Power Plant: (Satellite)
This is one of two 3850Bs built for Peabody. The other worked the Peabody River King Mine in Southern Illinois. They were the largest when built, but that distinction didn't last long. Some photos of the twin.
This is one of two 3850Bs built for Peabody. The other worked the Peabody River King Mine in Southern Illinois. They were the largest when built, but that distinction didn't last long. Some photos of the twin.
This article calls Big Hog the "world's larget shovel." They missed the "when built" clause. The Captain was the world's largest.
As B-E was building the worlds largest shovel in the late 1950s for Peabody, TVA was building the worlds largest power plant on the north side of the coal mine that Peabody would run for TVA. Instead of hauling the coal to a tipple for shipment, the haul trucks in this mine hauled it to the power plant. The regular transformers at the Paradise Steam Plant stepped the voltage up to 500k. But they had a special transformer that stepped up the voltage to just 69k for transmission to the nearby mine. [RockportKY, has some mining photos]
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| MichaelBNA, License: Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) "The Bucyrus Erie 3850-B Power Shovel named "Big Hog" went to work next door to Paradise Fossil Plant for Peabody Coal Company's ( w:Peabody Energy ) Sinclair Surface Mine in 1962. When it started work it was received with grand fanfare and was the Largest Shovel in The World with a bucket size of 115 cubic yards. After it finished work in the mid 1980's, it was buried in a pit on the mine's property. It remains there still today." [Note that the tracks are almost as tall as a bus!] |
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| Mining #Shorts posted The first Bucyrus-Erie 3850-B, built in 1962, was deployed at Peabody’s Sinclair open-pit mine in Western Kentucky, nicknamed “Big Hog.” Its bucket capacity measured 88 cubic meters, with a main arm length of 64 meters and a total height of 67 meters. The machine weighed 8,165 tons and had a total installed power of 12,180 horsepower (8,950 kW), operating at 7,200 volts with a one-minute work cycle. Primarily used to remove overburden, “Big Hog” could excavate 76,460 cubic meters of earth and rock per day, reaching an annual output of 27.53 million cubic meters. At the time, it was the largest excavator in the world, four times larger than similar machines. Transporting its components required 300 vehicles over 11 months. Its chassis included a walking mechanism with four sets of eight crawlers, and the machine ran on 52 motors ranging from 0.25 to 3,000 horsepower. “Big Hog” remained in operation until 1985, with its parts retained as spares for its sister machine, “River King.” The rest of the machine was literally buried on site. - Another unit enters the picture... The second 3850-B, delivered in 1964, earned the nickname “River King” and worked at Peabody’s River King Mine in Southern Illinois. Its bucket capacity was 107 cubic meters with a hollow boom rod diameter of 2.14 meters, enabling it to move more than 200 tons per scoop. The shovel weighed 8,482 tons and featured onboard operator facilities including kitchens. Its rotation acceleration reached 0–40 km/h in 8 seconds, decelerating in 4 seconds. Daily excavation could fill 1,700 railcars over 25 kilometers, with an annual output matching Big Hog’s 27.53 million cubic meters. Over its lifetime, River King removed 558.9 million cubic meters of material, equivalent to two Panama Canals. It ceased operations in 1992 and was dismantled in 1993. Though eventually surpassed by the Marion 6360, River King remains one of Peabody’s most impressive engineering achievements in terms of size, weight, and excavating capacity. |
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| Derek Hylton posted Does anyone know the exact location the Hog was buried? I’ve tried searching on google maps but nothing stands out. Also some have said they dug it up for environmental reasons? [Boom fell March 2, 1980, around 6:00am. The high wall wasn't shot very good and they pulled too hard against a hunk of sandstone. A comment indicated that they rebuilt it after this accident. It was buried April 1986.] Jon Stone: It was actually used to dig it's own grave and then it was robbed of parts then they put a 1250B on top of the hill and covered it up. Dirty Machines posted Jerry Lacy: I don’t think that this is when it was buried. The boom on this machine fell and was repaired. Big Engine posted Machinery Planet posted |
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| Brent Dowell commented on Big Engine post |
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| 1 of 3 photos posted by Jack Pippenger An article about the 3850B boom crash at Sinclair Mine in 1980. The accident was ruled an Act of God as I remember. Jack Pippenger: Someone can correct me if wrong but this is my memory of the 3850 crash. It started with the bucket breaking off the stick. With no hoist cables holding the stick in place, the stick rotated and slammed against the house. That caused the boom point to rotate upward, which slackened the suspension cables. The cables snapped when the boom rotated back forward. The boom then fell hitting the spoil pile with such force that the house sheared the center pin and shifted several feet backward toward rear of the machine. You win again gravity. Michael Davis: Jack Pippenger and it’s now buried about 10 minutes up the road from me. Jay Wilson: Jack Pippenger Betcha that was one hellavu ride if you were on the machine. Sitting in the seat seeing the stick coming back would not be pretty then seeing the boom dance, can't even imagine. Never thought about the center pin being sheared, the pictures show dirt under the butt. Have to look closer to see if the house is shoved back. Jack Pippenger: Jay Wilson my memory was that it moved about 6 feet but someone else probably remembers more exact. If you look close at photo, you can see the back of house is sitting lower than front because it is not sitting on the roller circle. It also sheared the pinion shafts for the ring gear. |
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| Mining #Short posted Simply... buried - At the Sinclair surface mine in Kentucky, one machine came to define an era of American strip mining. Built in 1962 by Bucyrus-Erie, the 3850-B power shovel known as “Big Hog” was, at the time, the largest mobile land machine ever constructed. It carried a 115 cubic yard bucket and could move close to 100,000 cubic yards of overburden per day during peak operation. Weighing around 18 million pounds, the shovel worked for more than two decades, feeding coal production tied directly to the nearby Paradise power plant. By the mid-1980s, the deposit was largely exhausted and the economics no longer justified keeping the machine running. Dismantling it for transport was impractical. Scrapping it entirely was equally complex. And pricey. Instead, in 1986, operators gave the shovel one final assignment. It was positioned inside a pit, and was methodically prepared for burial. Fluids and hazardous materials were removed, key components were stripped, and the boom was laid down before earthmoving equipment sealed it beneath 100 feet of overburden. The site was later reclaimed under federal regulations, eventually becoming part of a wildlife management area. Today, the shovel remains underground. Archeologists will have a field day in the coming decades, hopefully. |
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| William Oldani posted Here's a Side by side view of 3850-B "Big Hog" and the Proposed 4850-B Monster! Mark Behrens: What was the power bill to run the 3850, ballpark figure. Bob Dehler: Mark Behrens I was at Pit#6 from 1974 to 1983. I was told then our power bill was over $100,000.00 a month. But that was the wheel, 3850,7800 and 5761. William Oldani: Bob Dehler that sounds reasonable, if the shovel used 50% of the power that's $1,700/day! Nick Anderson: And that was probably at 3¢/KWH. Power is probably triple that right now. |
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| William commented on his post Mike Dicenzo: William Oldani , very close to specs of The Captain shovel! 6360 |
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| William Oldani commented on Mike's comment Two completely different designs! Weight is the Same, 6360 180 YDS 4850-B 220 YDS Evin Fritsche: Wonder how much the bigger machine woulda shortened the mines life… James Stine: Evin Fritsche , that is exactly what eliminated shovels of this size, no economical reserves to justify a super stripping shovel. Walking draglines were much more efficient than stripping shovels regarding maintenance costs. This is one of several considerations. Big Muskie, the Captain, to BIG. Very expensive to operate and maintain. |
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