Any Equipment Operators here?

[Andy]

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Any of you guys run heavy equipment? Just curious. I grew up running heavy equipment. A little of everything but mainly excavator. Did a lot of road building and digging out foundations for houses.

Anyways, if any of you guys are into that stuff, I was just curious.

Andy

[Hughlysses]

Andy- my dad was an operator and I was around that stuff most of the time I was growing up. Most of my life he operated small (1 cubic yard) draglines digging irrigation ponds and drainage ditches. I went to work with him many Saturdays when I was growing up and eventually got big enough to run the dragline. Dad also ran motor graders (as far back as pre-WWII) and pretty much anything else you'd find on a road construction site.

I'm a member of the Historical Construction Equipment Association (HCEA) and hang out on their forum occasionally. Another good forum is the one at <- The Stripmine ->. although it mainly covers LARGE machinery like stripping shovels and draglines.

Hugh

[Andy]

That's great Hugh! Ever heard of the Big Muskie? When I was a kid we used to go visit the coal mine where the Big Muskie was parked. I think that was what they called a "Strip Shovel", right? Here is a picture of it:



I love equipment, and I've actually given some thought to starting a heavy equipment site. I own the domain name I would use, I've just never gotten around to starting it. Sitting at a desk now, I sometimes miss getting behind the controls! However, maybe if I had my own site it would quench my thirst for it

[Hughlysses]

Oh yes, definitely- the biggest dragline ever built. I actually lived in Ohio a couple of years (1983/1984) and could kick myself for not taking the time to ride over and see Big Muskie while it was in operation. Too bad they've scrapped it since.

A lot of HCEA members own antique construction equipment that they've restored or just keep operable. They have a yearly national meet and a few regional meets. I'd love to make it up some year. Maybe I can persuade someone to let me behind the controls of a dragline for a few minutes.

[Andy]

That would be great! It is unbelievable how big that thing is. I cannot imagine designing it. How, someone could lay something that big out on paper, and figure out how everything is supposed to work and where everything is supposed to go.

I live in the Northwest (Seattle and now North Idaho to be specific), but my moms family lives in Zanesville, Ohio. So the Big Muskie and Amish Country are two things we would go see when visiting over there. I was born in 1983!

[Daper Dan]

When I was growing up, I lived about 1/4mile from a large gravel pit in Reno, Nevada on the West side of town. I just kept hanging around and the foreman would try to run us off but being persistant, must have paid off. When I was eleven years old, he had me running a Michigan loader moving gravel from below the conveyor to another pile. I would help start up the rock crusher and follow him around the platform watching the boulders feeding into the hopper and the steel rollers breaking them down.

I retired from the Power Company in Reno (Sierra Pacific Power) where among other things was an backhoe operator. Here in Oregon I have a tractor business for field mowing, post holes, grading, and roto-tilling. I bought an excavator (6000# Komatsu PC-25) for those big jobs most people don't want to attempt by hand.

I have seen several dragline shovels in operation that were operated by hand brakes and clutches spooling the cable in or out. I have seen several about the same size as the one pictured being operated in the open pit mines of Northern Nevada. They are all electric and facinating to watch.

[Hughlysses]

Originally Posted by Daper Dan

I have seen several dragline shovels in operation that were operated by hand brakes and clutches spooling the cable in or out.

That's the kind of machine my dad ran and that I learned to run. It's quite a "dance" to operate one. You've got 3 levers that control clutches (hoist drum, drag drum, and swing) and brake pedals for the hoist and drag drums. The clutches engage to pull the cables in; you control how they feed out with the brakes. You have to be smooth so as not to abuse the machine or tangle the cables. You're moving something ALL the time.

Hydraulic backhoes have almost completely replaced small draglines for the kinds of jobs he used to do. Occasionally you can find someone using a small dragline to dig a pond these days, but it's a rarity.

[Andy]

Thats cool Dan! I would love to have a mini excavator for chores. I like your story of how you started out.

Hugh, that sounds so cool. I would love seeing how one is operated.

[Hughlysses]

Originally Posted by Andy

Hugh, that sounds so cool. I would love seeing how one is operated.

Andy- check youtube when you get a chance. There are probably 20 or 30 videos featuring friction-clutch draglines (and plenty more featuring the immense "walking" draglines used in strip mining coal). Wish I could have gotten a video or two of my dad back when he was operating.