17 Awesome All-American Inventions for DIYers

BOBCAT SKID STEER LOADERS: BORN IN A TURKEY BARN

Eddie Velo had a problem with turkeys, or rather with the mess they made in his barns. In 1956, Eddie asked Louis and Cyril Keller to build him a loader to help clean out his barns.

The mechanical loaders available at the time were too big and unwieldy, so the Kellers built a compact three-wheeled loader and tested it out in Eddie’s barns.

In 1960, the more familiar four-wheeled M400 was introduced, and skid loaders quickly went from poultry barns to practically everywhere. They’re called skid steers because the wheels don’t turn to steer. Instead, the wheels on each side rotate at different speeds, which causes a skid.