Fascination with big machines?

[kann]

Thought this photo fits this thread. This is the main feed pipe from the inlets at Hoover dam, measures 34 feet diameter. We were at Hoover in 2012 when the lake was past full and the overflow was in operation. We took a special tour which included going into the inspection tunnel where this monster pipe was exposed. The sound was deafening.

View attachment 77559

The guy is sitting down because he just shat his trousers...

 

[xyz123]

There's gotta be an online tour guide of these abandoned beasts across the country.

If there's not, there should be.

 

[smellysell]

Tons of draglines at the mine that employed the town I grew up in. Can park 4 full size busses in the scoops of the ones they used.

 

[CigarStone]

One of the first times I met up with people from CP (definitely the first time that wasn't at a restaurant or somewhere else "public") was meeting up with Jeff and a couple other guys in another state and getting on a boat with them all. My wife thought I was insane (and this was before location sharing was so easy) and can confirm, fun was had by all. I had a lobster roll that changed my life that day.

That was a great day! If I remember correctly I smoked so many cigars I got nicotine sick?

 

[{tpc}]

So after they were done with a job, did someone just say “hey leave it over there, we will get back to it later”, and then just never did?

Where’s the scrappers when you need em, seems like there is some money to be had in that metal?

 

[jfields]

Tons of draglines at the mine that employed the town I grew up in. Can park 4 full size busses in the scoops of the ones they used.

That's what I didn't understand about the verbiage they (Wikipedia) used to describe the bucket of Big Muskie if it was the worlds largest drag line that had the worlds largest scoop. The one Jeff's son is pictured in, is tiny by comparison, and it looks as if you could park a few buses inside.

Big Muskie's bucket is all that remains.

 

[smellysell]

That's what I didn't understand about the verbiage they (Wikipedia) used to describe the bucket of Big Muskie if it was the worlds largest drag line that had the worlds largest scoop. The one Jeff's son is pictured in, is tiny by comparison, and it looks as if you could park a few buses inside.

Big Muskie's bucket is all that remains.
View attachment 77614

Yeah, that's not even close to the biggest. The one his son is standing in even is way smaller.

 

[Pugman1943]

Las Vegas "Sphere" crane. Capable of lifting 1600 Ton. Here is the link for great info: https://www.bigge.com/crane-information/demag-cc-8800-1/

 

[jfields]

Yeah, that's not even close to the biggest. The one his son is standing in even is way smaller.

I'm just going by stated facts. Big Muskie is confirmed as the world's largest bucket to this day. Bagger 288 superseded it as the worlds largest vehicle, but it was a wheel bucket design. That was different.

 

[smellysell]

That's what I didn't understand about the verbiage they (Wikipedia) used to describe the bucket of Big Muskie if it was the worlds largest drag line that had the worlds largest scoop. The one Jeff's son is pictured in, is tiny by comparison, and it looks as if you could park a few buses inside.

Big Muskie's bucket is all that remains.
View attachment 77614

I'm confused now, this is the big muskie bucket, right? The one Jeff posted looks bigger and one's I've seen hundreds of times in person are way bigger?

 

[jfields]

I'm confused now, this is the big muskie bucket, right? The one Jeff posted looks bigger and one's I've seen hundreds of times in person are way bigger?

How's this? The last one was just some guy on Reddit saying it was. Does look small. This pic is from some History Channel thing. But, the video and all still implies it was biggest ever. Other than that, Google it bitch!

 

[CigarStone]

I'm confused now, this is the big muskie bucket, right? The one Jeff posted looks bigger and one's I've seen hundreds of times in person are way bigger?

Justin, John @jfields I believe, if I remember correctly, the Big Muskie was the largest "walking" dragline ever built.

 

[CigarStone]

Justin, John @jfields I believe, if I remember correctly, the Big Muskie was the largest "walking" dragline ever built.

I just looked it up. I was wrong. The Big Muskie was the biggest ever built at its time and if I remember it was built in 1961?

 

[CigarStone]

Justin, is it possible the ones you're referring to were built a decade later?

 

[jfields]

I just looked it up. I was wrong. The Big Muskie was the biggest ever built at its time and if I remember it was built in 1961?

I just keep seeing it was the biggest ever built. The thing that is ambiguous is that if you try to search largest dragline bucket ever, Big Muskie is always at the top. But, I can't find anything that says how many cubic yards of overburden this bucket or that bucket could hold. Seems counterintuitive to build what is still the largest dragline to this day and put a small bucket on it. It's like saying you built the world's largest excavator, only to install a regular backhoe bucket on it.

 

[mjolnir01]

Being the son of a coal miner, I guess I should have known competition over dragline bucket size was a thing.

Sept 2023 Article in North American Mining (Linky)

First line in the article acknowledges, ", the now long-retired Bucyrus-Erie 4250-W was the world’s largest ever dragline excavator and bucket, at 220 cubic yards and 240 tons, respectively."

The apple didn't fall too far from the tree, as I guess I'm really just a heavy equipment operator too. Not that big relative to what's out there, but still...

 

[jfields]

Being the son of a coal miner, I guess I should have known competition over dragline bucket size was a thing.

Sept 2023 Article in North American Mining (Linky)

First line in the article acknowledges, ", the now long-retired Bucyrus-Erie 4250-W was the world’s largest ever dragline excavator and bucket, at 220 cubic yards and 240 tons, respectively."

The apple didn't fall too far from the tree, as I guess I'm really just a heavy equipment operator too. Not that big relative to what's out there, but still...
View attachment 77649

I don't believe you Barry......

 

[CigarStone]

So after they were done with a job, did someone just say “hey leave it over there, we will get back to it later”, and then just never did?

Where’s the scrappers when you need em, seems like there is some money to be had in that metal?

I honestly don't know if there was a plan prior to moving one of these units to a mining site.

I know some of the ones in Western Pennsylvania that I used to hunt around were used heavily through the '70s and we're still sitting there as recent as 2015.

As far as scrapping, that would have been an all-new problem. How do you get out into the middle of the Woods and dismantle that thing to the point where you could load it on a truck and haul it away where there are no real roads?

 

[Nate1977]

I honestly don't know if there was a plan prior to moving one of these units to a mining site.

I know some of the ones in Western Pennsylvania that I used to hunt around were used heavily through the '70s and we're still sitting there as recent as 2015.

As far as scrapping, that would have been an all-new problem. How do you get out into the middle of the Woods and dismantle that thing to the point where you could load it on a truck and haul it away where there are no real roads?

Call the people from gold rush in?

 

[kann]

I honestly don't know if there was a plan prior to moving one of these units to a mining site.

I know some of the ones in Western Pennsylvania that I used to hunt around were used heavily through the '70s and we're still sitting there as recent as 2015.

As far as scrapping, that would have been an all-new problem. How do you get out into the middle of the Woods and dismantle that thing to the point where you could load it on a truck and haul it away where there are no real roads?

Not sure if there would be a positive ROI for the contracted scrapper, but helicopter. Cut that sucker up like they do in ship breaking, and helicopter out the pieces to a staging area where they can be put on trucks.