Susan assured me that we would not want to miss the National Towing Museum during our visit to Chattanooga. She was right. Who wouldn’t like to see the very first tow truck or a collection of beautifully-restored examples?
Not to mention the Towing Hall of Fame, honoring members of the towing community who went above and beyond, like George.
OK, maybe this museum isn’t for everybody, but I hope you’ll enjoy a few photos.
Ernest Holmes was the first guy to realize that there was money to be made towing automobiles out of ditches. His design for the towing crane is clever. The two halves can separate, one on one side of the truck, and one on the other. The truck could be anchored to a tree or something so that it didn’t fall over when pulling a car up a hill. See the photo below showing how this was done.
Notice that the rear wheels are sturdier than the front because they have to carry additional weight.
The O’Hares were a class act!
The military still used the Holmes “split crane” in this WW II era truck.
Some fun stuff spread about the museum.
There seem to be three major crane manufacturers: Holmes, Weaver, and Manley.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Towing Hall of Fame ⭐️⭐️⭐️
