At the Controls of a Giant Dragline

by Nick Drew | Tue 30 Jul 2019

At the Controls of a Giant Dragline

Have you ever wondered what it would be like working the sticks on a giant dragline, I know I have, well in this video we get an insight into how it all works.

This giant Marion 8050 UDD (Universal Dig Dump) walking dragline tips the scales at around 3,000 tonnes and has a boom that is 99 metres (325ft) in length, add into the equation a bucket capacity of 62 cubic metres, that’s 82 tonnes of material in one scoop, it’s a fair old tool for sure!

The machine goes about its business at Caval Ridge, one of the largest greenfield coal mining sites in Australia. The mine is located in the Bowen Basin in Central Queensland. When the mine first opened production capacity was predicted to be in the region of 5.5 million metric tonnes per year, with much of the coal extracted heading for the Chinese and Indian markets. So, lets join operator Grant in the cab has he talks us through how he controls this giant dragline. The foot pedal slewing would be a bit strange until you got in the swing of it!

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