Big Brutus

Big Brutus

Big Brutus in 2014
Class overview
Name	Big Brutus (1963-Present)
Builders	Bucyrus-Erie
Operators	United States
Succeeded by	Model 1950-B-series Electric power shovel
Cost	US$6.5 million (1987) [1]
In service	1963-1974
Planned	1
Completed	1
Preserved	1
History
United States
Name	Big Brutus
Builder	Bucyrus-Erie
Launched	1962[1]
Christened	May 1963
Commissioned	May 1963
Fate	Retired in 1974 Preserved in 1987
Notes	Largest power shovel preserved
General characteristics
Class and type	Model 1850-B-series Electric power shovel
Tonnage	4,200 t (9,260,000 lb) + 770 t (1,700,000 lb) ballast when operational
Length	24.2 m (79 ft) (house) + 45.72 m (150 ft) (max boom length)[2] Total: 69.92 m (229 ft)
Beam	18 m (59 ft)
Height	48.8 m (160 ft) (to tip of boom)
Installed power	2 x 2.57 MW (3,500 hp) electric motors + external power substation[1] Total: ≥5.5 MW (7,500 hp) standard or ≥11 MW (15,000 hp) peak
Propulsion	8 x caterpillar tracks
Speed	0.22 mph (19 ft/min) (5.8m/min) max
Capacity	Blade capacity: 90 cubic yards (68.8 m3) or 150 short tons (140 t)
Complement	3[1]

Big Brutus is the nickname of the Bucyrus-Erie model 1850-B electric shovel, which was the second largest of its type in operation in the 1960s and 1970s. Big Brutus is the centerpiece of a mining museum in West Mineral, Kansas, United States, where it was used in coal strip mining operations. The shovel was designed to dig from 20 to 69 feet (6.1 to 21.0 m)^[1] down to unearth relatively shallow coal seams, which would then be mined with smaller equipment.