The Silver Spade, Former mining excavator site in eastern Ohio, United States.
The Silver Spade was a massive excavator that worked in southeastern Ohio, powered by eight caterpillar tracks and designed to move enormous amounts of earth. The machine stood approximately 220 feet tall and dominated the mining landscape where it operated.
The excavator started operations in November 1965 for Harrison Coal and worked in the mining region until being retired in April 2006. After decades of heavy use, it was dismantled by a salvage company in 2009.
The massive excavator represented the industrial progress of Ohio's mining sector, with capabilities to move 315,000 pounds of earth in one motion.
The original site is no longer accessible as the machine has been completely removed. Local mining and history museums in the region may have information and records about the excavation and its operations.
The machine was a Bucyrus-Erie model 1950-B equipped with a 105-cubic-yard bucket that could move material up to 390 feet away and 140 feet high. These technical capabilities made it a remarkable engineering feat of its era.
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