Giant earth movers are bigger than family houses and have the power to dig up and carry thousands of pounds of soil. When men stand next to such a machine, it awakens real respect. No wonder! These machines have more strength than anything else on the Earth and so they must be regarded with high esteem. Operators of giant earth movers have to use the machines’ power wisely. The rule ‘safety first’ is more important than ever while operating heavy equipment and all the more for giant earth movers.
Of course, it takes a highly skilled heavy machinery operator to handle machinery this large. Believe or not, there are not that many qualified workers to operate giant earth movers in the world. So if anyone is considering a future job, this might be a nice opportunity to have a highly specialized skill set and have one of the most challenging jobs on Earth.
To understand how impressively sized these machines are and what their actual power is, we have prepared a list of the top 5 largest heavy equipment in the World and we found them absolutely impressive. There are no bigger earth movers than the giant earth movers. Here we go:
5. Caterpillar 797F – Haul truck
The first introduced machinery is the Caterpillar 797F, which holds the position of the largest off-road high capacity haul truck. The 797F was specially designed by Caterpillar Inc. for high capacity production of mining and other heavy-duty projects. The model 797F is the latest of the 797 series enriched with a more powerful engine and a higher payload capacity. The newest version of the 797 trucks is able to increase the operational efficiency and reduce cost with its capacity.
The reason why the 797F model is on the list is for its dimensions and capacity. The machine is more than 25 ft tall and slightly more than 31 ft wide. The 797F truck weighs in at an admirable 1,375,000 lbs of gross weight. The nominal payload capacity is 726,000 lbs, which enables per a trip cost savings in comparison to older models.
4. P&H 4100XPC – Rope shovel
The P&H 4100XPC is the world’s biggest electric rope shovel designed for heavy-duty and high-performance mining work. Its purpose is to dig out surfaces such as vertical coal faces. The 4100XPC model is also the fastest rope shovel on the Earth. It helps with the efficiency of mining work and with lowering the cost of the work. The new electrical control system helps the performance itself along with monitoring and data integration capabilities.
The 4100XPC model is known as the largest model of its series with a current working weight of 3,290,000 lbs. The overall dimension is the following: the height of this model is 48 ft and the length is 49 ft.
3. Terex RH 400 – Hydraulic shovel
The Terex RH 400 currently holds the position of the largest hydraulic shovel in the World. The purpose of this machinery is to work on mining projects. Its current location is in Alberta, Canada where it’s operating on oil sands. A fun fact about this particular piece of machinery is that its design became the inspiration for the Decepticon Demolishor’s vehicle in the second Transformers movie.
When talking about the Terex RH 400’s size, there is nothing else to say other than that it is enormous. What else could be said about a machine that weighs over 2,100,000 lbs and is 33 ft high and 28 ft wide? This shovel has a single scoop capacity of 188,000 lbs. This record-breaking hydraulic shovel has to be powered by two 16-cylinder engines with an output of 4,400 horsepower.
2. TBM – Tunnel boring machine
The largest of tunnel boring machines, also known as ‘Big Bertha’, holds the second position of the world’s most giant earth movers. The machine was built for a special project in Seattle to dig a two mile-long roadway which should have been finished in 2015. Unfortunately the machine broke down several times during the project which caused a two-year delay. However the machine was repaired and made fitto fulfill its purpose. The Seattle tunnel was finished in 2017.
Big Bertha was constructed in Japan and moved to USA to participate in the Seattle project. To imagine the size, let’s introduce its dimensions. The cutter head diameter is 57.5 ft across and the length of the machine is 326 ft. Big Bertha weights an incredible 14,770,000 lbs.
1. Bagger 293 – Bucket wheel excavator
We saved the best for last: Bagger 293 is titled the largest land vehicle and holds the Guinness World Record. It’s the biggest man made piece of moving machinery, which is absolutely impressive. The origin and also the current location of the machine is in Germany. There is no twin of this machinery; the Bagger 293 is absolutely unique.
Now let’s look at a few of the technical parameters to understand why this machine is at the top of the hierarchy of the largest heavy equipment in the World. The Bagger 293 is 310 ft tall, 722 ft long and it weighs over 31 million pounds. The bucket wheel has 20 rotating buckets and an unbelievable diameter of 70 ft. The daily capacity is 8.510 cubic feet of earth which are actually the sizes of all 96 Olympic swimming pools. It’s no surprise that the machine requires five people to operate it.
Seeing such monumental monsters must be an unforgettable experience. It’s even more admirable to realize that these giant earth movers were actually built by men. Their common purpose is to work on the world’s largest projects to lower costs and to bring more efficiency to heavy-duty and high-performance work.
