Rapier Dragline takes a walk

[6V92TA]

Man that is simply awesome! And jus think, this is what we used to have on hand all those years ago before the standard track hoe came into being.

[Justin5637]

omg a turtle can even beat tht peice of crap

[gibbo1112]

@Justin5637 turtles are quite fast, you are thinking of tortoises you dumb shit

[adrianparker98]

MAN THAT WOULD TAKE A LONG TIME TO GET WHERE ITS NEEDS TO BE....JUST SHOWS HOW MUCH HAS CHANGE N THIS WORLD

[farmerphil]

You did a great job on saving this dragline, so many historic units have been lost here in the states to the scraper. Well Done. Phil

[localcrew]

Someone should have a walking dragline demolition derby! Well, maybe not.

[homskoult]

How many people could ride in that bucket, while the machine just spun around in circles? How big would the circle be, and how fast would the bucket be traveling?

[cnote4461]

Amazing to see that old machine walk. The innovation behind walking draglines is pretty cool.

[wqpeb]

Great to see! Many years ago i was out west and saw one of these powered by electricity. A bloody great cable came over many miles from a power station to run the thing. Had a kitchen, workshop, bunkhouse,etc.,as the crew had to stay on it for a month at a time, way the hell out in the prairies. Saskatchewan. It was called the Marion, and was also a walker.

[JosephineLloyd]

The dragline has been moved from the Hazelwood power station to the Melbourne Steam traction Engine Club where it is being restored. It now has a new roof, the boom has had every joint disassembled, derusted, repaired or replaced as necesary and all painted and reassembled. The boom is about to be lifted into place again and we expect to have it walking again in the next few days.

[bigred42091]

What is the engine made by, I heard its Alco but I could be wrong?

[JosephineLloyd]

@bigred42091 The engine is a 5 cylinder National.

[justdoitasshole]

That is crazy....how'd ya like to spend a 10 hour shift in that turkey?

[GooglFascists]

@justdoitasshole Hey its got a built-on house. While its getting ready to take another "step",

you could go back to the kitchen, get a coffee & sandwich & read the funnies.

[wbabojo]

Proudly made in Ipswich UK, engineering excellence.

[highway445]

That's a great video thanks for saving that big iron. I remember as a kid seeing them old Monagan draglines that walked like that.

[arlichar11]

wow thats neat  but what would it be used for..?

[JosephineLloyd]

@arlichar11 It was used to remove the overburden to get down to the coal in an open cut coalmine. They used these because the big flat base allowed them to work without sinking into the soil. It would only walk a few times a day as it could excavate quite a large area by swinging the boom.

[OilHist]

Nice! Most of the walking draglines I have seen are electric - such as the Big Muskie. A diesel is nice and this one looks to be small enough that one could actually think of owning one for fun.

[ownerfate]

when i see this move i cant but think of the anime. "howl's moving castle"

[aleu650]

keep walking ... Mechwarrior!!! ja ja

[kriegdouch]

where is this at, hows it suppose to turn

[JosephineLloyd]

@kriegdouch

It is at the Melbourne Steam Traction Engine Club, Melbourne Australia. It turns by swivelling on its base when the shoes are raised off the ground. it is very manoueverable - it can point anywhere through 360 degrees and will head off whereever the shoes are pointing

[kriegdouch]

@JosephineLloyd did they had any steamers like this. i couldn't imagine how much welding and enginerring they had to put into a dragline, even back then 60 years ago

[zoobmonkey]

ive seen this at the steam place near roville good to see it move my kids loved it and asked me what it was now i can show them thanx for show us

[mikoozul]

to co za kokocina

[lepaul26]

Looks like a house on leggs :-)

[butlerproman]

A little (okay, a LOT) nitrous will pick up the pace.

[greesemonkeydc]

how many of this model are still known to exist?(working or not)

[middsteve]

DO love old machines...I can watch 'em run all day!!! Grew up in an OLD steel mill,lots of old big machinery sitting around for me to look at in my spare time.

[Bucyruserie28W]

5 ***** we need more video's of old drag's like this thanks form putting it on utube

[AviationPhotogBNA]

This is a great video!!!!

[peepeevagi]

Well when it runs off of 40 million cheeseburgers worth the power, it better walk XD

And, O.o, that's gotta be the coolest walker i've ever seen.

[JosephineLloyd]

No Cheeseburgers of power it is driven by a diesel engine. The engine drives the walking mechanism directly but also drives a generator which provides power to operate the slew to change direction..

[peepeevagi]

I know, but just think in manpower the energy it's used all it's life. Draglines just never stop working with a little upkeep.

Would it walk faster with a more powerful motor and stronger walking gear?

[lion6322]

Now it just needs a fresh coat of paint.

[JosephineLloyd]

Unfortunately it needs a bit more than that but we are on to it. Mechanically it is fine but years in the coal dust have taken their toll and we are having to do repair and replace sections of the boom and put a new roof on the cabin. The paint is going on as the repairs are completed

[SFtruckerWolf]

Very nice film. Big hand and respect.

[rival0312]

These machines were and still are massive. At the time they were implemented no wheel of track could support the weight of their movement. Even the largest draglines cannot be supported except by the large "planks" that you see. That's why they don't "crawl". It is simply their size and weight.

[thibdrz]

When I somehow become mega rich i'm gonna get one of those!

[hvguy]

@thibdrz some people have land that has junk like this lying around and they just want it gone... usually they will just let you have it if you can move it =)

[tractorboy8420]

ok i honestly want to know.... (not that this is not cool i really think it is freeking awsum!!) but why walking? why not crawlers? i would love an answar, nicmachene though!

[JosephineLloyd]

This machine was used to remove the top soil layer off to get down to the coal and the ground was soft. It weighs 108 tons and even crawlers would be inclined to bog but the big feet spread the weight and it sits on the big base pad on the ground when working. They still use huge electric versions in coal mines today. Certainly looks like some handicaped alien when it moves though!

[justforever96]

That's so cool! Sure not gonna win any speed records! At least this explains something. I found an old hulk near where I live, and I couldn't figure out what it was. I thought it was a crane, but now I think is was a small version of one of these. Big reel on the front, steam operated (the boiler was missing), and it had a rotating base. I thought it was pretty cool; you could see the old name painted on the side still. Too bad I can't remember it. I'm definetly gonna go and check it out again.

[JingleJoe]

It's Howl's Moving Castle O_O

[WorldStove]

you are sooooo right! too cool

[saludahead]

@JingleJoe Nope! For that it would have to be Japanese!

[NZGriff]

AWESOME !!! I use to operate one of these in New Zealand, they are such an amazing machine and so smooth to operate, as easy as driving a car, I'd be happy to come operate that one any day...

[cmh1984]

Saved from the scrappers torch! Right on! Beautiful old machine. If I make it to Australia ever I would love seeing it!

[Scentlessapprentice9]

More videos Please I want to here that engine grunt!

[badassnelson]

you should take those things off and modify it to move on treads

[13BedRock72]

Do you know how wide and thick of a "tread it would take to support that massive amount of weight? The way the dragline "walks" is much more feasible and cost effective.

[bearbon2]

Nice machine! I can appreciate the efforts to save her from the scrap heap. Good on ya mate!

[zizaigou]

强者

[sealovers17]

Nice old machine. Who is the manufacture of the main engine?

Thanks for sharing this video.

You get 5 stars.

[JosephineLloyd]

It is a 5 cylinder National RA5 200 Hp @ 600 rpm.

It drives the walking mechanism and winding drum through a master clutch but the drives a generator to work the electric slew motor and an air compressor for the air operated controls.

[sealovers17]

Thanks.

[brij01]

Moved last night. All went well, although very tight in places at 8.2m wide (signage had to be removed in places) and 5.5m high on the trailer (almost every over head bridge had to slowed down for, "just in case"). 5 hours to travel approx. 120km. At only 200t gross weight it was fairly light when compared to what the haulage company usually transport and was able to travel at approx. 60km/h in between "obstales". Unfortunately as one of the escort vehicles I am usually to busy to get photos etc

[PriestmanCub]

Glad to see another group saving these old Draglines from the Gas Axe. Keep up the good work and good luck restoring the old Rapier.

[Draglineoperator]

where is this at? I belong the the HCRHP that tryed to save the spade and the would be a neet addition to the park.

[JosephineLloyd]

The dragline is near Melbourne in Australia. The club involved has a museum in Melbourne and I am pleased to be able to report that we are currently in the process of moving the dragline back to our museum from the bottom of the mine. The huge trailer calpable of carrying 500 tons is down the mine ready to load it. The load will take up two full carriage ways and has to travel with four escort vehicles in the early morning. Power lines also have to be lifted so it is a major effort.

[PriestmanCub]

Good luck with the move of the Dragline. I hope all goes well. If anyone videos it please post in on here so we can watch its progress.

[Draglineoperator]

So hows that thing coming you got her diggin yet? We have a Marion 7200 drag that we are looking for some land to put her on, its got a 119 foot boom on it and in the long run we need like 14 15 acers just to put that one machine on. we allso have a marion 111 and the little bit of land we have is pretty small when you get a lorain 80 shovel and an insley K-12 A bay city shovel and a D-2 dozer theres not much room for moving.

[JosephineLloyd]

We had to take the boom off to transport it and while it is off we want to sandblast, replace a few bent struts and paint it up before we lift it back on.

A very generous club member has donated sufficient funds do do it all up so hopefully it will be back in action within a year.

We have a decent area, 8 hectares which I think is about 16 acres so plenty of room to put on a good display.

Thanks for your interest.