A power shovel, also known as a motor shovel, stripping shovel, front shovel, mining shovel or rope shovel, is a bucket-equipped machine usually powered by steam, diesel fuel, gasoline or electricity and used for digging and loading earth or fragmented rock and for mineral extraction. Power shovels are a type of rope/cable excavator, where the digging arm is controlled and powered by winches and steel ropes, rather than hydraulics like in the modern hydraulic excavators.

The Story Behind Power Shovel

Basic parts of a power shovel include the track system, cabin, cables, rack, stick, boom foot-pin, saddle block, boom, boom point sheaves and bucket. Most were built between the 1950s and the 1970s. The shovel operates using several main motions including: A shovel's work cycle, or digging cycle, consists of four phases: The digging phase consists of crowding the dipper into the bank, hoisting the dipper to fill it, then retracting the full dipper from the bank.

Returning is when the dipper swings back to the bank, and involves lowering the dipper into the track position to close the dipper door. The swinging phase occurs once the dipper is clear of the bank both vertically and horizontally. In the 1950s with the demand for coal at a peak high and more coal companies turning to the cheaper method of strip mining, excavator manufacturers started offering a new super class of power shovels, commonly called giant stripping shovels.

How Power Shovel Plays

The term "dipper" is also sometimes used to refer to the handle and digger combined. They are the classic equivalent of excavators, and operate in a similar fashion. Basic parts of a power shovel include the track system, cabin, cables, rack, stick, boom foot-pin, saddle block, boom, boom point sheaves and bucket.

A power shovel, also known as a motor shovel, stripping shovel, front shovel, mining shovel or rope shovel, is a bucket-equipped machine usually powered by steam, diesel fuel, gasoline or electricity and used for digging and loading earth or fragmented rock and for mineral extraction. Power shovels are used principally for excavation and removal of overburden in open-cut mining operations; they may also be used for the loading of minerals, such as coal. The operator controls the dipper through a planned swing path and dump height until it is suitably positioned over the haul unit (e.g. truck).

Why Players Still Load It Up

It remains there, on non-public, government-owned land. Another stripping shovel, the Bucyrus-Erie 3850-B (known as "Big Hog") was eventually cut down in 1985 and buried on the Peabody Sinclair Surface Mining site near the Paradise Mining Plant, where it was operated. The operator controls the dipper through a planned swing path and dump height until it is suitably positioned over the haul unit (e.g. truck).

They are the classic equivalent of excavators, and operate in a similar fashion. Larger models followed the successful 5760, culminating in the mid-60s with the gigantic 12,700-ton Marion 6360, nicknamed The Captain. The shovel operates using several main motions including: A shovel's work cycle, or digging cycle, consists of four phases: The digging phase consists of crowding the dipper into the bank, hoisting the dipper to fill it, then retracting the full dipper from the bank.

Power Shovel — Frequently Asked Questions