Extreme Trucks

As the bucket load capacity of shovels and draglines increases, mining companies look for larger and larger capacity trucks to carry the loads.
New models are being released yearly ... on these pages we have compiled information about the three largest, as of February 2002.

Extreme Shovels

On our trip east every summer we pass through Estevan, Saskatchewan,
where we often see the huge electric shovels at work mining coal.



We took a few pictures of one monster 'walking drag line', and then decided to do some research to see how big these things can actually be.

It was then we discovered the legend of Big Muskie ... the largest moving machine ever built by man!
Be prepared to be astounded ....

Extreme Excavators

The bucket-wheel excavator is a continuous excavation machine capable of removing up to 12,000 cubic metres of material per hour.
BWEs are used most often in coal mining in Europe, Australia, and India. There is also one in use at the Athabasca Coal Sands project in Alberta.



These huge machines, possibly the largest moving machines on earth, can weigh 11,000 tonnes and stand more than 100 meters tall, with a length of about 200 meters.
They move on huge sets of crawlers, and can mine more than 240,000 m3 of material per day. These machines take 5 years to build.

The design of these vehicles provides for high approach and departure angles, deep fording ability and the ability to cross, descend and ascend steep slopes.
The Foremost Terra Bus is an all-wheel drive, three-axle, 56-passenger, off-road bus. Examples can be found shuttling tourists on the Columbia Icefield in
Canada's Jasper National Park and transporting scientific personnel in the Antarctic.


These big buses are made in Foremost, Alberta by Foremost Industries, a company that designs,
manufactures and markets "high-mobility all-terrain wheeled and tracked vehicles used to transport heavy loads where there are no roads".

Extreme buldozers

The Komatsu D575A-2 is the largest, most productive dozer in the world, by a factor of nearly two.

With a price tag of $380,000 US, the 575A has an operating weight of 142,800 kg (314,200 lbs),
and a blade capacity of 69 cubic metres (90 cubic yards).

It uses a massive 1,150 hp engine operating at 1800 rpm, and is favoured by the mining industry because it is very effective working in hard rock,
especially over long push distances.