The largest dragline working in North America is the Bucyrus-Erie 2650-WS “Big Muskie”. It was previously owned by the Central Ohio Coal Co. and it is located near McConnelsville, Ohio. The Big Muskie is the world’s largest dragline excavation machine ever built.
Its bucket was the size of a two-story house and was capable of removing up to 240 tons of material in one scoop. The machine was made up of a 220-foot tall tower, a crew cab, and a bucket of over 94 cubic yards.
The bucket was 43 feet wide and 24 feet deep. This colossal machine was powered by four 800-horsepower electric motors. The Big Muskie was retired in 1991 after working for 24 years. It was decommissioned and taken apart, the bucket was turned into a memorial.
All the remaining parts of the dragline were used for recycling and scrap metals.
Who makes the biggest dragline?
The Escondida Mine in Chile currently holds the record for the biggest dragline in the world, with a bucket capacity of 115. 5 cubic metres. This piece of mining equipment is manufactured by the P&H Mining Equipment company.
The 115. 5 cubic metres dragline from the Escondida Mine is six times bigger than the average dragline bucket capacity of 19. 5 cubic metres and can move around 240,000 tonnes of material per day. It is powered by two diesel-electric engines with two 6,250 hp each, making it one of the largest machines of its kind in the world.
The dragline is used to excavate large amounts of minerals, sand, and gravel smoothly and efficiently, making it an important part of the efficiency and productivity of the mine in the long-term.
Where is the Big Muskie dragline?
The Big Muskie dragline, located in Ohio, was once the largest single-bucket digging machine ever created. It was decommissioned in 1991 and is no longer in use. The Big Muskie was created by the Central Ohio Coal Company and was used for mining coal from the ground.
It stood at the height of 22 stories and had a weight of 13,500 tons. The dragline was situated in what is now the Township of Perry in Perry County in the southeastern region of Ohio. It is estimated that Big Muskie moved over 635 million cubic yards of coal from the surface in its lifetime.
Today, the Big Muskie is a memorial to all draglines once used in coal mining and also serves as a piece of coal mining history, rarely seen in other parts of the midwest region of the United States.
Where is the Ace of Spades dragline now?
The Ace of Spades was a dragline excavator that was used to strip mine coal in the Black Vein Coal field of Kentucky and Southern Indiana between 1964 and 1975. The machine was originally owned by Bucyrus-Erie Company but was eventually sold to The Ohio Valley Coal Company.
The Ace of Spades was the largest dragline ever manufactured and had an operating radius of 128 feet.
The Ace of Spades was subsequently sold to Ohio Machine and Scrap Corporation and moved to their facility in Romeville, Ohio. The machine was restored in the 1990s and put on display but was eventually sold again in 2001 to its current owner, the River & Rail Equipment Company of East Liverpool, Ohio.
It is now pulled out of storage for special appearances and resides at the River & Rail Industrial Park in East Liverpool.
Why was Big Muskie scrapped?
Big Muskie was the world’s largest dragline ever built and operated, and it was used for surface mining in Ohio’s coal fields in the 1970s. Unfortunately, its massive size and capacity also made it too expensive to maintain, and its operation was hazardous, both to its workers and the environment.
As a result, its use was eventually discontinued and it was sold to a salvage company in 1991.
The main reason Big Muskie was ultimately scrapped was due to the cost of its maintenance and operation. Its sheer size and complexity made it incredibly costly to maintain and operate, and there were increasing regulations and restrictions that further limited its use.
In addition, it was responsible for significant amounts of environmental damage. Its bucket could move 240 tons of earth in one scoop, and it caused large areas of surface mining that destroyed large swaths of land, as well as air and water pollution.
As a result, the Ohio government imposed more and more restrictions on its operation, and eventually it became too costly to continue running.
Ultimately, Big Muskie was an incredible feat of engineering and an interesting historical artifact, but its cost and potential for environmental destruction led to its demise.
How much is a dragline worth?
The cost of a dragline depends on a variety of factors, including the size of the machine, the condition of the equipment, and the size of the project. The price range can vary widely, from around $200,000 for smaller machines to well over $1 million for larger draglines.
The exact cost of a dragline will depend on a number of factors, such as the size of the digging area and the kind of digging job required. For bigger projects and bigger draglines, the cost could be much more than the basic amount due to the need for additional equipment and accessories.
Additionally, the cost of moving and transporting the dragline to the work site can also add to the overall cost. Ultimately, the exact cost of a dragline will depend on a variety of factors, including the size of the machine and the size of the project.
How did they move the Big Muskie bucket?
The Big Muskie bucket, which weighed more than 67 tons and measured nearly 22 meters in width, was moved to its current location in Dawes Arboretum in 2013. It was moved in a very unique and impressive way.
First, the Big Muskie bucket was loaded onto a special trailer and moved to the arboretum, which was actually a very long drive. The trailer was specially designed to support the weight and size of the Big Muskie bucket; it had a steel base with 4 axles, two in the front and two in the rear.
The axles were tied together with six hydraulic jacks for support.
To move the Big Muskie bucket, a large crane had to be used. The crane supported the bucket with cables that were attached to its sides and bottom. This made it possible for the crane to move the enormous bucket into position at the arboretum.
Once the bucket was in place, workers did some further preparation. They dug a foundation and poured concrete to secure the bucket in its new location.
The Big Muskie bucket moved to its current location in a stunning testament to the power of engineering and teamwork. It was truly an incredible feat to move something so large and heavy over such a long distance.
How many draglines are there in Australia?
As the number of draglines in Australia is constantly changing. According to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics as of April 2020, there are 22 active draglines in Australia. This includes two in New South Wales, five in Queensland, six in Western Australia, five in Victoria and four in South Australia.
However, new draglines are continuously being purchased or constructed, and existing draglines may be decommissioned or sold, so this number can change at any time.
What is the most efficient digging area for dragline?
The most efficient digging area for a dragline depends on a variety of factors, including the material being excavated, the size of the dragline crane, and the size of the trench. The best digging area for a dragline is usually a flat, level area with a firm, solid base.
It is important that the area is free of stones, roots, and voids that could potentially damage the machine and create an unstable working environment. The operator should also make sure that the surface is wide enough to accommodate the dragline, allowing enough space for it to freely swing and make the necessary digging movements.
It is also important to consider the accessibility of the area. To maximize their productivity, the operator needs to easily access the area without hindering their digging operations.
How deep can a dragline dig?
The depth of a dragline dig depends on the size of the dragline and the soil type in which it is digging. Draglines are large pieces of heavy-duty machinery and can be used to dig to depths of up to 200 feet (60 meters) when digging in hard soil.
However, in softer soils, the maximum depth may drop to between 50 and 100 feet (15 to 30 meters) depending on the exact size and model of dragline in use. Draglines are typically used for larger-scale projects such as in dredging operations and in construction where large quantities of soil must be removed in a short period of time.
Why did they scrap Big Muskie?
Big Muskie was a large coal mining machine that was operational from 1969 to 1991 and was located in southeastern Ohio. The machine was built by the Central Ohio Coal Company in response to the increasing demand for coal during the post-World War II boom.
Big Muskie was the world’s largest single-bucket mining machine and was more than twice as large as any other earthmoving machine in existence. However, it was eventually scrapped due to the declining demand for coal, which forced the Central Ohio Coal Company to go out of business.
The cost of operating Big Muskie was becoming too high, and the machine had become too inefficient to be profitable. As a result, Central Ohio Coal Company had no choice but to scrap the machine, which resulted in the destruction of more than 900 acres of land.
What happened to the Big Muskie?
The Big Muskie was a coal-mining machine that was the largest of its kind in the world. It was built in 1969, in Ohio, and it weighed 13,500 tons – almost twice as much as the next-largest machine of its kind.
It was designed to dig for coal and cut it into pieces. It had an enormous ‘bucket’ that could move up to 100,000 tons of coal in an hour.
Unfortunately, by the early 1990s, the coal industry had changed and the demand for coal had decreased,
which meant that the Big Muskie wasn’t needed anymore. It was dismantled in 1999, and then sold for scrap in 2002. The bucket was turned into a 4,400-ton sculpture and installed near the mining site as a memorial to all of the miners who worked in the area.
The rest of the machine was mostly recycled or broken down into smaller parts, with some of it going to steel mills and some of it being put in a nearby landfill.
How much did Big Muskie cost?
Big Muskie was a large electric-powered dragline machine used for surface mining in the Ohio region. It cost a whopping $25 million to build, plus an additional ongoing cost of $3 million a year to maintain it.
Big Muskie was designed by the Central Ohio Coal Company and built by a subsidiary of the International Harvester Corporation in 1969. The machine was a hulking, 6-story tall, 20-story-long machine and was capable of removing over 240,000 cubic yards of overburden a day and was proclaimed to be the largest machine in the world by the Guinness Book of Records.
Big Muskie also came with a 48 cubic yard bucket, which enabled it to cut and move an average of 20,000 tons of coal or other materials per hour. Despite its impressive capabilities, Big Muskie proved to be too expensive to operate and was ultimately decommissioned in 1991.
How old is a 50 inch muskie?
The age of a 50 inch muskie depends on the species and the historical growth rate of the population. In general, a standard muskellunge that has been caught in a healthy population can reach up to 50 inches after about 10 years, however this varies greatly depending on the species and the specific environment that the fish has grown in.
Generally speaking, a 50 inch muskie is at least 10 years old in most cases, although some may reach that size at a younger age due to faster growth rates and better environmental conditions.
Why are muskie so rare?
Muskies are a rare fish because they are sensitive to environmental changes and need certain conditions to survive. They are typically found in the colder, oxygen-rich waters of northern lakes and streams, which are becoming increasingly rare due to environmental degradation from climate change, habitat destruction, and overfishing.
They also require deep pools with rocky or stony bottoms, which can be difficult to come by in heavily developed areas. Even if ideal muskie habitat exists, it’s not likely that enough muskie will naturally exist in an area to create a sustainable population – the fish typically have a low reproductive rate and the young that do hatch tend to be fragile and vulnerable to predation.
As a result, muskie populations can easily become depleted or wiped out by natural environmental events or human activity. Additionally, adult muskies are quite territorial and so they cannot sustain populations if they are unable to establish and defend their own territories.
Because of all of these factors, finding a muskie in the wild is a bit of a rare treat and a testament to the ongoing conservation efforts of local wildlife management agencies.