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Digger Man Blog

by Nick Drew  |  Mon 05 Sep 2022

Old Hydraulic Hoes Re-Visited

I recently received a few messages to re-run this blog post featuring some classic photos from the Digger Man Blog archives of old hydraulic excavators from years gone by.


Old Hydraulic Hoes Re-Visited

First up we have this fantastic colour shot of the American built Warner & Swasey Hopto 1900. When first launched in 1972, this machine was the largest hydraulic excavator ever built. The 100 ton giant was powered by two General Motors engines, which gave it a total power output of 616hp. Used mainly on large excavations sites and for deep drainage, the machine had an impressive maximum digging depth of 35ft 7in, and a ground level reach of 48ft 10in!

Another American giant was the Koehring 1066, which was launched in 1969. I remember having a poster of this brute, which came as a pull-out from Construction News at the time, on my bedroom wall as a youngster, in amongst all I’ve been having another “dig” into the archives to find some more gems to share with the Digger Man Blog readers. In this batch I’m looking back at a few hydraulic excavators from the past.

Link Belt of Chicago, Illinois, is another famous American brand which is still producing machines today in the form of badged Sumitomo excavators. Back in 1967 the company produced its first range of hydraulic excavators, of which the LS-5000 was its largest. I think there was also a connection with the Italian's as interestingly, this photo has Link Belt SpA Milano on the back of it.

Finally in this batch we have a P&H (Pawling & Harnischfeger) 73-50G model, seen here at work on a main drainage job. These machines were manufactured with other models, from 1970 – 1974 after the American firm had entered into a collaboration with German giant O&K (Orenstein & Koppel). To me the cab and upper-structure looks typically O&K but the boom and dipper doesn’t relate to any O&K machines I have seen in the past.

Checkout this veteran Warner & Swasey Hopto H- 900 which is still operational to this day. 

Don’t forget, if you have any material you would like to share with us here on the Digger Man Blog, old or new, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line. Email me at nickdrewmedia16@gmail.com .  

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