The man who revolutionised hydraulics

23 October, 2018

4. If he had a unique idea for a product that he could not figure out immediately, he left a small piece of paper on the corner of his desk describing the problem. He looked at the piece of paper every day until he figured out the solution. Nowadays, that’s called ‘focusing’.

5. When a new gerotor product was patented, he always told salespeople to “get out and sell – the patent is only good for 17 years”.

6. He believed strongly in dual distribution: “Two or more distributors competing with each other is stimulating, healthy, and will continue.” Yes, Buck Charlson was a unique man. From him, our industry learned to expand unique technology to help us develop and produce innovative and competitive products. He believed in encouraging the ‘A’ team and to instil in them a sense of drive and competition. Our industry would not be the same today if it not for Lynn ‘Buck’ Charlson.

David E Thun (retired), Power Systems.

 (My thanks to Nancy Nelson, president of Charlson Meadows, and Harley Bergren, Power Systems’ founder, and George Beniek, the latter two, former employees of Char-Lynn, for their help in gathering information for this article.)

Image -  Lynn L ‘Buck’ Charlson (1909 – 2004).