The largest walking excavator

The largest in Russia walking excavator with a hundred and twenty electric motors and weighing four thousand tons began to mine coal in the Irkutsk region. Its weight in the state moving along the coal cut supports the so-called skis, or supporting shoes, and in the immovable it lies on the ground with its main plate, which, if necessary, lifts, displaces and sets to a new location. To do this, skis are used, which are lifted by the mechanic's command, moved, lowered to the ground and take over the weight of the machine. Then the cycle is repeated again.

In this regard, it will be appropriate to clarify that in the Irkutsk region a new coal mine opens - the Mugun, which is planned to be exploited for the next four hundred years, since the deposits discovered in it are estimated in billions of tons. That's why other walking excavators are actively moving here, previously exploited in already unpromising areas.

A new stepping excavator was released by the Ural machine-builders, its value reaches about four hundred million rubles, so it is not known whether someone else will order another copy of such a miracle technique. Perhaps he will be the only heavyweight in the industry for a long time.

Its technical characteristics are excellent, because, in comparison with its predecessors, its 100-meter working boom is twenty to thirty meters long and ends with a bucket containing forty tons of ore suspended from a chain made up of links weighing one hundred kilograms each. Today, while still at the stage of running in and rubbing the knots, this excavator walking is already producing thirty thousand cubic meters of coal for one day. It is more powerful than its predecessors, released ten or twenty years ago.

Although comparing it with other models is not entirely correct. A new stepping excavator is completely different possibilities, at least according to the range of soil movement, reaching two hundred meters, which is sixty meters further than the most advanced machine before it.

To serve this giant, reminiscent of the inside of the production hall, you need a team of only seven people, because it is controlled from a computer console. Electronic diagnostics protects the walking excavator from breakages, fires, malfunctions. And the whole process of control fits into two small joysticks, which are played in computer games.

The head of the department was the mechanic Viktor Tovpik, who had been dealing with walking excavators for more than thirty years. His impressions were remarkable, which was noted by both correspondents and foreign guests attending the presentation. Victor said that he was first impressed with the size of the new car, but when he tried to control it, he was even more impressed with her obedience and simplicity of work.

Already during the break-in, this walking excavator increased coal production by more than 50%, while significantly lowering the level of costs. What will happen when the car reaches its full working capacity?