on 95 Research Rd. We had a prototype within 6 months and had sold a whole whack of them to the Police.

I am very sorry to admit to the fact that you can thank me for designing the first town truck, that could tow a car out of a parked place because 20,000 after that.

Modification to the towntruck

Later models were made with fancier colors and other newly improved features. My dad came up with many innovative variations to what this thing could lift.

We created the world’s first tow truck that could take a car out of a parked place. This venture with my dad and I, put Vulcan on the map. I regret having come up with this idea. The police forces around the world particularly liked this one.

Helicopter landing pad for U.S. NAVY

Vulcan

Then those tow trucks got bigger and bigger

HOOK LIFT, VULCAN SOLD THIS FOR TWO MILLION, BACK TO A FRENCH COMPANY WHO LICENCE IT TO US ORIGINALLY.

IF THEY WAITED JUST 4 YEARS THEY COULD HAVE SOLD IT FOR 20. But let’s not forget the Alm kids were running the show now, they had no idea what they were doing. It DIDN’T TAKE LONG TO FALL APART. 

Here are a few other things I designed and built without my father’s assistance

I have 4 patents. As far as I am concerned, I have two too many. Do you know how long it takes to get a U.S. Patent? 1 Year. In Canada 12 years!! 12 Years!!! What the heck!

What did i do 25 years ago?

This self powered solar trike, specifically designed to provide additional power to the extra batteries; which I added to the trailer to extend it’s range
(I added another solar panel to the top & added a solar trailer)

The trailer can be detached and re-attached to something else like a regular bicycle to be used as a power source for a campsite or to power a laptop and a cell phone.

The trailer hitch is lockable but now I am working on a lighter solution. I believe such a vehicle could be used in small towns for the postman, a visiting nurse, older people just to get around. Tourist organizations to make groups more mobile. I can figure out how to even carry camping gear to take a small trip out of the city and even to pull children on their bicycles when they get tired.

The Handy-Hoist bike and Tandem Lifting Assistant

I designed the handy-hoist in 3 seconds, It took 3 years to get a patent and 4 guys from the government to screw up a deal. Here a petite woman illustrating how easy it is to lift a bike onto the top of a car with great ease. After producing the prototype, I found a partner by mistake who develops their own stamping forms for the automotive industry. He took one look at the device and said, “I will be your partner,” and he started to manufacture and produce it. I went in on weekends to help and we made a  more beautiful-looking unit—and that’s the one sitting on top of my old car when the model came to demonstrate it.

And the only reason that Canadian tire ordered so many was I know the owner of one of the Canadian tire stores who told me that I could demonstrate my product for free outside his store which was a pretty big store and I got lots of people that were interested in it including the corporate executives at Canadian tire.

50 years ahead of it’s time. Canadian Tire Ordered 19,000 units and in the middle of the deal told us to provide them with a colours box. Just before the signing of the deal, my mother got sick and I had to walk away from the deal..

Because I was also the new product development guy, I came up with the tandem lifter prototype which by the end when we decided not to produce this product because of the dangers of the consumer not installing these properly on their vehicles and the insurance company giving us scenarios the types of accidents that could happen. We decided not to go through with the project in the end and a Chinese dentist bought the tandem version is seen here below and he was the happiest guy in the world because he was able to lift it up onto the top of his minivan by himself. Even though we had to make him an extension rod to be old to push the bike up and we made it spring assisted because his tandem was so heavy. But it worked extremely well.

Has a U.S. and Canadian Patent This one above was the tandem lifter. One was made to see if a short Chinese person could lift it up onto a minivan It worked.

Vulcan military version

Later there was a military version created but by this time there were too many people working on this project and Vulcan screwed it up but that is just my opinion.

It is not the one above. The one above is beautiful. It is also european. I spoke with a military liason and he told me that this hook lifts are amazing because it is only a target when it is carrying something.

2. JOINT VENTURES WITH MY FATHER

The best welder in the business Jeff Hooper

This Was Mounted on the body of pick-up Track

3. MY FATHERS ENGINEERING ONLY