Petersen has over 60 years of experience manufacturing knuckleboom loaders. The first Lightning Loader® for bulk citrus was introduced in 1957, and we’ve manufactured thousands of them since. In the mid-1970’s, Petersen was asked to design a knuckleboom that could be used for loading bulky trash. The result was a trash loader concept that has been improved and refined over time. Since we do not manufacture any other product, we are exclusively focused on trash loaders and citrus loaders. Petersen’s lengthy manufacturing experience allows us to focus on quality and safety while continuing to bring you the best and most diverse product line available.

With the exception of 3 or 4 engineered items, Petersen manufactures all other major components, including most hydraulic cylinders. With complete CNC machining and fabrication facilities, Petersen is able to control every aspect of schedule and quality control. These capabilities, along with a factory installation that integrates the loader, trash body and truck chassis into an optimized system for oversized trash collection; is what separates us from our competition and provides the customer with a single point of responsibility for the performance of the system.