1 |
Length of construction was nearly 14 years; from early 1967 until
December 1980. |
2 |
Total manhours required to construct; 5000 plus. |
3 |
Total cost to construct is in excess of $20,000. |
4 |
The machine weighs about 150 pounds, consisting of 80% brass, 7%
aluminum, 3% steel, and 5% glass, rubber, silver, stainless and copper. |
5 |
Prints for the machine were generated from 5000 photographs, 5000
plus measurements, and hundreds of sketches. An extensive cross
reference system was developed for coordinating this data. |
6 |
There are over 10,000 separate parts to the model. |
7 |
Motion speeds and accelerations are governed by flywheels thus
duplicating the dynamics of the original lOW. |
8 |
The machine has four sets of brakes, including both normal and emergency. |
9 |
The hoist cable is a 7 x 7 3/64 inch diameter stainless steel
aircraft cable while the drag is a 7 X 19 1/16 inch stainless steel cable. |
10 |
All sheaves are fitted with individual ball bearings measuring 1/4
inch O.D. and 1/16 inch I.D.. |
11 |
The dragline walks moving 2 3/4 inches with each step. At full speed
it can move 27 feet in one hour. |
12 |
The machine is equipped with three separate lighting systems. One for
the inside of the house, a second for the outside of the house, and a
third for the boom. In all there are 34 lightbulbs on the machine,
most of which measure less than 1/8 inch in diameter. |
13 |
All clutches and brakes are electrically operated and are fully
adjustable to eliminate sudden abrupt movements. |
14 |
The dragline is powered by a 17 conductor composite cable. This cable
measuring 1/8 inch in diameter was made by placing 17 fine gauge
conductors in a length of flexible plastic tubing. Each conductor was
sized according to its maximum load. The conductors are arranged as follows.
1 |
22 Ga. |
Ground |
10 |
30.Ga. |
Hoist Common |
2 |
26 Ga. |
Swing & Boom Hoist |
11 |
30 Ga. |
Drag Brake |
3 |
26 Ga. |
Swing & Boom Hoist |
12 |
30 Ga. |
Drag Clutch |
4 |
26 Ga. |
Boom Lights |
13 |
30 Ga. |
Drag Common |
5 |
26 Ga. |
House Lights |
14 |
30 Ga. |
Hoist & Drag Drive Motor |
6 |
30 Ga. |
Propel |
15 |
30 Ga. |
Hoist & Drag Drive Motor |
7 |
30 Ga. |
Propel |
16 |
30 Ga. |
Cooling Fans |
8 |
30 Ga. |
Hoist Brake |
17 |
30 Ga. |
Spare |
9 |
30 Ga. |
Hoist Clutch |
. |
. |
. |
|
15 |
The machine measures 3 1/2 feet high by 7 feet long by 20 inches wide. |
16 |
When in operation, the model draws less than two amps at 110 volts. |
17 |
The bucket measures five inches by four inches by two inches and
handles .00257 cubic yard with each load. |
18 |
Building of the model required the use of a fully equipped machine
shop including a milling machine, lathe and drill press, not to
mention countless hand tools. |
19 |
The tub has 76 rollers just like the original lOW. Each roller was
turned individually on a automatic screw machine. |
20 |
The model has 23 windows all of which have replaceable panes. |
21 |
All five doors on the model are made of solid brass and can be opened
and closed. |
22 |
The boom is raised and lowered by means of a electrically operated
boom hoist |
23 |
The many castings found on the original dragline were duplicated to
scale using a milling machine and Plexiglass for pattern material.
The Plexiglass replica (pattern) was then used for making brass
castings. In certain instances aircraft aluminum was substituted for Plexiglass. |
24 |
The boom is made of solid brass and weighs a mere five pounds. It's
length is 5.6 feet. |
25 |
Duplicating the lOW dragline was made difficult by virtue of the fact
that it was located some 40 miles from my home and required in excess
of 50 trips to gather data. |
26 |
The scale is 3/8 inch to the foot. |
27 |
A jeweller's welding outfit using acetylene and oxygen was employed
when making the many thousands of silver soldered joints. |
28 |
Suggestions and information for building the model were accepted from
several hundred people. In addition, photographs of the original
machine were secured through the use of a newspaper ad run in the
local area where it had worked for over 30 years. |
29 |
The bucket is made of solid brass and weighs about two pounds empty.
It is composed of over a dozen separate parts all of which are silver
soldered together. |
30 |
The boom has an 18 part main cable measuring 1/32 inch in diameter
and a six part safety cable, also1/32 inch in diameter. Both are 7 x
7 stainless steel. |
31 |
The model is of a Bucyrus Monighan lOW originally erected near
Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, about 1931. It's serial number is 531. |
32 |
Since completed on December 14, 1980, the machine has run in excess
of 500 hours, and has moved several tons of specially prepared top
soil. Down time has been minimal. |
33 |
The model is operated in a simulated stripmine measuring 12 foot by
13 foot. This pit is located in the basement of my home and contains
over seven tons of specially sized topsoil and lime. To scale, the
pit contains in excess of 1/2 million yards of earth. |
34 |
Painting the model was accomplished through the use of an airbrush
and three coats of paint. The colors were chosen to closely match
those of the original. The boom required the use of a sand blaster
for cleaning, prior to painting. |
35 |
The author was 21 years old when he started this project and 35 years
old at it's conclusion. |
36 |
Supplies for the model were secured from over 250 vendors located in
more than 25 states. The miniature lightbulbs for example came from a
firm located in the Empire State Building, while castings came from Florida. |
37 |
The model can be disassembled and packed into three special cases for shipment. |
38 |
Spare parts for the machine are maintained and if combined would
weigh more than the machine itself. Numerous motors, bearings,
castings and the like are just a part of this inventory. |
39 |
The model is not for sale |
40 |
In all i have traveled in excess of 5000 miles gathering information
and material for this replica. |
41 |
Although the original lOW was a diesel machine, the model is electric
and sounds much like the modern electric machines of today. |
42 |
During the course of construction, the two questions most frequently
asked of the author were, what made you build a dragline?' and 'what
do you intend to do with it when it's finished?'. My answer is; I
believe everyone is capable of doing something special in their field
of interest. To me it's a dragline. To someone else it might be
building a sportscar or writing a song. Regardless of the end
product, I suspect we all share the same feeling of accomplishment
when we reach our goal, and goals are special in that unlike material
things that can be taken away at the slightest whim, goals are the
permanent indelible property of the beholder. As to what I intend to
do with the model, well, I do not intend to sell it as some have
suggested. Instead,I would much rather donate it to a museum for
others to enjoy. After all, it was a trip to the model room at the
Smithsonian Institution as a little boy that gave me the inspiration
to take on this project, which has in turn given me 14 years of enjoyment. |