Soon after the end of World War 1, three Andersen brothers arrived in the United States from their native Risor, Norway. These three brothers, Tengel, Thomas, and Arthur Andersen came to the US to seek their fortune. They were to play an important part in developing earthmoving attachments for the Oliver-Cletrac crawler and wheel tractors.

The story of these innovative brothers will be told in two parts since their contributions to the industry spanned several decades at several different locations.
Tengel, Thomas, and Arthur were sons of Torje and Karen Andersen. A total of nine children were born to this union.

Tengel and Thomas Andersen will be the main characters of this story. Arthur will play an important role in the next story. There is a connection between these two stories that will come as a surprise to many of our readers.

Thomas K. Andersen was born on April 1, 1898. He migrated to the US in 1922, settling in Port Richmond, Staten Island, NY. Thomas had studied to be an electrician in Norway. It is not known if he pursued a career in electricity for any length of time after his arrival to the US. Thomas was a very brilliant man and was constantly inventing and experimenting with things. He often had little sleep when he was consumed by an idea. One of his earliest inventions for the earthmoving industry was a front bulldozer blade and a rear dirt scoop known as the Bull Scoop. These were first mounted on the Fordson tractor. However, the Fordson tractor was very limited in what it could do. Thomas then built a Bull Scoop and a dozer blade for the Caterpillar Ten crawler tractor. Driving the tractor forward filled the Bull Scoop. When it was filled, it was lifted and then transported to the desired area and then dumped.

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