What Do These Gigantic Machines Do: World’s Largest Machines Ever Built II

You’ve seen the ‘world’s largest machines ever built’ according to their kind. See more mammoth machines ever created by mankind.

1. Tunnel Boring Machine – World’s Largest Mole

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This mammoth machine is called Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM). It is also known as Mole. The TBM on the above picture was used at Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. What does a TBM do? This machine is used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. The largest diameter TBM, at 19 meters or 62 ft diameter built by Herrenknecht AG holds the record for the largest Tunnel Boring Machine. For the largest diameter of hard rock TBM, the diameter is 14.4 meter and was manufactured by The Robbins Company for Canada's Niagara Tunnel Project.

2. Krupp Twin Boom-Portal Reclaimer – World’s Largest Reclaimer

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The Krupp Twin-boom Portal Reclaimer on the above picture is located at RTCA Kestrel Mine

in Australia. What is a reclaimer? A reclaimer is a large machine used in bulk material handling applications. Its primary function is to recover bulk material such as ores and cereals from a stockpile.

3. Krupp Stacker – World’s Largest Stacker

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This gigantic stacker is located also at RTCA Kestrel Mine. What is a stacker? Well, a stacker is a large machine used in bulk material handling together with the Reclaimer. Its primary function is to pile bulk material such as limestone, ores and cereals onto a stockpile.  It operates on a rail like structure, with moveable wheels but the main operation is performed on a fixed place.

4. SSCV Crane Vessel – World’s Largest Crane Vessel

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The SSCV Thialf with an over-all length of 201.6 m and breadth of 88.4 m is the world’s largest crane vessel. This machine is a semi-submersible crane vessel created in 1985. The SSCV Thialf can lift 14,200 tonnes at 31.2 meters. This huge machine has two cranes with a combined maximum lifting capacity of 14,200 metric tons, thus, it is regarded as the largest of its type in the world.

This machine is well-remembered for setting the world record in 2000 by lifting the 11,883 t Shell’s Shearwater topsides. It also installed in 2004 the topsides on BP’s Holstein, the world’s largest spar with a weight of 7,810 t.

5. Saipem 7000 – World’s 2nd Largest Crane Vessel

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The Saipem 7000, with a lifting capability of 14,000 tonnes at 42 meters, is the world's second largest crane vessel. Saipem S.p.A, a gas and oil industry contractor is the owner of this large crane. It is famous for setting the world offshore lifting record of 12,150 tonnes for the Sabratha deck in the Mediterranean Sea. It also laid the 24" pipeline for the Blue Stream project between Russia and Turkey up to the record depth of 2,150 meters in the Black Sea.

6. Hullet Automatic Ore Unloader – One of the World’s Largest Ore Unloader

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The Hulett Automatic Ore Unloader is a huge machine for unloading was invented by George Hulett in the late 1800s. Its primary used was to unload boats full of taconite from the iron mines near Lake Superior. The machine on the above photo is a second-generation Huletts which continue to stand to this day.

7. Big Muskie – World’s Largest Dragline

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The Big Muskie, with a weight of 13,000 metric tons, is the world’s largest dragline. This mega structure which stands nearly 22 stories tall was a coal mining Bucyrus-Erie dragline that operated in Ohio, USA from 1969 to 1991. It is also one of the world's largest mobile earth-moving machines after the Marion 6360, Bagger 288 and Bagger 293.

• Big Muskie cost $25 million in 1969, which is $148 million today adjusted for inflation Big Muskie removed over 608,000,000 cubic yards (465,000,000 m3) of overburden, which is twice as much earth as was moved during the construction of the Panama Canal, uncovering over 20,000,000 metric tons of coal.
• This huge machine was 151.5 feet wide, 222.5 feet in height, and 487.5 feet in length (46.2 x 67.8 m x 148.6 m) with the boom down.
• It took over 200,000 man hours to construct over a period of about two years.
• But sad to say, the Big Muskie was dismantled in 1999, despite calls that it be preserved as a museum.

8. Curragh Dragline Excavator – One of the World’s Largest Draglines

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Curragh Dragline Excavator is a heavy equipment used in surface mining. It is used to move overburden above coal and for tar-sand mining. It is one of the largest mobile equipment.

9. Samson and Goliath – One of the World’s Largest Shipbuilding Gantry Cranes

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The huge Samson and Goliath are the twin shipbuilding gantry cranes that can be found at Queen’s Island, Belfast in Northern Ireland. These cranes that dominate the Belfast skyline and are landmark structures of the city can lift loads of up to 840 tonnes to a height of 70 m. Each crane has a span of 140 m with a combined lifting capacity of over 1,600 tonnes, one of the largest in the world. The dry dock at the base of the cranes is the largest in the world measuring 556m x 93m.

10. Liebherr LTM 1500-8.1 – World’s 2nd Greatest Mobile Crane

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This massive mobile crane is the former world’s greatest mobile crane. This 1998 model LTM 1500-8.1 has a boom of 84 meters.

11. Liebherr LTM 11200-9.1 - World’s Most Powerful Mobile Crane

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Liebherr LTM 11200-9.1 is a new all terrain nine axles mobile crane that is the worlds most powerful.

• It has a maximum lifting capacity of 1,200 tons with its powerful 100 meter (328 ft) telescopic boom.
• It has the world’s strongest mobile boom
• It has the world’s longest reach of such a crane
• Its travel speed of 47 mph
• Its operational weight is 211,640 lbs
• Its total weight is 445,000 lbs

12. Bagger 293 – World’s Largest and Highest Terrestrial Vehicle

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Bagger 293 is another giant bucket-wheel excavator built by TAKRAF. It owns or shares some records for terrestrial vehicle in the Guinness World Records.

• With a height of 96 m or 314.9 ft tall, it is regarded as the highest terrestrial vehicle, size shared with Bagger 288.
• It has a total length of It is 225 m or 738.2 ft (same as Bagger 287) and a total weight of 14,200 tons.
• The bucket-wheel itself is over 70 feet in diameter with 20 buckets, each of which can hold over 15 cubic meters of material.
• It can move 240,000 cubic meters (8.475 million cubic feet) of earth per day (same as Bagger 288).
• Five people are needed to operate this gigantic machine.

13. Vitruvius – World’s Largest Backhoe Dredge

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The biggest backhoe dredge in the world is Vitruvius. It has a length of 65 meters and has a bucket capacity of up to 40 m3 and a maximum digging depth of 32 meters. Vitruvius is owned by Jan de Nul Group, a Belgian Company.

14. Queen of the Netherlands – The World’s Largest Vacuum Cleaner

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The Queen of the Netherlands is a trailing suction hopper dredging ship built in 1998. Because of its huge size – the drag head is 6 m or 20 ft wide and can dredge up to 115 m or 377 ft deep- this Dutch ship has been called “the world's largest floating vacuum cleaner’. The ship's hopper is among the largest in the world.

See also

World’s Largest Machines Ever Built

Massive Machines: Not the Usual Vehicles You See Everyday

For the worlds fastest vehicles see

World's Fastest Land, Water & Ice Vehicles Ever Built

For the fastest, largest and longest flying machines see

World's Fastest Flying Machines Ever Built

World’s Longest and Largest Aircrafts

For traditionally unique vehicles see

Bizarre Transportation Vehicles: Only in the Philippines

For the largest, longest and popular ships in history see

World's Most Famous and Historically Significant Ships

World’s Largest and Longest Water Vessels