1880s

In 1884, Alonzo Pawling and Henry Harnischfeger found Pawling & Harnischfeger
(P&H) Machine and Pattern Shop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.

   

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1890s
In 1891, Thomas Robins founded Hewitt-Robins, developing the first practical conveyor
system for moving heavy and abrasive materials utilizing steel, in line idlers and rubber
covered belting.
In 1895, when a recession cooled the demand for overhead cranes, Pawling &
Harnischfeger begins to develop a product line that includes earth-moving machines.
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1900s

 
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1910s
In 1910, Pawling & Harnischfeger developed a line of earth-moving machines for
construction and mining operations.
In 1914, the Harnischfeger Corporation is founded.
In 1919, Joseph Joy founds Joy Machine Company in Evansville, Indiana, U.S., and
receives a patent for a mechanical loader.

       

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1920s
In 1920, P&H launched the Model 206 excavator, the first in a long line of best-selling
shovels for surface mining.
In 1920, Joy debuted the first mechanical loader (model 4BU).
In 1921, Joannes Montabert founded Montabert S.A. in Lyon, France, as a
manufacturer of pneumatic equipment.
          

     

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1930s
In 1930, P&H is one of the first manufacturers to apply all-welded design and fabrication
to its equipment.
In 1934, the Harnischfeger Fund is started with $50,000 from the estate of Henry
Harnischfeger to support civic and cultural groups in Milwaukee.
In 1935, Suzanne Montabert led an expansion of the Montabert product line and adds
the Joy-Sullivan line of products.
In 1938, Joy shipped its first shuttle car (model 2ET-1D).

         

     
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1940s
In 1942, P&H increased production of shovels, cranes and hoists to support the World
War II war effort.
In 1946, Joy merged with Sullivan Machinery Company and LeDel Conveyor and
Manufacturing Company. Two years later in 1948, Joy produced its first continuous
miner (model 3JCM) and revealed the high-seam shuttle car (model 10SC).
In 1948, Stamler is founded and supplies feeders and feeder-breakers around the
world.
In 1949, Roger Montabert, managing director of Montabert, initiates new product
engineering through the creation of a Research and Development Department.

         

   

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1950s
In 1952, Komatsu began production of motor graders.
In 1954, P&H rolled out the Model 1800 electrical mining shovel; mines refer to this
model as the "Pride of the Pit."
Joy shipped its first 10SC shuttle car in 1952, built the first 1CM continuous miner in
1953 and produced the first 18SC shuttle car in 1958.
In 1959, Continental Conveyor & Equipment Co. is formed in Winfield, Alabama, by
former employees of Continental Gin Co.

   

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1960s
In 1965, Komatsu began production of wheel loaders.
In 1968, P&H launched the 2800 Mark I class shovel, featuring a new Electrotorque
drive system, designed to meet the world's growing demand for coal, iron and copper.
In 1968, Komatsu began production of hydraulic excavators.
In 1969, Joy introduced the low-seam shuttle car (model 21SC).
During the 1960s, Montabert made a number of expansions in its business and mining
solution offerings:
 Created Export Department and Montabert subsidiaries in Europe in 1961.
 Introduced the first parallel boom assembly for underground drilling, known as
the "burn cut" method in 1963.
 Pioneered the first-ever hand-held jackhammer powered by hydraulics in 1965.
The transition from pneumatic to hydraulics led to more advancements in the
hydraulics industry.
 Introduced the first hydraulic rock breaker, BR500, that could be attached to an
excavator, beginning a successful hydraulic rock breaker product line. The
hydraulic rock breaker came available worldwide.
          

         

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1970s
In 1971, Joy shipped its 10,000th shuttle car to a customer.
In the 1970s, Joy and Montabert introduced a number of significant underground and
hard rock mining solutions, including
 The world's first hydraulic out-of-the-hold drifter in 1970 (Montabert)
 High-seam (12CM series) and low-seam (14CM series) continuous miners in
1972 (Joy)
 Longwall shearer (model 1LS) in 1976 (Joy)
 Flexible conveyor train (model 1FCT-3BH) in 1976 (Joy)
 The first complete longwall system designed in the United States in 1978  (Joy)
 Custom tunneling solution, using multiple booms on multiple drilling rigs, which
allows simultaneous rock breaking in a semi-circular pattern, in 1978 (Montabert)
        

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1980s
In 1984, Goodman Conveyor Co. is formed.
In 1986, Joy created a low-seam shearer (model 4LS).
In 1987, Montabert introduced its first variable breaker. The full variable breaker product
line now includes eight models, which are the only 15-speed breakers in the world.
In 1988, P&H acquired the Page Engineering walking dragline product line.

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1990s
In 1994, Joy shipped its 5,000 10SC shuttle car.
During the 1990s, a number of acquisitions finished, enriching the mining solutions
available from P&H and Joy:
 P&H acquired the Gardner-Denver line of production drilling rigs in 1991
 Harnischfeger Industries purchased Joy Mining Machinery in 1994
 Joy purchased Longwall International in 1997
The P&H, Joy and Montabert brands also introduced a range of mining solutions during
the 1990s:
 High-seam shearer (model 6LS) in 1990 (Joy)
 4100C electric mining shovel in 1991 (P&H)
 9020 walking dragline in Australia and 120A blasthole drill, which becomes the
preferred blasthole production rig for iron mining, in 1996 (P&H)
 First VFD shearer (model 7LS) in 1997 (Joy)
 BRV 65 model in 1999 (Montabert)

   

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2000s
In 2000, Joy Mining Machinery shipped its 5,000th continuous miner.
In the 2000s, the P&H, Joy and Montabert brands introduced many significant
equipment and solutions to the mining industry:
 Mid-seam high-voltage continuous miner (model 14CM27) and two other
machines in 2000 (Joy)
 Thinnest VFD shearer (model 7LS1A) in 2001 (Joy)
 4100C Boss electric rope shovel, specifically for the growing oil sands industry in
2001 (P&H)
 High production flexible conveyor train (model 4FCT) in 2002 (Joy)
 Centurion Electrical Control system for electric rope shovels in 2004 (P&H)
 OptiDrive for in-use shearers, continuous miners and flexible conveyor trains and
machine-to-surface communications for room and pillar operations in 2004 (Joy)
 SC range of light breakers for compact carriers in 2004 (Montabert)
 Wethead system for continuous miner cutterheads in 2005 (Joy)
 Faceboss control system in 2006 (Joy)
 320XPC Centurion-class heavy-duty drilling rig in 2006 (P&H)
 4170C mobile mining crusher in 2008 (Joy)
 Blue Line/N-Series, a value-based rock breaker line for lighter duty applications
in 2009 (Montabert)
In addition to expanding its solutions, Joy Mining also purchased the Stamler Group in
2006 and opened its first Smart Services center in South Africa to serve customers.
In 2008, Joy Mining Machinery purchased Continental Conveyor, Hewitt-Robins and
Goodman Conveyor.
In 2009, Hewitt-Robins and Goodman Conveyor merge to form Goodman-Hewitt.
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2010s
In 2010, P&H Mining Equipment launched the PreVail machine health monitoring
system.
Joy Mining Machinery purchased a number of companies in the 2010s including:
 LeTourneau Technologies in 2011
 IMM in 2011 (in China)
 MGI in 2014 (in Canada) and
 Montabert in 2015 (in France).
In 2012, P&H Mining Equipment and Joy Mining Machinery become Joy Global. 
In 2017, Komatsu America Corp., a subsidiary of Komatsu Ltd., completes its
acquisition of Joy Global Inc., adding the P&H, Joy and Montabert solutions to
Komatsu's offerings.
In 2019, we're celebrating 100 years of the Joy brand and innovation in underground
mining. In 1919, Joseph Joy revolutionized the industry with his mechanized mining
machine. We remain committed to providing the reliability we are known for while
finding new ways to help our customers move forward.
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Company information
Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Komatsu Mining Corp. is part of the global
Komatsu family of companies; indispensable partners to the mining, forestry, industrial
and construction industries. Komatsu Mining provides essential equipment, systems
and solutions used by companies worldwide to extract fundamental minerals for
developing modern infrastructure, technology and consumer products.
Komatsu Mining Corp. is home to the industry-leading P&H, Joy and Montabert
equipment and service brands for mining and related industries. The company’s history
in Milwaukee dates back to the origin of the P&H brand in 1884.
Globally, Komatsu has more than 60,000 employees in 142 countries. In the United
States we employ nearly 8,000 directly and nearly 10,000 indirectly through distribution.
With service centers and manufacturing facilities across the globe, we aim to be near
areas of major mining activity to support our customers directly and collaborate
regularly.
Komatsu was founded in Japan in 1921, but our brand histories date back even further,
to 1884 in Milwaukee, WI, USA, where the P&H mining brand was founded and is still
headquartered today. Our leading Joy brand of underground and hard rock mining
solutions was founded in 1919 in Indiana and is now headquartered in Warrendale, PA,
USA.

https://mining.komatsu/company/our-company/who-we-are/our-brands/p-h (ini)

In the beginning
The P&H brand history began on December 1, 1884 when Alonzo Pawling and Henry
Harnischfeger launched their partnership with a contract and a handshake and got to
work making industrial castings and machinery components. Several years later, the
company began making overhead cranes, followed by their first “digging machines” in
1914.
In 1920, the company developed the Model 206 – a crawler-propelled power shovel
equipped with a ¼ cubic yard dipper – the first highly successful P&H earthmoving
platform, propelling the company into the construction and mining industries. During
World War II, the company focused on making shovels for iron ore, copper, bauxite,
coal and other mining applications that supported the war effort, cementing P&H’s place
in the mining industry.
In 1954, the company rolled out the Model 1800 electric mining shovel, equipped with
electronic control, centralized AC motor drive, and nominal eight cubic yard dipper
capacity. This model became so popular in the mining industry that the shovel became
known as the “Pride of the Pit.”

A series of acquisitions
In 1988, the walking dragline product line of Page Engineering - the creators of the first
practical dragline in the industry - was acquired. With this start, the company was able
to fully understand the high-capacity needs and expectations of walking dragline
operations, allowing it to develop the ideal dragline: the 60 cubic-meter-class P&H 9020
which quickly garnered orders from Australia and Canada.
In 1991, the Gardner-Denver line of large production drilling rigs was acquired. After
significant upgrades, the product line evolved into a full line of blasthole drills that are
the most powerful and reliable drills in the market, handling difficult operating
environments such as arctic conditions, high altitude, and weak power grids with ease.
The company also quickly became known for its robust electric rope shovel product line.
The 4100 series introduced significantly greater payloads and ease-of-maintenance
features that eclipsed all other shovels in the marketplace.  The launch of the 4100C
BOSS, with its special crawlers, created a shovel that was perfect for the growing oil
sands operations in Canada. Later, an in-pit crushing and conveying system was
introduced – featuring a mobile mining crusher that matches the shovel’s capacity and
robust crushing-conveying technology – representing an exciting new material handling
strategy option for mines.  This mining system uses far fewer trucks, resulting in up to
30% less equipment and consumable costs.

Combining two giants

In 1994, Harnischfeger Industries (later known as P&H Mining Equipment) purchased
Joy Mining Machinery. The two companies continued to operate independently.
In 2011, LeTourneau Technologies, Inc. - the world’s leading manufacturer of large
wheel loaders for surface mining with the industry’s largest model sizes and payload
capacities - was acquired. Now selling under the P&H brand, the redesigned Generation
2 wheel loaders provide the best possible fuel consumption levels due to the power
regeneration capacity of our proprietary SR Hybrid Drive technology.

Continuing the innovation

Also in 2012, the introduction of an industry first – a hybrid excavator – blends the high
productivity of electric mining shovels with the mobility and flexibility of diesel hydraulic
excavators. This machine delivers a 65-ton payload and can perform four-pass loads of
240-ton trucks.
The P&H brand continues to be the undisputed leader in surface mining equipment,
used in virtually every major mine worldwide. The brand’s product line continues to grow
and provide solutions to mining’s toughest challenges