Classic American Excavator Sight and Sound #ThrowbackThursday

We have featured the Bucyrus-Erie 40-H hydraulic excavator before on this blog, but I came across this video of a surviving 1971 model, which for its age is in superb condition, being put through its paces and I just felt I had to share it here on the Digger Man Blog.

More well known for their giant cable operated draglines American manufacturer Bucyrus-Erie, were quite slow to join the hydraulic excavator revolution.

It was the mid to late 1960’s before they launched the H-Series range of hydraulic excavators, with the ¾ yard 20-H model.

Photo: A typical application for a Bucyrus-Erie 40-H loading trucks in the 1970's. Image courtesy of RG Darling on Flickr.

In 1970 the company launched the big 40-H model, the largest hydraulic excavator the company had ever built, which tipped the scales at a whopping 60-tonnes.

Photo: Another image courtesy of RG Darling showing a 40-H on a deep drainage project.

The machine featured in the video below, from the Scrappy Industries You Tube Channel, was powered by a Cummins 855 diesel engine and featured air over hydraulic excavator controls. This model also featured independent drive to each crawler which was a vast improvement over earlier models.

Just listen to that beautiful thrum of the Cummins as the machine goes about its business, just glorious!