whodom
February 27th, 2009, 06:39 AM
I'm trying to find some information on an odd dragline bucket that I saw in the early 1960's.
When I was a little kid in the early 60's, and first got big enough to occasionally go to work with my Dad (always on Saturdays), I distinctly remember that his dragline was equipped with a special bucket for cleaning existing ditches. The machine was a Koehring 304, and they normally equipped it with a 1 cubic yard Hendrix bucket for ditching but this bucket was something different.
In general, it looked like a modern hydraulic backhoe bucket you see used for the same purpose- it had "wings" on either side of the bucket, coming upwards at approximately a 45 degree angle and slanted slightly backwards. The wings would scrape the sides of the ditch as the bucket was pulled towards the machine. Another feature I remember is the bucket was hoisted by a solid metal bar that replaced the cross-bar and lower portion of the chains that usually support a dragline bucket. The metal bar attached to pivots that if I remember right were within the dragline bucket rather than on the outside. It seems like the arch was of heavy construction as well but I can't remember any other details.
I asked Dad about the bucket many years later (I believe it was still sitting in the weeds behind his employer's repair shop). He said that it was very heavy for its capacity and was generally not worth the effort to use.
Has anyone ever seen such a bucket, have any idea who made it, or have any photos of one?
Thanks in Advance,
Hugh
When I was a little kid in the early 60's, and first got big enough to occasionally go to work with my Dad (always on Saturdays), I distinctly remember that his dragline was equipped with a special bucket for cleaning existing ditches. The machine was a Koehring 304, and they normally equipped it with a 1 cubic yard Hendrix bucket for ditching but this bucket was something different.
In general, it looked like a modern hydraulic backhoe bucket you see used for the same purpose- it had "wings" on either side of the bucket, coming upwards at approximately a 45 degree angle and slanted slightly backwards. The wings would scrape the sides of the ditch as the bucket was pulled towards the machine. Another feature I remember is the bucket was hoisted by a solid metal bar that replaced the cross-bar and lower portion of the chains that usually support a dragline bucket. The metal bar attached to pivots that if I remember right were within the dragline bucket rather than on the outside. It seems like the arch was of heavy construction as well but I can't remember any other details.
I asked Dad about the bucket many years later (I believe it was still sitting in the weeds behind his employer's repair shop). He said that it was very heavy for its capacity and was generally not worth the effort to use.
Has anyone ever seen such a bucket, have any idea who made it, or have any photos of one?
Thanks in Advance,
Hugh