Bucyrus Erie shovel WITHOUT music

Those gathered here have spoken. Here is a version of the shovel video without any added soundtrack. Made this for the guys in the club anyway--as I figured they'd be less than thrilled with my choice of music LOL

Thanks to all who watched. (and if you need to see the original just to hear how horrible the music is, it is still available ;-)

BTW: being around this machine, and hearing the sounds in the video--my impression is it is more quiet than many modern excavators. No screaming turbo, just a smooth engine and well-oiled machinery.
Bucyrus Erie sans music

Hey that looks like fun. Bet the learning curve is pretty steep in the beginning. I was just given a backhoe and I thought I was a pretty adept machine operator. Fortunately I was able to do my first few outings without an audience
Then there was that bumper hitch rental a few years back where every control operated backwards from what you would expect.

Personally, I like both versions.
Great video!!!
Thanks for sharing both of them!!

They used to dig basements with machines like that, only smaller machines than in the video. Knew an old fellow that rebuilt a Linkbelt excavating shovel. He used a 2/71 Detroit to power it. He was pretty good at these kinds of projects.

Much better than that clanky sounding crap on the one before.

A good friend of mine has a small gravel pit and an excavating business. He has a bucyrus Erie 22b in a dragline configuration. It has an old cat engine with a pony to start it. He claims it is the most fuel efficient thing he owns to dig gravel with. He is able to run it like he was born in that thing. His father is what i would consider a good operator and tried to run the dragline for an hour one day and quit saying he can dig with a pionted shovel faster. He actually found a second shovel as a parts donor and swapped the undercarriage out so he could move about the gravel pit better.

I also like this version better. I know a few guys with plenty of hours on cable shovels, they could really move dirt. I used to buy bank run gravel from one guy that loaded my truck with an old Unit shovel, nice load every time. I have been an HCEA member for many years.

Much better!!

My Great uncle Had a lot of equipment like that. He had the Bucyrus shovel, Bay city dragline, cat d8 Mack Dm600 and a Mack B61 with detachable neck lowboy. He married a Black Widow and a year later was dead. Survived Monte Casino but not her. She sold all the equipment for scrap.

Now that brings back momoerys ,from my youth . Ran cable back hoe's , drag lines and claqm's and cable cranes but never a loading shovel . smallest was a 10 B Bucyers and the largest was a 2400 Lima .

Thanks for reposting.....

It's a law of nature. You won't like other peoples' choice of music.
This is particularly true at the car wash. YouTube videos usually
have terrible music so you are not alone.

Thanks for watching and re-watching the old shovel. I'm happy with the video and the experience. Time was, when I was paid to shoot video, I'd go out with a cameraman, sound person, lighting expert, possibly a director and production assistant or two (depending on budget), and after lots of preparation we'd be ready to shoot something.

Now I just take my phone out of my pocket and hit "record."

For the Bucyrus-Erie, here is what I recall from my conversations with the operator:

It's a CAT engine with pony motor for starting. Engine is original to the machine.

Operator is self-taught, having read many books on the machines, operator's manuals, lots of literature. He didn't have a dad or some other mentor who worked these machines.

For keeping the machine in place while digging, the tracks have a kind of "parking brake" mechanism that locks them. Machine might still move if there's a lot of force, but it will not roll.

Operators back in the day would make adjustments to the pedal "action" to get the feel they wanted. They'd do this back where the big machinery is and for the life of me I don't know how exactly they did it. You could make it so the pedals went all the way to the floor, or were effective somewhere else in the pedal travel. I liken this to a musician picking up an instrument and tuning/adjusting it to the way they like it.

This machine had a 3/4 yard bucket, meaning that the operator was responsible for much of the oiling, maintenance, and adjusting of the mechanical linkages. One cubic yard or bigger, and you had a dedicated "oiler" who would go around the machine while it was being operated and keep things greased up.

Watch that BUCKET! Let it swing too far back, and you risk hitting the boom. This is to be avoided.

If a cable broke, the operator and other workers could often replace it out in the field.

Even a fully-restored machine that is allowed to sit will have problems when you go to use it. The levers and pedals will be very stiff, hard to operate. Will take some time to loosen them up and get everything moving the way it should.

Music: I stand by my original choice for the other video. Even though it's not what I listen to, it had an industrial feel and was a kind of "glue" that ran through the video, holding it together. Especially good for viewers who may not be interested in the subject, but might keep watching in the hopes that the music will get better LOL.

Unit shovel: Someone commented about a Unit that they remember working way back when. I shot a brief 30 second video of the Unit at this place, and especially like it because you can see the boom of the Bucyrus-Erie swinging in the background. Also, I like the name "Unit." I'll post the Unit video when I have a few minutes. Again--only 30 seconds or so. My battery was dying.