Hall of Fame Inductee
Class of 2013
LeRoy Hagenbuch
LeRoy Hagenbuch, co-founder and president of the engineering firm Philippi-Hagenbuch, introduced the first commercially available tailgate, the Autogate, for off-highway haul trucks. Hagenbuch is credited with other inventions and refinements, as well, including specialized liner packages to mitigate the weight consumed by liners and on-board weigh systems commonly found on haul trucks. A recent patent of Hagenbuch’s refines rear-ejection technology, allowing operators to push the load from the back of a haul truck instead of raising the bed.