I think it is stuck (pic)

[JayDavis]

Hey, here is a picture from where I work. This electric dragline was sitting on a "bench" of spoil dirt digging out the bottom of the pit when the ground under it started to slough down.

For scale, those dozers are D10s I believe. The dragline boom is 310ft long and weights somewhere between 7 and 13 million pounds. Just remember next time you are stuck.... it could be worse. Enjoy.

 

[mjncad]

Any idea where this OOPS occurred? I'm guessing Wyoming.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Jay, could you post a pic of your Fiat also? I don't see very many of them around. Actually, I think I have only ever seen one. Most are Fiat made Hesstons.

 

[TomOfTarsus]

Some days nothing goes right! You can also get a good idea of the size of that thing looking at the stairs, deck, and access door on the (unintentionally) elevated end of the machine.

These monsters are awesome. 18 years ago, right after I joined this company, we designed a flywheel-motor-generator set for the (then) largest crawling dragline in the world. The flywheel weighed 10,000 lb, and the whole M-G set acted as part of the counterweighting in the rear of the machine. I never got to see the machine in person, as it was in Australia, but the M-G set was something. When you supplied high pressure oil to the bearings ("oil lift"), a single person could turn the 10,000# flywheel and both attached rotors by hand!

Thanks for the pic!

 

[EddieWalker]

Very IMPRESSIVE !!!!

I love that show called Mega Machines. They should do an episode on that machine and how they get it back to level ground again. I know I'd watch it.

Thanks for the picture,
Eddie

 

[ray66v]

Hey, here is a picture from where I work. This electric dragline was sitting on a "bench" of spoil dirt digging out the bottom of the pit when the ground under it started to slough down.
.

I hope there is more to this story. The need for well packed firm ground under a behemoth like this, is well known and rather obvious.

 

[N80]

I'd prefer not to be the dozer digging under the back of that thing!

 

[DreaminGreen]

Yup definetly stuck... NOT delayed. Wonder if the operater had to clean his shorts.

 

[JayDavis]

This is in a coal mine in east Texas. It is the largest dragline in operation at the mine. I don't know if it operates on the spoil side of the pit normally, but the draglines rarely get stuck, and this is the first time it has been this bad. The dozer are pushing dirt from behind it to the front, filling in the pit to keep it from going forward. Now I believe they are using excavators to dig out from under the back a little at a time so it rocks back slowly. I believe they are shooting lasers from different angles to measure its movement. M.S.H.A. inspectors were on site that day, so they must have given the ok to start moving material from around it.

The dragline moves by a set of feet on either side (things up in the air in the pic), attached to cams. So when the cams rotate they pick the feet up and back, setting them back on the ground and partially lifting the rear of the machine. As the cams keep turning it drags the machine backwards. Not seen in the picture is its bucket which, if I remember, holds about 120 yards of material.

Lastly to Robert, the tractor I have was my grandpa's, a FiatAgri Hesston 90-90. Here is the only pic of it I have on hand....this is a tractor forum after all, might as well be a little on topic. She is awfully muddy. She was mucking out a 10ft wide x 20ft long (10ft + 10ft ramp) x 7ft deep hole that had some water in it from a rain. She got washed off and greased afterwards. Currently she is at a shop in Sulphur Springs, TX getting a new clutch assembly and her steering reworked, and whatever else I can afford to have replaced. She has 2700 hours and is about 24 years old.... oh yeah, I have since found where papa hid the side access panels and put them back on.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Thanks for the pic. I don't mind a little mud on the tractor. There were not very many Hesstons sold even though they were good tractors.

I did manage to find one parked on the next road over. Who ever owned it did some work to it and either replaced the motor or added something to it as it had some home made alterations to the sheet metal. I couldn't go look it over too well as it was parked on posted property.

 

[xlr82v2]

JayDavis,

What size machine is that? I can't tell if it's a Marion or a B-E... What model #?

My Dad was a dragline operator at Consol Burning Star #3 here in SW Illinois until it closed in the 80's. He parked it in the spot where she was torn down. He was originally hired at the mine as a welder to build that very machine.

You guys have a pretty hairy situation going on there... best of luck with it, and be careful!

 

[mjncad]

This type of dragline is called a "walking dragline." Mega-Excavators showed one walking...impressive. The show also had images of two bucket wheel excavators passing each other like ships in the night in Germany's Rhineland. It was totally surreal watching those machines on the move.

 

[Pennsylvania Weldor]

Prior to my retirement from my welding business, I did lots of repair on heavy equipment. Nothing like this drag-line though. There are a few large machines here in PA however. Most are idle in the coal fields. A guy near Scranton owns 5 of the world's largest dozers, the Komatsu 575, rated at 1150 HP. I want to see one in operation. Blade is 24 ft wide. According to a former shop boss at a Komatsu dealer, he told me they will drop a blade 6 ft in the ground and never stop.

Largest dozer American made is the D-11 Cat rated at 850 HP.

 

[daTeacha]

There used to be the world's biggest dragline here in Ohio, but the mine wasn't paying off so they scrapped the thing. It was called "Big Muskie". The bucket could hold 220 cu. yds. of material. When they scrapped it, they saved the bucket as a tourist attraction.

 

[Z-Michigan]

Someone should edit the photo to have "FAIL" written across the bottom...

 

[Robert_in_NY]

There used to be the world's biggest dragline here in Ohio, but the mine wasn't paying off so they scrapped the thing. It was called "Big Muskie". The bucket could hold 220 cu. yds. of material. When they scrapped it, they saved the bucket as a tourist attraction.

The Wishbone from the Bucket is making tours around here also as a traveling memorial to the Big Muskie. If I find the pic I will post it from the local tractor show.

 

[RobJ]

Yall will love these....

YouTube - Giant Komatsu D575A dozer

Check out the huge ACCO Road Grader..

Largest Graders - Heavy Equipment Forums

 

[xlr82v2]

Someone should edit the photo to have "FAIL" written across the bottom...

Maybe I'm not in the right frame of mind, but, I don't get it???

 

[Z-Michigan]

Maybe I'm not in the right frame of mind, but, I don't get it???

It's an internet expression, simply symbolizing failure...

 

[xlr82v2]

Ah, Ok. My Dad was a coal miner, and an operator of a dragline like this one, albeit a little smaller (B-E 1150) for many years... and I just wasn't seeing any humor in this situation.