Garret Wilson has collected and restored antique construction equipment since he was about 20 years old. And on May 1, he found his “holy grail.”
He has a particular love of vintage Schield Bantam cranes, cable-operated machines eventually replaced by the hydraulic excavator.
Ten years ago, he acquired his first, a 1961 Bantam T-350 truck-mounted crane.
Later at an antique equipment show, he found another that he ended up buying, a 1965 Bantam C-350 crawler crane.
Then on May 1, he found what will likely be his new favorite, a Bantam CR-35 wagon crane. The mid-1950s era piece was the precursor to the wheeled excavator.
It also means he has acquired all of Bantam’s cable crane versions: truck-mounted, crawler and wagon.
