EXHIBIT 5.1





                                                    May 15, 1995



 Terex Corporation
 500 Post Road East
 Westport, Connecticut 06880


 Ladies and Gentlemen:

                  We  refer  to the  Registration  Statement  on Form  S-8  (the
 "Registration  Statement")  to  be  filed  by  Terex  Corporation,  a  Delaware
 corporation  (the  "Company"),  on or about the date hereof with the Securities
 and Exchange  Commission (the "Commission") in connection with the registration
 under the  Securities  Act of 1933, as amended (the  "Securities  Act"),  of an
 additional  300,000  shares of the Company's  common stock,  $.01 par value per
 share (the "Common Stock"),  reserved for issuance pursuant to the terms of the
 Company's 1996 Long-Term Incentive Plan (the "Plan").

                  We are familiar with the Restated Certificate of Incorporation
 and the  By-laws  of the  Company  and have  examined  copies of the Plan,  the
 resolutions  adopted by the  Company's  Board of  Directors  and actions by the
 Company's  stockholders  pertaining  to the  Plan,  and  originals  or  copies,
 certified or otherwise identified to our satisfaction, of such other documents,
 evidence of corporate action, certificates and other instruments, and have made
 such other  investigations  of law and fact,  as we have  deemed  necessary  or
 appropriate for the purposes of this opinion.

                  Based  upon  the  foregoing,   it  is  our  opinion  that  the
 additional 300,000 shares of Common Stock reserved for issuance pursuant to the
 terms of the Plan have been duly authorized and, when issued in accordance with
 the terms of the Plan and upon payment of the purchase price therefor,  will be
 validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.

                  We  hereby   consent  to  the  use  of  this  opinion  in  the
 Registration Statement. In giving this consent, we do not thereby admit that we
 come within the category of persons whose  consent is required  under Section 7
 of  the  Securities  Act  or  the  Rules  and  Regulations  of  the  Commission
 thereunder.


                                          Very truly yours,

                                          /s/ Robinson Silverman Pearce
                                              Aronsohn & Berman

                                          ROBINSON SILVERMAN PEARCE
                                          ARONSOHN & BERMAN LLP