15 Biggest Mining Machines Ever Made
Get ready to be amazed by these 15 mind-blowing printed creations that will leave you in awe! From intricate designs to jaw-dropping details, this compilation showcases the limitless possibilities of the modern MACHINE! Watch how technology and creativity collide to produce stunning works of art that defy imagination. Whether you're a tech enthusiast, art lover, or simply curious about printed creations, this video is sure to spark your interest. Don't miss out on witnessing these incredible pieces that push the boundaries of what a MACHINE can achieve. Prepare to witness the future of innovation unfolding before your eyes
Transcript
00:00With most of our planet's valuable resources being hidden underground,
00:04humans have, for thousands of years, dug into the Earth to retrieve as much as possible.
00:09New technologies have led to the development of larger and more powerful ways to mine for resources,
00:14from diggers to transporters, and some highly specialized vehicles.
00:19Join me for a look at the top 15 biggest mining machines in the world.
00:24Number 15. Bagger 293
00:28Designed and built by the German company TECRAF in 1995,
00:32Bagger 293 is an absolutely enormous machine that holds the record for not only being the biggest mining machine in use,
00:39but as the largest terrestrial vehicle ever constructed.
00:42It's a bucket-wheel excavator, which is a machine that's used in surface mining,
00:46to continuously remove overburden with a wheel of buckets that scoops material as it spins.
00:52Bagger 293 is able to shift around 240,000 tons of soil per day,
00:58and to do this, measures 314 feet or 96 meters tall,
01:02738 or 225 meters long, and weighs almost 16,000 tons.
01:09Amazingly, the bucket wheel of the Bagger 293 is almost 70 feet or 21 meters in diameter,
01:15and has 18 buckets in total that can each hold as much as 520 cubic feet, or 15 cubic meters of material.
01:23It requires 5 people to operate, it runs on an external power source that provides 16 megawatts of energy,
01:29and the entire machine is mounted on 12 caterpillar tracks.
01:32Of course, it doesn't move particularly fast, with a top speed of 33 feet or 10 meters per minute,
01:38but this is more than enough to ensure the buckets are constantly digging through the earth.
01:43Since it was built, it's been in almost continual operation at a brown coal mine near Hamburg in Germany,
01:48and despite the rate at which it's removing topsoil, it's expected to remain in use for at least another decade.
01:59With the sheer amount of material that's excavated from mines,
02:02there's a huge volume that either has to be dumped out of the way, or taken to be sifted for the valuable parts.
02:08One of the preferred ways of doing this, particularly at surface mines, is an ultra-class haul truck,
02:13and one of the largest available is the Belaz 75-600.
02:17Built in Belarus by the Belarusian Autoworks, they are by far the biggest that are used across the former USSR,
02:24at sites such as the Batshki coal-open cast mine.
02:27Measuring 48 feet or 14 meters long, 30 feet or 9.25 meters wide, and 23 feet or 7.2 meters tall,
02:36and it weighs 260 tons, this isn't a vehicle capable of using normal roads,
02:41and instead requires purpose-built routes across the site of the mine to operate.
02:46It's powered by a Cummins engine that produces 3,500 horsepower,
02:50and gives them a top speed of around 40 miles or 64 kilometers per hour when empty.
02:54But that also allows them to carry loads of up to 350 tons at a reasonable speed across short distances.
03:01A fleet of these is vital to continuing mining operations,
03:05and their ability to keep going through almost any weather condition means they're extremely reliable for this role.
03:17Designed and constructed by Komatsu Limited, which is based in Osaka, Japan,
03:21the D-575A3 Superdozer is often referred to as the largest production bulldozer in the world.
03:28It's the third iteration of the series that first debuted in 1989,
03:32and it's a common sight to see at surface mines across the US, Australia, and Japan.
03:36This monstrous machine measures 38 feet or 11.7 meters long, 24 feet or 7.3 meters wide,
03:43and 16 feet or 4.8 meters tall, and it weighs at least 144 tons, and more in certain configurations.
03:51It's powered by a custom-designed 12-cylinder four-stroke water-cooled turbocharged Komatsu engine
03:57that can produce up to 1150 horsepower, and because it's so huge and heavy,
04:02it has to be broken up into component pieces when being taken to a new site,
04:06and is packed onto as many as eight trucks to transport it on public roads.
04:11This effort and the many millions of dollars that they cost are worth it for large mining operations though,
04:17because this Superdozer is able to move up to 90 cubic yards or 69 cubic meters of material in a single pass,
04:24something that can be increased to 125 cubic yards or 96 cubic meters with an optional blade.
04:30It can also dig to a depth of 6 feet or just over 2 meters with a single shank ripper attachment,
04:36something that makes it highly adaptable and ideal for clearing large amounts of surface material.
04:46Once material has been dug from the ground, it then needs to be crushed into smaller parts
04:51to make it possible to see which needs to be kept and refined further, and which needs to be discarded.
04:56There are many different ways to do this, but one of the most adaptable and convenient is by having a mobile cone crusher.
05:02The LocoTrac LT200 is the largest of these available, and measures 51 feet or 16 meters long,
05:099 feet or 3 meters wide, and 11 feet or 3.4 meters tall, and it weighs in at just over 35 tons,
05:15and it's able to move from place to place on a site,
05:18and it's a secondary crusher that's used to break large chunks down into manageable sizes.
05:22And as well as being useful in mining, it's also often used to produce ballast for constructions of railways or asphalt for roads.
05:30Powered by a 415-horsepower CAD engine, it has a Nordberg HP200 crushing unit with a 7.2-inch or 18-centimeter opening,
05:38and the conveyor belt means it can be in almost continuous operation.
05:4311. Terex Bucyrus RH400
05:47Produced by Caterpillar, the Terex Bucyrus RH400 was for a long time the largest hydraulic excavator on Earth.
05:54It was originally offered on sale in Germany in 1997 by Terex, before the mining division of the company was taken over by Bucyrus in 2010,
06:03a company that itself was bought the following year.
06:06With a weight of around 979 tons, it's an absolute monster that measures more than 43 feet or 13 meters long,
06:1429 feet or just over 9 meters wide, and 32 feet or just under 10 meters tall.
06:20It's powered by two diesel engines, which can produce up to 4,400 horsepower,
06:24and they're so large that they require six car batteries just to turn on.
06:29Despite only being able to move less than 2 miles or 3 kilometers per hour, the RH400 has been proven to be incredibly effective.
06:36In a record-breaking attempt that took place in Canada, one of these machines was used to move more than 9,900 tons of material in an hour,
06:44something that more than justifies its $11 million price tag.
06:4910. P&H 4100 XPC Electric Rope Shovel
06:55Electric Rope Shovels, which are also often called Power Shovels, are machines that are used at mines to excavate material and remove overburden
07:03with a bucket that's controlled by winches and steel ropes.
07:06It's a technology that was commonly used before modern hydraulic design became more prevalent,
07:12but some companies still build them, and the largest still in production is the P&H 4100 XPC.
07:18It's made by Komatsu for surface mines around the world, and it measures 49 feet or over 15 meters long,
07:2447 feet or 14.4 meters wide, and 48 feet or 14.7 meters tall.
07:30Marketed as a low-cost option for mines that are working with a tight profit margin,
07:35it's designed to stay in one place while depositing the material it picks up into crusher conveyor systems or ultra-class haul trucks.
07:43To do this, it's able to cut at a height of up to 55 feet or almost 17 meters with a radius of up to 79 feet or 24 meters,
07:52and can dump material with its door open at a height of up to 31 feet or 9.5 meters.
07:57With a bucket capacity of up to 88 cubic yards or 67 cubic meters,
08:02it may not be quite as effective as the larger hydraulic versions,
08:05but it's far more cost-effective at a list price of several million dollars.
08:15Of all the hydraulic mining shovels available,
08:18the one that currently holds the record for the greatest capacity is the Caterpillar 6090FS.
08:23Said by the company to represent the peak of their engineering capabilities,
08:28this twin-engine machine comes packed with features such as an independent oil cooling system,
08:33a closed-loop swing circuit, and a twin-engine design to ensure it can keep operating even if there's an engine failure.
08:39The 6090FS has an operating weight of 1,102 tons and a bucket capacity of more than 100 tons,
08:47which means it's able to completely fill Caterpillar's largest design of dump truck in just four passes.
08:53Of course, to lift such huge weights, the two Cummins engines are powerful and produce up to 4,500 horsepower,
08:59and it's an absolutely enormous machine that measures 44 feet or 13.5 meters long,
09:0432 feet or 9.7 meters wide, and 33 feet or just under 10 meters high.
09:10You won't then ever see one of these on the public roads,
09:13but that's probably for the best considering it only has a top speed of a few miles per hour.
09:23Most of the largest mining vehicles are, understandably, used for open-surface mining,
09:28but that doesn't mean there aren't any monstrous vehicles that are designed to venture beneath the surface.
09:33Of these, the biggest of all is the Danvik DD4-22i, which is a development drill rig.
09:39It's essentially responsible for digging small tunnels to test areas that are thought to be rich and valuable resources,
09:45and the mine operators use them to determine where the next full-scale operations will take place.
09:50The 29-ton machine is 43 feet or just over 13 meters long, 7 feet or 2.5 meters wide,
09:57and just over 10 feet or 3.1 meters tall.
10:00It's powered by a Cummins QSB 4.5 engine and carries a set of hydraulic rock drills
10:05that can be fully automated to make the process as efficient as possible.
10:09Because of the cramped conditions it's designed to work in,
10:12the DD4-22i has an incredibly tight turning circle for a vehicle of its length,
10:17meaning just 12.5 feet or 3.8 meters.
10:21And as it's so often used for work that's far away from other vehicles,
10:24it's also fitted with any spare parts and safety precautions that it needs to keep operating,
10:29such as extra cutter heads and fire extinguishers.
10:36Built by Hitachi, the EX-8006 is the largest excavator that the company currently offers.
10:43The machine has been designed from the ground up to be easily maintained and fixable if anything goes wrong,
10:49with the aim that it's able to operate virtually 24 hours per day,
10:53something that's a valuable feature in mining when work continues around the clock.
10:57Weighing in at 894 tons and measuring around 44 feet or 13.3 meters long,
11:0335 feet or 10.6 meters wide, and 31.5 feet or 9.6 meters tall,
11:09it can be fitted with either a loading shovel or a backhoe
11:12to give it a capacity of up to 1,500 cubic feet or 43 cubic meters in each pass.
11:18It's powered by two Cummins engines that in combination can produce up to 4,000 horsepower,
11:23with the vast majority of this channeled into the digging arm
11:26to offer phenomenal strength when cutting through the ground.
11:29As with other supersized excavators, the EX-8006 isn't the fastest of designs because of its sheer weight,
11:36and even when it's not carrying a load, its top speed is just 1.2 miles or 2 kilometers per hour.
11:42Still, this machine's ability to continuously work means that once it's in position,
11:46it can clear overburden across huge areas,
11:49and it's become an extremely valuable tool at mines around the world.
11:546. Caterpillar 797F
11:58With so much earth that needs to be transported, mines rely heavily on ultra-heavy trucks,
12:03and the Caterpillar 797F is the largest one that the company produces.
12:08Measuring 49.5 feet or 15 meters long, 32 feet or 9.7 meters wide,
12:14and up to 51 feet or 15.7 meters tall,
12:18it's able to carry up to 330 cubic yards or 252 cubic meters of material at a time.
12:25It's powered by a 20-cylinder turbocharged CAT C175 engine that can produce up to 4,000 horsepower,
12:31and is offered with a high-altitude version that works just as well with lower oxygen levels.
12:36And the entire vehicle, without carrying a load, weighs 924 tons.
12:41According to the company, massive strides have been made in its efficiency,
12:45so it offers the lowest cost per ton in its weight class,
12:48and uses up to 10% less fuel than any comparable vehicles from other manufacturers.
12:53Amazingly, even when it's fully loaded, which can add an extra 400 tons to its weight,
12:58the 797F is still very capable of moving quickly,
13:01with a top speed of 39.5 miles or 63.5 kilometers per hour,
13:06something it's even able to maintain on dirt tracks.
13:105. Letourneau L2350
13:14Originally designed and manufactured by Letourneau, a company that was acquired by Komatsu in 2017,
13:20the L2350 was, for a long time, the biggest earth mover on the planet,
13:25and was officially recognized by Guinness World Records for its sheer power and size.
13:30It's a loader that's specifically intended for use at surface mines,
13:34where it loads the ultra-class haul trucks that can carry up to 400 tons of material.
13:39The L2350 itself weighs 260 tons,
13:42and is powered by a 16-cylinder 60-liter Cummins turbocharged aftercooler diesel engine
13:47that produces up to 2300 horsepower.
13:50The standard bucket of the L2350 can hold up to 53 cubic yards, or 40.5 cubic meters worth of material,
13:58and when combined with the powerful engine,
14:00means that it's able to lift loads of up to 80 tons to a height of 24 feet, or 7.3 meters,
14:05and to reach a distance of up to 11.5 feet, or 3.5 meters.
14:09This means it's able to fill a large haul truck in just five scoops,
14:13which is not only highly efficient, but also a surprise,
14:16considering that the L2350 costs somewhere between $1.5 and $2 million,
14:21which means it's cheaper than the haul trucks themselves.
14:254. Bucyrus 2570W Walking Dragline
14:30The Bucyrus Erie 2570W Walking Dragline,
14:34which is known as Big Kate,
14:36is one of the largest machines in use in the United States,
14:39responsible for removing the overburden at open cast mines.
14:43Weighing at around 6,500 tons, it's heavier than 150 Boeing 737 aircraft,
14:49and is more than 220 feet, or 67 meters, high, with a 335-foot, or 102-meter, boom,
14:56and with a maximum operating radius of 300 feet, or 91 meters,
15:00which is the same length as a football field.
15:03At the end of a boom is a bucket with a 115-cubic yard, or 88-cubic meter, capacity,
15:08which is able to carry a payload that weighs up to 167 tons.
15:13The entire structure is sat on top of a tub that's 80 feet, or 25 meters, in diameter,
15:18and walks on two shoes that each measure 72 feet, or 22 meters, long,
15:23and 14 feet, or 4 meters, wide.
15:26It was originally built in 1972, and had been in continuous operation until 2011,
15:31when the decision was made to relocate it to the Bear Run Mine near Duggar in Indiana.
15:36Amazingly, simply moving it 18 miles, or 29 kilometers, required a crew of 20 people,
15:41and took a whole month with it moving just one-tenth of a mile per hour.
15:46Number 3. Caterpillar R3000H
15:50The Caterpillar R3000H is a loader designed for a very specific purpose,
15:56to help remove material from tunnels that are being dug deep underground.
16:00Of course, working in such confined spaces means that the vehicle used in this way
16:04can't be as large as those that operate on the surface.
16:07The R3000H is about as big as it can possibly be, while still being effective and maneuverable.
16:13Powered by a CAT C15 ACERT engine, which can produce up to 400 horsepower,
16:18the machine itself weighs up to 89 tons, depending on its configuration,
16:22and can carry a payload weighing up to 22 tons.
16:25The bucket has a capacity of as much as 15 cubic yards, or 11.6 cubic meters,
16:30and even when fully laden, the R3000H has a top speed of 19.6 miles, or 31.5 kilometers per hour.
16:38As it's designed for use underground, the R3000H also comes with a series of safety features,
16:43such as powerful communications equipment to keep in touch with the surface,
16:47replacement parts, fire extinguishers, and a custom-designed position monitoring system
16:52that's similar to GPS, but still works at depth.
16:55It can be adjusted to carry its various different buckets, too,
16:58and even the tracks can be replaced for wider or thinner alternatives,
17:02making it adaptable to the precise needs of the mining operation.
17:072. Liebherr 9800
17:10Designed and built by Liebherr, mines around the world use the 9800 G6
17:15because of its reliability and sheer size that allows this mining excavator
17:19to move huge amounts of overburden each day.
17:22Measuring 78 feet or 24 meters long, 28 feet or 8.7 meters wide, and 34 feet or 10.3 meters high,
17:30it's powered by two Cummins QSK-60 engines that produce a combined 4,000 horsepower.
17:36It can be fitted with either a face shovel or a backhoe,
17:39and this adaptability is why the 9800 is so popular at mines.
17:43With the face shovel, the machine weighs 893 tons,
17:47offering a shovel capacity of 54 cubic yards, or 42 cubic meters,
17:51and a maximum crown force of 662,000 pound-feet.
17:56Alternatively, the backhoe attachment gives an overall weight of 882 tons,
18:01offers a larger capacity of 62.1 cubic yards, or 47.5 cubic meters,
18:06but a lesser breakout force of 445,000 pound-feet.
18:10The power provided by the engine allows the 9800 to easily traverse tricky gradients,
18:16and a huge amount of effort has been put into the design of the cab
18:19to keep the operator comfortable as they're working,
18:21so they can keep it moving for longer than the leading competitors.
18:25Another smart thing about its design is that all of the important components
18:28are easily accessible through ground-level access hatches,
18:31so that on the rare occasions that a durable part does encounter a problem,
18:35it's easy to reach and replace quickly.
18:38Number 1. Belaz 757-10
18:42Built in Belarus by Belaz, the Belaz 757-10 is an ultra-class haul truck
18:48that for a time held the record as the largest of its type in the world.
18:52It's seen in the country as such an engineering marvel
18:55that it was depicted on their stamps in 2015,
18:58and the vehicles have been constantly produced since 2013,
19:01after becoming the number one choice for a number of open-cast mines worldwide.
19:06Measuring 67 feet or 20 meters long, 32 feet or 9.8 meters wide,
19:11and just over 27 feet or 8.2 meters high,
19:15its wheelbase alone is over 26 feet or 8 meters in diameter.
19:20It features a two-axle setup, but has double-sized wheels,
19:23meaning it uses two huge tires on each wheel.
19:26Unusually, it has four-wheel drive and four-wheel hydraulic steering,
19:30and this gives it a turning radius of around 102 feet or 31 meters.
19:35The 757-10 is powered by two MTU 16-cylinder diesel engines,
19:39which each produce 2,300 horsepower.
19:42They're coupled with two AC alternators and four AC traction motors,
19:46which gives an empty maximum speed of 40 miles or 64 kilometers per hour,
19:50and an impressive economy maximum speed for when it's fully loaded
19:54and on 10% gradient of 25 miles or 40 kilometers per hour.
19:58As for how much it can carry,
20:00the 397-ton vehicle is said by the company to be able to cope with a 500-ton load,
20:06although this comes with limitations.
20:08It has, for example, a relatively shallow bed,
20:11which means the actual volume of material that can be put on it
20:14isn't any more than similar machines.
20:17Where it truly does go further than the rest, though,
20:19is its ability to handle large and heavy chunks,
20:22such as huge boulders or single pieces of overburden that need to be transported away.
20:27And when it's doing that, there's simply nothing else on the planet
20:30that can get the job done anywhere near as well.
20:33The 757-10 has proved to be so successful for BelAz
20:37that the company has invested almost a billion dollars into production capacity
20:40to keep up with demand.
20:42Although with sanctions currently being imposed against the Belarusian economy
20:46because of its alliance with Russia,
20:48BelAz has been forced to scale back on the number it's making.
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21:07BelAz.com