Bucyrus Erie Class III Drageline

This one is preserved in Bosnia, but I suspect not in working order.
151004Su-Banovici-museum-walkingdragcrane-RSmith.

Roderick

Melb Steam Club
Rapier W90 Walking Dragline

Clikity .........ClikClikClik

cya

Southbound

Blowed if I know but it looks cool to me.

Swishy wrote:

How do U produce & store 300 psi compressed air for air stating the beast in about mid 1930's?

Trucks maximum air 120psi .... beyond th@ U need pressure vessel permit/license me thinks


WoySezU?

cya

Maybe a Steam Engine, Swishy...

Rustons in action

This looks like the one in question. It has a direct Mack type air starter.



Here is bigger older one with a piston pressure type start system.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but seem to remember seeing one of those huge slow revving multi cylinder diesels with an air start, somewhere in a museum in rural NSW.
Possibly somewhere up around Mudgee-Rylstone-Kandos area.
Twas a gen set that originally powered the towns electricity supply before being hard wired into the grid, stood there for many years as a back up.

Remember it had a mechanical valve lifter on a ratchet handle and had a humongous flywheel with holes in it in which a crowbar was placed and wound over by hand until a line was inscribed which had to line up with a plate on the engine.
Bloke standing beside me was explaining to his teenage son that it had to be done that way as you only got one shot at starting it, didn't have everything in order it wouldn't start and you had to wait until you could refill the air start bottle.
Not like an Ingersoll Rand where you may have been able to "pinch" some air from a tyre!
Dave_64

It certainly is a scarey pressure to make and to hold, 300 psi. But it is correct, there are even some large air start stationary engines that have a donkey engine to drive a compressor to gain the 300 psi in order to start up. The last one I saw was at the Clarendon Classic Rally in Sydney and from memory it too was a Ruston engine, a very very large Ruston engine. It took the donkey engine a good 10 minutes to build up pressure. While that was happening the operator had to then go around the engine and get all the right valves opened and some closed, throttle set and maybe even some valve lift to reduce compression a touch.
Once started it is something to see and hear.

Here is the Crossley engine they start each day at midday in Bourke

Cobba

Just thinking 300psi is not much really. We work every day with 100psi and my old $19 tiny 12v tyre compressor pushes up to 150psi and SCUBA tanks are 3,000psi.

Lang

Pity about the Crossley only running on the one cylinder. i was there 2 years ago and saw it start and run. The bloke did tell me why they only ran 1 cylinder. Can't remember , but it was major surgery to get it up and running on both. Would start easier and run better with both cylinders working.
Regardless , it is still a lovely motor. We have a single (running) and a twin here in a private collection. Not sure of starting pressure but the tank is about the size of a 44 drum , and you only get 1 go out of 1 tank of air. Came from Coolgardie. This bloke has a collection to die for. He will open up if given some notice. We are always looking for help swinging some of the smaller Blackstones and others. The single Crossley is 72 hp , the twin is around 150 from memory. I will try and get some pics for next posting. Dave. Port Lincoln SA.