Excavators: Books - History and Models

Earthmovers in Scotland - Mining, Quarries, Roads & Forestry

As Scottish Correspondent for Earthmovers Magazine, David Wylie has enjoyed privileged access to the mines, quarries, road projects and forestry sites across Scotland. On his visits he has seen some of the biggest and arguably the best, earthmoving machinery in the world, in action.
This book brings together 32 of David's reports from these visits to tell the story of the highly skilled, experienced owners, drivers and managers that work with earthmoving equipment and explains why they select, maintain and operate these machines.

The book features some of the largest earthmovers in the UK, such as Caterpillar's D11R bulldozer, Liebherr's massive 320 tonne R9350s and the mighty 520 tonne Q&K RH200 at Banks Mining Shotton surface mine in Northumberland, a short hop over the Scottish border.
It also takes a look at a 1.5 tonne mini digger, special trailers that can lift and transport 1800 tonne bridges into position, and covers Demag's H485 record breaking mining shovel amongst others.

Taking pride of place in the book are over 400 stunning photographs, many of which have not been seen before and many of which feature machines that were the first of their kind.

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Opencast Images : An Informal Look at British Coal Opencast Sites 1986-1994

In the United Kingdom surface coal mining began in 1942 in response to a national shortage of deep-mined coal. By the 1980s, when Dave Wootton began touring sites and taking photographs, the industry was firmly established with major operations and very large machinery.

His fully captioned pictures cover the period from 1986 until British Coal Opencast (BCO) was privatised in 1994. There are panoramic shots showing the scale of operations and fine close-ups of individual machines of many kinds at work. He includes several walking draglines such as the 4,000-ton 'Ace of Spades', the largest of its kind in Europe. Another record holder was O&K's RH300 hydraulic shovel beautifully photographed by Dave at its Godkin, Derbyshire workplace.

Dave visited some two dozen sites in Derbyshire, Northumberland, Yorkshire, South Wales and elsewhere, capturing the full range of surface mining activities. The equipment was manufactured by famous names such as Caterpillar, Ransomes & Rapier and Ruston-Bucyrus. BCO used contractors - so Wimpey, Taylor Woodrow, Fairclough and others are all seen playing their parts.

The surface-mining industry has changed considerably since 1994, meaning that this collection of photographs has great historic interest for enthusiasts. The author also includes a short history of BCO, some Open Days material, machine specifications and a full index of machines.

The principal machines shown:
- Cable Shovels: Lima 2400, Marion 182M, P&H 1900AL, Ruston-Bucyrus 22-RB, 150-RB, 195-B.
- Crawler Draglines: Lima 2400, Marion 195M, Ruston-Bucyrus 150-RB.
- Walking Draglines: Bucyrus-Erie BE 380W, BE 480W, BE 1150B, 1260W, BE 1550W, Marion 7500, 7800, P&H 757, Ransomes & Rapier W600, W1800, W2000.
- Dump Trucks: Aveling Barford RD050, 773, Cat 789, Euclid R50, R85, Komatsu HD785, Lectra Haul M100, Terex R50, R65, 3311, 2366 ADT.
- Hydraulic Excavators: Ackerman H10, Cat 215, 225, 235, 245, 325, Demag H85, H121, H241, H185, H285, Hitachi UH053, EX1800, EX3500, JCB 812, Komatsu PC210, PC240, Liebherr R912, R932, R974, R994, O&K RH6, RH9, RH40, RH75, RH90, RH120, RH200, RH300.
- Dozers: Cat 814 wheel dozer, D8, D9, Komatsu D155A, D275A.
- Wheel Loaders: Cat 966, 988, 992.
- Scrapers: Cat 631, Terex TS24.
- Drill Rigs: Compair Holman RBH30, Reedrill SK40.
- Ancillary Plant: Cat 16G grader, Cat 825 compactor, Norwest Holst / Terex TS24 grader, Terex TS24 & R50 water bowsers.

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Coal Mining Equipment at Work: Featuring the World Famous Mines and Mining Companies of Western Kentucky

Western Kentucky represented, in the time period covered by this book from the 1950s-80s, the bulk of coal mining in North America. Attributed to in John Prine's famous song '''Paradise,'' Muhlenberg County is home to Kentucky's first commercial coal mine named the McLean Drift Bank. At one point, Muhlenberg County produced more coal than any county, state, or country as the largest producer of coal in the world.

The massive mining machines documented herein show how it was possible through vintage and colorful photography. Production statistics are detailed for each piece of equipment, laced with historical facts and stories about the mines and mining companies that operated them. Includes a rare look at some of the old draglines that have been re-started and are digging in Western Kentucky once again thanks to new technology.

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Das Tagebaubuch - Die größten Bagger, Radlader; Kettendozer und Muldenkipper im Einsatz

The individual work steps of the open-cast mine and the respective large equipment and construction machinery are shown and explained. 13 construction machinery manufacturers are presented in brief portraits. Operational reports, for example on the RWE Hambach open-cast mine, round off the book.
The authors show and explain the largest excavators, wheel loaders, crawler tractors and dump trucks from the most important manufacturers with more than 500 illustrations.

From the contents:
- Company portraits: Bucyrus, Caterpillar, Demag, Euclid, Hitachi, Komatsu, LeTourneau, Liebherr, Marion, O&K, P&H, Terex, Wabco/Dresser
- Removal of humus and subsoil
- Osborne
- Removal of overburden (Allis-Chalmers HD-41)
- The largest shovel in the world
- Terex Titan
- Hambach opencast mine
- Raw material extraction
- Reuse (Caterpillar D109)
- Transport and road maintenance (Champion 100T)
- Detailed index

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Tschechische Bagger 1922-2003: Von Škoda über Menck zu Unex

NEW

Little is known that interesting excavators were manufactured in the Czech Republic over a period of 80 years, including some of the largest in Europe. The remarkable connection between Škoda and Menck & Hambrock began in 1939. The family relationship with Menck excavators was still clearly visible on some Unex excavators until the late 1960s. However, both Škoda and Unex also designed their own excavators, including large electric excavators for open-pit mining. In the field of hydraulic excavators, Unex was a pioneer in the Eastern European countries.

From the contents:
- The beginnings of Czech excavator construction, Škoda excavators 1927 to 1949
- Czech Menck excavators - during the war years and afterwards, resumption and end of Škoda excavator construction after 1945
- The new Unicov excavator plant builds the E 25 electric excavator
- Rope excavators of the Ry/D series
- The new generation of a 0.5 m3 excavator (1957 to 1974)
- The electric excavators from the E 301 to the E 303 (1964 to 1991)
- KSK E 7 - The giant from Teplice (1971 to 1985)
- The Unex hydraulic excavators (1969 to 2003).

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