'The Shovel' ~ Massive ABANDONED Machine!

[@RussellSuenderIII]

It's a 4600 Manitowoc dragline.The bucket(which you called a shovel)is a 7 cubic yard size.I worked for my father maintaining these machines for 17 years in his anthracite strip mining business.

[@robertvirtue8070]

That is what they call a drag line.. The bucket is dragged back towards the machine with the teeth digging into the ground. When filled was raised with the other line, Operator swivel the machine to the side it was dumping on . release the tag line and raise the bucket up dumping the load. Then turning back to the hole they sling the bucket and drop it. Manitowoc is a City In Wisc. on Lake Michigan. History note they built submarines during WW II , They floated them on barges by way of the lake the Canal through Chicago to the Mississippi River to New Orleans. There is a Sub there which I toured on a trip there.

[@cbrocetti6916]

It's a Manitowoc dragline used to remove the over burden (dirt, rocks, etc.) to reach the coal. Where I live, there were about ten of them still in repose until about a decade or so ago, and one by one they were disassembled for scrap. Occasionally, I would jump on my motorcycle and do a dragline tour! I "found" two more recently but they're inaccessible to visiting due to being on posted property.

[@s2s536]

You are welcome Cliff, glad you enjoyed seeing it. I was so stoked when I saw your video pop up and I saw that you made it out. Doing the loop with Big Mountain adds a bit of fun to it, gets you off Black road which is a bit boring. As you saw that area has trenches and piles all over it from when they mined it. I'm sure there is a lot more to see.

[@quietjohnoutandabout6578]

Cliff, I hiked and made videos from that area last winter. Never hiked into that shovel. You certainly have a way of finding interesting things. I'm going to have to find it this winter. Thanks.

[@mrdfoutz]

Cliff = cool! Always interesting, and a good time spent hanging out with you.

[@pennsylvaniaforestadventurer]

My dad operated many if these. We also had one that sat in the woods behind our house for many years until the lamd became game lands and they moved it out. I grew up watching my dad pull levers and move so much overburden with one. Brings back great memories. When i got back from the Marine Corps, one of my first jobs was as an oiler with my dad. I got to spin around with him all day, greasing fittings, pouring oil in the cables. The funnest part was greasing the pulley wheel at the top of the boom. When a tooth would fall of the bucket, i would get to go down in the oit or up on the pile and retrieve it. Great memories!

[@vincebittinger4041]

Thank you Cliff, cool video. that brought back a lot of memories. worked on them as a mechanic, and a welder for about 15 years. The ones I worked on was near Mount storm, West Virginia, and western Maryland area. Yes it was cool to be in the operating cab when the operator was running it.

[@nancymann5351]

WOW....JUST WOW... A giants Tonka Toy! What a find in the middle of nowhere. ❤

[@buttergirlist]

🤣

[@lindamccaughey6669]

Oh Cliff you were like a little boy there. That was totally fantastic. Love the old machinery. I do hope people don’t damage it any more. Thanks for taking me along. Please take

[@MillerMeteor74]

I had a friend who owned a cranberry farm, here in the NJ Pine Barrens. She had an old Bucyrus-Erie dragline on the farm, which I never saw running. It was much smaller than that one. I'm thinking the bucket was about 2 or 2 1/2 feet wide and about 3 feet high. My friend told me that before she ran the farm, her cousin did. She said he had bought all kinds of old equipment like that, to rob the engines out of them to run irrigation pumps with. That was his plan anyway. Anyway, that Manitowoc is really cool. I've never been near a piece of equipment that big.

[@Bernard32]

Near Ebervale (Hazleton), lies the Anthracite King. It was the worlds largest shovel in the early 1960's. It is fenced off to prevent vandalism. It stopped digging not that many years ago. Look on youtube for the videos.

[@terridaniels8423]

My dad took us up there in the 60s and we had a photo of it.

[@kplhpa]

Cliff, I definitely enjoyed this video. When I was a kid, there waa some active coal strip mining near Morris Run, PA. Some of the strip mines had been reclaimed by the 70s. All of the mining shut down quite a few years ago. An up close and personal tour of this dragline was very interesting. I found there are some good videos on KZbin showing more about Manitowoc draglines including some in action from the operators cab. Well done.

[@shellysmith1037]

My grandfather operated electric shovels near St Clair in the stippings, and then draglines as well. He moved his 'walking dragline' from one mine site to another. It took a month because the walking drag lines move about 10' with each step. And power lines need to be removed to cross roads..... the coal region is so rich in history

[@703am]

wow! this is one big machine, i have to wonder if anyone could get it to run again, great video.

[@my2cents945]

Very cool. I'm surprised the main boom is still elevated. One of those cables gives out and it will come crashing down.

[@roberteshaw9520]

The preservation of this machine as a part of history is a good idea.

[@SevenFortyOneOutdoors]

There used to be one of those in the woods near my house when I was a kid. My town took over the property it was sitting on and dismantled it for scrap. Thanks for sharing this with us - it brought back memories for me.

[@dayhikedave]

Wow wee wow wow. Very cool! Thanks for sharing 😮😊👍

[@faerieSAALE]

That machine needs to be rescued and restored, and then made a revered museum piece as a piece of operational equipment! As a historical part of the coal mining industry - this is a masterpiece of engineering from another era. It certainly deserves the same restoration as the 1401 Big Boy locomotive. Big Boy hauled coal! Only a STEAM SHOVEL as big as this machine would rival it. Very few of the turn of the last century Steam Shovel remain - and they are highly coveted and also compete with one another at events just for them.

[@irefusetoaskmydoctorifyour6401]

I always enjoy your videos, Cliff. You're one of my favorite 'You-Tubers'. I wonder how long ago that shovel was abandoned up there?

[@waynebradish6344]

I saw one of those up near pine Grove at a coal mine back in the late '90s. It was still operational, was not running when I saw it. It was sitting next to a huge open pit though.

[@kateclark7250]

This machine is incredible! Thank you for bringing us to see it.

[@Curious1304]

thanks cliff a good video, over 10 minutes again (nice to see decent length video like this).. that is an interesting excavator I wonder why it was left there?

[@neilhansen9886]

Another great video Cliff

[@nikkih8198]

We just hiked there today! Thanks for letting us know about this. It was so cool!

[@markhill2279]

Might get out to Ohio to check out ‘Big Muskie’…a much larger version of this shovel!!

[@tomtransport]

Wow Cliff that was really cool, just as grand as a view in it's own way. I have a friend who was born up in the coal regions. About 30 years ago we went up to visit the area. There were 2 shovels there abandoned, not as huge as this but still very impressive. They were electric powered by overhead electric lines my friend explained. The electric lines were long gone. They looked like steam shovels I had seen early pictures of. Never forgot that weekend we stayed at his mother/fathers home. They are long gone now, they were in their late 70's 30 years ago.When my friend retired he moved back up that way, he always did call it.... UP HOME although he lived and worked down here in the flat lands most of his life. I was born in Phila. Left in 1972 for Exeter Township, Berks County and this is HOME to me.😀

[@EricZolner-zz8bj]

Between Stillwater and Benton there is a quarry that has a similar if not the same dragline and I do remember seeing it working in the past.

[@ronsadusky9707]

Thanks for posting this. Hiked to it today with a friend 10/23/23. Trail head only about 20 minutes from me!

[@whitegrizzleySR]

There is another KZbinr called Diesel Creek that restores old iron. Maybe not as big as this one but he got a Bucyrus shovel running that is a smaller one than this. He is from Pa too.

[@bobtrevorah2305]

Great dragline! Thought there'd be more graffiti on it though. Cool vid Cliff!

[@beckerse]

Cool! I'll have to check it out.

[@darlenegood4101]

Can you imagine what it took to make the machine...like putting together a bridge or skyscraper.I wonder how fast it moved.

[@johndillon7556]

Crane Market website has a spec sheet on the model 4600... It traveled 1 MPH... It weighs approx. 390,000 lbs

[@nomadsempirebuilder9461]

Big ol Drag line lol

[@hobbyfarmer62]

Always amazed by how massive those old shovels were can you imagine how beastly it looked brand new. Engine 1 would be for moving the entire beast from A to B while the 2nd engine would be just for powering the shovel. Seen a restored one many years ago run and dig some just crazy the bucket was like 5 to 10 yard size which is a lot of ground per scoop.

[@p.k.5455]

That is really really cool

[@georgetreisbach3849]

Garage Find... Ran when parked!

[@dimitriosfotopoulos3689]

That looks like Mary Anne. She is Mike Mulligan's trusty steam shovel, and if you look a bit, you may just find him too.

[@wafflebarn7129]

You sound confused thats a drag line not a shovel....

[@dimitriosfotopoulos3689]

@@wafflebarn7129 No kidding, really? Still close enough for the literary reference, for those who aren't being pedantic.

[@squidgameisaliarisawnosqui5341]

To cool love it, I'm sure someone would like to have that for a collection plus she would run I bet just a little love. Great video ty Steve on to the next

[@april_may_or_may_not]

Reminds me of a book my grandad used to read me when I was little about Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel.

[@Terror0619]

Me and another guy I know could most certainly get that thing running again. I also live in PA. Or send this link to Deisel Creek. Hes a youtuber from western PA as well and he fixes old machines. Wonder if he'd try to buy this and restore it. He and scrappy industries could definitely get it running as well

[@wafflebarn7129]

Doubt it keep watching youtube videos that are staged about people "betting stuff running, will it run" its all made up my dude

[@MichaelMiller-ny3rr]

This is large for sure, but modern “drag lines” are amazingly much more enormous with actual break rooms and restrooms for the operators and maintenance crews actually being built into them.

[@jeffreymcmillan7703]

Over in Ohio we had something called Big Muskie located just off of I-70 in Belmont County, I believe.

[@wmden1]

As others have stated, this is a dragline, not a shovel. Two similar machines, with different digging methods and applications. You were standing inside the bucket. This was a nice size, and pretty solid looking, tracked machine. It looked like about a 30 to 40 cubic yard bucket, I would guess. Thanks for the interesting video. Some risk in standing under the raised boom on a machine like this, especially with it having been sitting there for a long time, with the cables and their holding mechanisms rusting. I wish I were able and had the opportunity and proper permission, to try and start the engines and get it to operating, if possible. Thanks again.

[@denniskohr6816]

Awesome

[@ChiefBlackbart]

Cliff, will you be adding patches to your merch?😊

[@carolb29]

awesome piece of machinery! and yes would love to have seen it in action. Wonder why it was just left there cause ya know it cost a fortune to buy that.

[@R.C.1161]

Once the coal is gone, the lease is up, or the machine broke. It's value becomes pennies to the dollar. It just sits there. Perhaps some salvage of metals is possible. Usually, it's cheaper just to abandon it.

[@creatureconnor]

I wanna climb it!

[@andyshelly3473]

i can,t believe that no ones been there to take the scrap metal , i guess its a bridge too far lol.

[@rovhalgrencparselstedt8343]

It'd be cool if one of the heavy equipment rescue channels came out here and did a "will it start?" on this thing, the engines do seem to still be fully complete, only concern would be how much water has made it in through exhaust and/or intake over the years.

[@travelingRonman]

Wow that was impressive. I'm definitely going to have to check this out. I visited the General a couple years ago and that is tiny compared to this. Great find!

[@jenniferbutcher8393]

You could throw a tarp over the shovel and stealth camp there...would've been fun to see it actually run in its day! Thanks!

[@lilsuzq32]

Manitowoc is a city in Wisconsin. It's pronounced Man-i-toe-WOCK -- my maternal grandmother was born there.

[@Lymehouse1]

Isn't it more like MA-nuh-tuh-wok?

[@lilsuzq3289]

@@Lymehouse1 - I've heard the accent either way - first or last syllable

[@woodhonky3890]

The part you said was like a house is in fact called the house.

[@bammersmith5993]

It's not a shovel,it's a 6yard dragline.

[@Ootgreet1]

Another vote for you to check out Big Muskie, the dragline bucket outside McConnellsville, OH that was left in place when coal mining stopped at that spot in 1991. However, you found the cooler relic, because Big Muskie is just the (enormous) bucket and is set up like a normie roadside park, and doesn't have a cab or any of the electrical or mechanical controls. It's been stripped down to just the bucket and everything is welded in place and the bucket surroundings are landscaped. In Ohio the state would immediately strip your machine down to a hollow shell and then weld everything closed off as a safety issue.

[@anthonyhaddix3598]

There used to be one in Sandusky Ohio that could park two Greyhound busses in the bucket, don't know if it's still there or not.

[@donnasilver940]

I love anything about the mines and our doors .I go to alot of strippen water holes.Some are beautiful.

[@jamesstanley9839]

RUST in peace!

[@porkturtle8321]

Excellent album

[@coalcrackerchris]

I found one twice that size! Yeah, they are impressive! The one a freind and I found was a 'walking' drag line and it was moved recently to its present location at Famous Reading Outdoors in Darkwater, Pa. (it's not on Google maps at its present location but 2 miles away, it's there!! You should get a passenger permit for FRO($50/yr) so you can walk on their property and see it (and all the other impressive mining equipment). Surprised you never had a 4wheeler to ride on your channel. Big time saver!! BTW, I don't like how the heavy boom is suspended only by the original cables. One day they might give or someone releases the brake and down it will come! GREAT FIND(just watch for yellowjackets!!!).

[@wafflebarn7129]

No you didn't

[@wafflebarn7129]

Lol a 4 wheeler? Zeller can't even afford a proper vehicle

[@jimtomassetti8928]

You should look in to when it was in service last. If it can get this operation Monatouck.... they use to make freezers

[@mg-id1rq]

we have 2 of these 4600s manitowac at where i work. thats an antique and people destroyed it

[@guitarsmotorsanddirt8680]

Get Diesel Creek up there he would save it

[@H3LLRAZORMUGGZ13]

Welcome to the coal region! Ya think that is massive ya should see the walker old K&H has or the one that is now in the mammoth vein these where used to clear overburdened and I seen coal then . Heck might be able to talk to the boss and get a documentary on it as well. It's a shame there just left in the mountains to rust away

[@jmcnallyua]

Here in my state of Ohio when I lived in Southeastern Ohio there was a giant AEP dragline that they left abandoned in the middle of a strip mine it is so big that it looks like a giant Warehouse building with a giant boom sticking up but myself I would never walk onto the AEP electric company's property because it's a very strange place because they have people walking around in the middle of the Woods with binoculars watching people dressed in suits and ties with dress shoes which is not a normal thing black government vehicle at that time anyway keep up the awesome videos you're definitely one of my favorite KZbinrs

[@loripotter6296]

That's a dragline, not a shovel, coal strippers around began using loaders and dozens they fell our of favor. Carlin Coals here in Clearfield county had an electric one, one of the only all electric ones in the country.

[@edwardmckenzie3402]

Wonder how many times it has been struck by lightning?

[@ChelseaSierraK.]

🌟🙌🏻🌟

[@edwardmckenzie3402]

Not a shovel. Its called a drag bucket.

[@Stopcryinguwuss]

That will be there until the earth explodes one day. 😮

[@timdemarco5079]

Don’t let Matt from Diesel Creek see this video 😂

[@wvrockcrusher]

Too late. He and Sam are already on the way to get her running and tram it home.

[@p.k.5455]

Someone lost their shirt there...lol

[@hiworldstephensonultranate290]

Dreamland Stuff Gt Find saw working one once but no entrance to site at all obviously

[@R.C.1161]

Should be a way to get to the top. Those pulleys need grease!! So disappointed.

[@frienduro24]

Isn’t there a bigger one in Tower City?

[@Dave_0993_I]

Diesel powered, rather than steam. Wasn't worth salvaging, I guess. . .

[@earlwright9715]

Sorry, thats a dragline

[@mg-id1rq]

where is this location

[@leeturner1838]

load coal!!!!!!!!

[@johnwallis5824]

I love you adventures !!!!!!

[@UnexpectedInquisition]

Is this at FRO reading?

[@coalregionrider18960]

Looks the one off valley road

[@mg-id1rq]

whoever owns it should get it out of there .such a waste

[@Winniethepinkandpurplesd-zi7cc]

Ever seen big muskys bucket?

[@wafflebarn7129]

He will never see it

[@llstarlight]

If abandomed things could talk.😊

[@brookeshaffer4377]

This area is so beautiful! Some capitalist made a lot of money exploiting this habitat😟

[@gwynnbeers8348]

Have you ever thought of using a drone?

[@wafflebarn7129]

Someone bought him one and sent it to him but he refuses to use it.

[@R.C.1161]

@@wafflebarn7129 Alot of places don't permit drone use. Thats state forest land. NO go for Drones.

[@jayforkner2692]

​@@wafflebarn7129 Drone subject came up in comments about 10 days ago when Cliff posted the Hillsgrove Covered Bridge Video. Cliff explained his drone doesn't work anymore.

[@wafflebarn7129]

@@R.C.1161 that's not the reason clifford James doesn't do it.

[@wvmontani]

Where did you park and where is the trailhead?

[@joedeckinflyover]

Should tell Diesel Creek about it , do a will it start .😅

[@BobL84]

how many ton or yards will the bucket hold ?

[@hiworldstephensonultranate290]

Tks to that Viewer Native Indian Name? or Manitoba ( Canada)

[@GaryAZwick]

4600 I think

[@JOECorsoNova]

Google Big Brutus Kansas the one in this video looks like a toy compared to that one…..

[@twentle100]

wonder why a million dollar machine was abandoned.?

[@wafflebarn7129]

Gives you a clue as to how much profit was made that they just up and leave million dollar units