Then and Now
The Fresno Scraper was invented in 1883 by James Porteous who, having worked with farmers in Fresno, California, had recognized the dependence of the Central San Joaquin Valley on irrigation and the requirement for a more efficient means of constructing canals and ditches in the sandy soil.
In perfecting the design of his machine, Porteous made several revisions on his own and also traded ideas with William Deidrick, Frank Dusy, and Abliah McCall, who invented and held patents on similar scrapers.
Porteous bought the patents held by Deidrick, Dusy, and McCall, gaining sole rights to the Fresno Scraper.
The design of the Fresno Scraper forms the basis of most modern earthmoving scrapers, having the ability to not only scrape and move a quantity of soil, but also to discharge it at a controlled depth, thus quadrupling the volume which could be handled manually.
