stackyFACTSWilliam Albee invented Rolligon tires to conquer the unforgiving, roadless Arctic tundra, but his marketing strategy involved repeatedly running himself over with a heavily loaded truck.
William Albee invented Rolligon tires to conquer the unforgiving, roadless Arctic tundra, but his marketing strategy involved repeatedly running himself over with a heavily loaded truck. These ultra-low-pressure balloon tires distributed weight so perfectly that a multi-ton vehicle could roll right over a person without crushing their organs. It’s an incredibly weird transport flex that solved the problem of moving heavy freight across muddy, fragile terrain.
Keep exploring facts in this topic.
Transport →STACKY FOR IPHONEKeep discovering with Stacky. Interesting facts in an app that is always within reach.
If a heavy steel cable just dragged over a bare metal tower, the horrible screeching sound and friction would tear the system apart instantly. Instead, the…
Discover more
When a lightbulb is eighty feet in the air, you stand in a tiny fiberglass bucket and let a massive hydraulic arm thrust you into the sky. It is a slow,…
Discover more
Charles Lartigue saw camels carrying perfectly balanced loads in Algeria and thought it was a great idea for a train. His bizarre monorail ran on an A-frame…
Discover more
Why are modern roads almost entirely paved with dark asphalt instead of highly durable, light-colored concrete?
Discover more
When multi-ton ocean freighters retire, they aren't taken to a polite recycling facility; they are rammed at full speed onto a muddy beach. Armies of poorly…
Discover more
Because people are incredibly clumsy, those flat moving platforms at airports are legally capped at a snail’s pace. If they went any faster, passengers would…
Discover more