when i was a kid there was nothing there but brutus. we climbed him and explored freely. that was in the 70's. we camped in the dipper and it was the coolest thing.
@Bill Williams just more reason for stuff to break, back then (not way back but not 2020 thats for sure) they had grease fittings on everything and i dont remember that breaking
@@isatntt I remember grease-nipples clogging up all the time. Most ppl would just leave them clogged instead of replacing them. Few weeks later: seized knuckle or joint costing hundreds or thousands to repair, when a 20 cent new grease nipple could have fixed the problem. This is why most machines utilize automatic greasing nowadays.
I got to see it running in the early 60's. I remember standing next to the side of the strip pit and it was right in front of me. It was fairly quiet, being all electric, and I remember that it seemed as if the ground shook every time it took a bite. It was a sight to behold! Very good presentation. Thanks.
I'm glad Brutus whent here, Instead of just being abandoned or dismantled. Brutus looks like he is in good shape. What a GREAT treat to be able to go inside Brutus and look.
My grandfather traveled across America for over 50 years, selling the wire rope used to hold together marvels like Brutus. My favorite memory with him was when he brought my cousin and I, at 10 years old, on a road trip to this museum to really get a feel for who and what his work serviced. He was incredibly kind and gracious, and seeing this video pop up in my feed let me remember him for how great of a grandpa he was for us. Thank you so much for posting this.
Working 24 hours a day, non stop for 11 years. That's around 33 years worth of working day 8 hour shifts. Or 96000 hours. Google how many hours people get out of other earth moving equipment.
@@markdee3506 I can’t remember the name of the one that burned but someone said during that editorial that Brutus was out dated , not efficient, hard to use and cost more to operate than the coal it dug was worth.
@@bradleymorris8875 Yeah I'm pretty sure by the 1960s' they had begun building those giant rotary excavators (probably not the right technical name, but think Badger 288 style). With those you're getting constant excavation and transportation of the material by just swinging the machine around and occasionally moving it forward. Much more efficient, though they are much larger and more complicated than a steam shovel.
I live a mile and a half away from big Brutus and I never appreciated the size because I though they were all that big because I went as a child. One of the most impressive feats of engineering sitting in my backyard in the middle of no where kansas
There’s a fairly large break room directly behind the operator. I’m sure they had a fridge in there at the time. It and the operators cab were the only part with a/c.
@hewman ok, so you wanna use the catwalks to climb up a machine that weighs 11 million pounds that has the top half constantly moving and out of place of the correct alignment to get up? You can only use the stairs to get up when it’s parked, while it’s operating there’s no window to use them otherwise you run the risk of being crushed, the elevator was made so you can get up, also don’t tell me I’m wrong when I’ve studied these machines for 2 years
@@Leatherface123. just because youve studied them doesnt mean you cant be wrong. it should be encouraged to question those who tout themselves as experts
These kinds of machines are the ones that no one would believe existed unless one was still around like this. Monsters like this are legendary and nearly mythological now.
My wife and I payed Big Brutus a visit about two years ago (2020) and really enjoy our time there . So much history you could see just looking at the exterior of its body and when it came to its internal works, the Brain power of the men and women to make it function. To me it is a work of art. I have been around heavy equipment since 1969 and work on and operated the cranes , but never a shovel like this , Love it. Gene and Polly Born.
It seems strange that these land giants were less cost-effective than smaller machines when the opposite is usually the case, such as with ships. I heard elsewhere that environmental regs reduced their productivity but no mention of that here. I suppose smaller machines can be mass produced, but so can smaller ships.
@@alan6832 ships being better while bigger makes sense since they are floating, land vehicles become less efficient after they are so damn large and heavy.
Brutus was the creation of MEN. So damn tired of the compulsory inclusion language that we're forced to use where women are made equal to MEN in such enterprises. Secretaries in the home office played their part but, don't equate their efforts to the men who designed, built, and operated it. BTW, we could never make something like Brutus in the U.S. now. We don't have the industry or the skills or the infrastructure or the MEN to make it.
well that would end a lot faster considering the max speed of the thing is next to that of a snail, but the behemoth could probably still 1000 tanks and anti tank guns, mounted artillery and apache helicopters and missiles
I live on the other end of the state of Pennsylvania in an area called the Susquehanna valley. It's about 25 mi east of Harrisburg. and it always makes me smile to hear about things being manufactured in Pennsylvania. I often want to visit Erie Pennsylvania so I can see the lake.
I actually worked as a welder for 'Bucyrus-Erie' at the Pocatello Idaho plant in the '70's. This type of electric shovel is dwarfed by the 'Walking Drag-line' Class of electric shovel (a full size bigger). 'Big Muskie' was one of those. Guinness book of records holder for many years.
12:53 those are the resistor packs. when the operator hits the "brakes" on the cables, it dumps the power generated into those, producing heat. that area must have been ripping hot if that's the only bank of them. lotta power to dump when that thing goes from max reach to minimum for the next bite
Not a lot. Modern trains can dump more heat with dynamic braking. Like 6000hp ones can put down 4mw of heat when dynamic brakes r engaged . This pack looks like diodes to me. Probably not but it kinda looks like those selenium rectifier diodes.
@@KuntalGhosh that's stopping a lot more than these would be. remember these systems are a lot more balanced than a locomotive going downhill. it only needs to stop the arm from moving really, it wouldn't even have to stop it when it's full because it's not like this machine is for "placing" things. it just lifts, turns, dumps, returns.
I grew up close to Brutus. My Dad would take us to watch it digging. I’ll never forget the sounds, the dust, and dump trucks flying all around. It was very scary as a child. After it closed we’d climb to the top of it which is 160 feet.
I wish all of the great earthmovers had been preserved like Brutus. The GEM of Egypt, Silver Spade, Mountaineer, Captain, and Big Muskie, to name a few, would’ve served as incredible museum pieces but, instead, met the torch. They were mechanical works of art and engineering that powered a nation for a long time.
The Spade was almost saved but legal issues couldn’t be figured out. Sadly it’s gone along with the other real giants. I remember seeing one of them working at night and it was pretty terrifying
@@apollomoon1 I grew up not far from the mines where the Spade, GEM, and Mountaineer worked. It was not uncommon to see them along Rt.9, Rt. 519, and I-70. They fascinated me, especially at night when their lighted gantries were visible above the hills.
I work as an electrical engineer for a company that is specialized in big electrical winches. But this stuff keeps blowing my mind what they could do back in the day. No small feat for sure!
I put myself through college in the late 70’s working on a Bucyrus Erie Drag line just like this beast in the Phosphate mines in Florida. For three summers I worked on and around a machine almost identical to this for Agrico Chemical Company.
The minute Chris said Brutus cost more to operate than the coal it unearthed, I thought: "It sounds like a _government_ project, except if that had been the case, it would've taken two or three times the time projected, would've had huge cost overruns---and would've been obsolete by the time they finished it." Wonder what it sounded like to be inside when it was running? Thanks, Chris, it was fascinating to see this. Stay safe, everyone.
That's what I was thinking ,how it sounded...my assumption from my imagination is all the "scream'n demons" plus All the unimaginable scraping and grinding from the tracks to the turntable and ECT. Plus that much energy dumped had to make an interesting sound I assumed it sounded like screams of the damned from a distance and sounded like running gears of hell on the inside , it sure would be nice to pick up a sound byte of this monster
Same here brother. I actually lived in the project's and I had to move cuz the housing authority was going to ter em down but right before all the homeless went threw them and took anything they could
@@nylotical Brutus (preferred pronouns it/that) came out as non-binary with a mechanical attraction to tractors. You should really learn to be more sensitive to others, this has been known since Brutus turned 400 operational hours.
Really Awesome Piece of History. My father and Grandfather both worked for P&M Coal Mine in York Canyon New Mexico until it closed down in I want to say 2002 or 2003. Have not seen anything P&M related in years so cool man!
Mine too! Grandpa was at Mine 19 (where Brutus worked) when the shovel arrived and was constructed. Dad started at Mine 19, then transferred to Midway Mine, then Kemmerer Mine, then lastly McKinley Mine just outside of Gallup, NM.
@@coryschmidt1251 How cool. Grandpa worked underground most of his life Dad worked underground for around 15 years and then above surface the reminder of the time until they closed. Ended up working the gas fields in Southern Colorado near Trinidad. Where was the Midway and Kemmerer Mines located? We grew up in Raton New Mexico
The thing is that they’ll have technology such as what we have now. I myself didn’t know about this til saw I the thumbnail. They’d just be like “Wow this is small. The ones we have nowadays are like 10 times bigger.”
I think this is one of my favorite videos of yours. I remember when you posted it. I still come back to it about one to two times a year. This piece of machinery is simply unbelievable to me.
Can't imagine how darn loud that upper room where they had several huge 2 stroke Detroit diesels humming away at full song running the electrical generators that powered this beast
Sorry Aaron. It was electric that was sullied off in the distance, can't remember exactly. It dragged a huge extension cord basically being it. Seems like it was 4 or 6 inches in diameter. There used to be a section of it laying there.
In the beginning of the video, I thought that this machine would have been diesel electric powered, similar to a railroad locomotive but you're telling us that it essentially ran on a bigass extension cord! Amazing.
Whats interesting its is all the large equiptment like this they are all electric.Imagine if they were fueled by the whatever they were mining how much bigger they needed to be with the engine to boot.
I went to college at Pittsburg State, starting in 1960. After a break in schooling and in the Army for 3 years, I returned to Pitt State and was aware of Big Brutus. It was a cool place to take a date and back then when it was working, you could ride up the elevator, exit on the main floor, walk up behind the operator and ask questions. When you got off the elevator you had to be careful as the floor was usually moving where you were stepping. Certainly before OSHA, they'd NEVER let anyone do that now. Great memories of that area, the strip pits and great fishing.
yes but back in the 70s scrap iron was basically worthless, and besides, the donation to a museum meant a sizeable tax write-off that was probably more than the value of the scrap
Pretty cool Would really been cool to hear stories from the guys who worked with Ole Brutus Bet the operator was very proud and carried himself in a manner
Went to college in Pittsburg, Ks in the late 60's, early 70''s. Used to get a case of beer and sit and watch Brutis dig for hours. Removed 80 ft. of dirt just to get to a 2ft layer of coal. Created wonderful strip pits that filled with water and created great fishing places..
Yup you can just imagine the friction all that weight created wearing the walls of that bucket thin so plating and hard face welding was applied just to keep the integrity of the bucket to specs. Phenomenal!
Not so much "anti-wear" plates but more "sacrificial" plates. They were hardened to last longer and when worn down they would cut the welds and replace with another to prevent the bucket itself from wearing down. You are still correct though, just more of a semantics thing.
When I was in Southeastern Kansas I was driving along, one of my friends told me about Big Brutus. I didn't realize how big it was until I saw it up close. I'll never forget that day. The day of Big Brutus
Just then the baby bird saw a big thing, this must be his mother. "There she is" he said "There is my mother" The baby bird ran up to the big thing and said "mother, mother here I am mother. But the big thing Just said "snort" "No you are not my mother" said the baby bird. "You are a snort"
I work at a drilling company alongside a BG50 and we just got a new drill that dwarfs all the others. Always amazed me how monumental the machines made by man are
Honestly, I really appreciate that something like this was ever even built. It is a beautiful, ridiculous, incredibly special machine and a standout of in the story of human history. Ill bet 1000 years from now they won't care to know who any presidents were but they'll know about this machine like they'll know about the pyramids.
A Fantastic veiw! Thanks for the great tour of this unique and Massive machine! Appreciate the effort's you put into capturing this for us all to see.🙂✌Cheer's🍻
You should go to AEP Recreation land and check out the big Muskie bucket! There’s a great story behind the big Muskie and what it created for today’s outdoorsman
Thank you so much for walk around of that beast. For everyone out there that want to read the ( BUCYRUS-ERIE) story. Highly recommend getting the book. One hundred Booming years. A History of BUCYRUS-ERIE Company 1880 to 1980. Myself own a little of BUCYRUS-ERIE myself. Bought a 1978 Dynahoe-190. The standard backhoe digging depth was 19 feet. It is powered by a 353 Detroit Diesel. I wanted to own a BE machine myself so badly. The Dynahoe was a powerhouse in the day. But way more expensive than say a Case or JD. A guy who sold them in 70s. Told me my Dynahoe-190 was just under $100 thousand back then. I saw local company that still had them working jobs into the early 2000s.
When I was a kid we learned about Big Brutus and the shovel that was in Ohio doing the same work. That shovels name was Big Muskie. Thanks for the tour. That was interesting.
Located in Kansas just over the Oklahoma border. My whole car club stood in the bucket for a picture. I sat in the operators seat. All the electric motors are stripped out. There was an elevator on it to take the men onto it. Cavernous inside without the motors. . There is a ghost town nearby called Scammon Kansas that used to have only 1 business . An Italian restaurant called Josies t hat was a delicious place to eat. In front of Brutus is a miles long strip mine, now filled with water. Dug by big Brutus. I walked up the top of the boom for a ways. Great view. Its nice to see but its Kansas , so there is nothing else for miles and miles. Nice video
I could see why these things aren’t used anymore. They probably cost a lot to keep up, plus we have other bulldozers that are just as efficient and smaller than this thing. Still, it is pretty cool. 😱😀👍
It's actually good he was abandoned. It is probably the reason he still exist. The spade was pressed back into service and died in the pit she was working
The third reich had begun creation on super tanks not much smaller than this with battleship sized turrets by 1944. Had the war lasted till the late 1940s, it's believed they would have been ready for action. War historians have speculated that they might have had plans for nuclear capability, although I can find no credible source for that claim.
@@Ranstone but in reality a waste of time and effort as to large to be very mobile and quickly destroyed by air. Brutus needed a prepared surface to be mobile not a thing you can do in battle. It was foolish waste of resources like that helped us win the war.
I live about an hour and a half from Big Brutus and drive by the area several times a year. And yet, I've never been to it. Everyone I know has. Now I have to see it!
Tony: “Minnie, Since the f#$&ing dredges are not producing, I’m going to f#$&ing Kansas to take a look at some f#$&ing earthmoving equipment. Mike’s taking the f#$&ing OshKosh. I’ll be back in a couple weeks with some new sh!t for this f#$&ing mine. Have Monica build a new pad. A reeeally f#$&ing big one. Tell her to just level the f#$&ing hill, OK? And we’re gonna need a new f#$&ing wash plant...something that can do about 90 f#$&ing yards a minute. OK? Done.”
In my neck of the woods, Southern Ohio, there is a place that is kind of like a fairgrounds but it is called the antique machinery grounds where there is shows every year in August. There are a few steam powered machines that stay there year round, I always said that if an apocalypse happens that's the first place I'm going, get a giant steam powered tractor, at least I wouldn't have to look for gasoline.
Yes you are correct, there is a massive rotation conveyor shovel in Germany in a very remote location abandoned and slowly decaying , it is incredibly larger than big Brutus
heyyyy! My grandma used to live in cheryville We would visit this for fun as kids. Great video! Thanks for sharing.,going to share this with my family, it's a great part of our past!! ☮️☮️☮️☮️☮️☮️☮️☮️☮️☮️☮️😎
There’s one exactly like this near my home at the st Aidens nature reserve. Was previously an open cast mine. The mine actually flooded in the 90s from the local river bursting its banks. I love it
Amazing how big machines are kept in amazing condition, more old machinery should have been kept like this to show future generations how we operated in the past when times were hard
I've been posting on my second channel a lot lately. - th-cam.com/users/MobileInstinct2
Checking out your other channel now my friend, be safe . God Bless
OK, Subbed, but just curious? Why a second channel?
Massive machine, a friend took me and my husband there a few years back, awesome
@@RoyJenkins777 sa s seeds
@@christuter3973 ???
when i was a kid there was nothing there but brutus. we climbed him and explored freely. that was in the 70's. we camped in the dipper and it was the coolest thing.
How
Cap
that's awesome
@@HeroicPilotLOL what does cap mean?
@@BackHomeGunReviews no idea
Imagine how many grease fittings on that thing.
Bill Williams I’ve worked on semi’s from the 90’s with manual grease points
@Bill Williams just more reason for stuff to break, back then (not way back but not 2020 thats for sure) they had grease fittings on everything and i dont remember that breaking
I dont wanna think about it my truck has plenty
i was thinking the same thing lol
@@isatntt I remember grease-nipples clogging up all the time. Most ppl would just leave them clogged instead of replacing them. Few weeks later: seized knuckle or joint costing hundreds or thousands to repair, when a 20 cent new grease nipple could have fixed the problem. This is why most machines utilize automatic greasing nowadays.
This is a monument to man that should stand at least tens of thousands of years, thankfully it wasn't scrapped for the metal.
Thousands of years? It will rust into dust in decades.
@@NGC1433 Not being that thick of steel.
@@NGC1433 you don’t kno steel
@Lex RiordanNot likely it has already been sitting idle for decades.
@Lex Riordan if they keep maintaining it it will probably stand for decades to come
I got to see it running in the early 60's. I remember standing next to the side of the strip pit and it was right in front of me. It was fairly quiet, being all electric, and I remember that it seemed as if the ground shook every time it took a bite. It was a sight to behold! Very good presentation. Thanks.
I am glad the Brutus and a cutting torch never got together. Awesome machine in deed.WHAT A BIG BEAUTY !
These machines always remind me of one of my favorite children's books, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel.
Making me feel old dude!! Haha
I grew up in Popperville
My exact thoughts
Mary Anne.
Snort....are you my mother
in 7 years youtube’s gonna recommend this to everyone mark my words
Was today for me
Lmao
Waiting to find a comment like this but from 7 years ago
I am commenting to see if I happen to read this comment again
already been recommended
I’ve been there...the human brain can’t comprehend how big this thing is...I really enjoyed everything about it...it’s a must see!
Yup, giraffes for example. I know they're tall, I've seen people next to them, but until up close, wow
This is going to be a raider base in the apocalyptic future.
I WAS JUST THINKING THATT!!
I actually live near it
@@missilemike2361 ever been to it?
@@PrezTrades yes. You can't comprehend how big it is until your right next to it. And even then it's bigger than it seems
@@missilemike2361 I bet that’s cool
This is huge. You really can't get an idea of how massive it is until you get inside. Great video.
I'm glad Brutus whent here, Instead of just being abandoned or dismantled.
Brutus looks like he is in good shape.
What a GREAT treat to be able to go inside Brutus and look.
My grandfather traveled across America for over 50 years, selling the wire rope used to hold together marvels like Brutus. My favorite memory with him was when he brought my cousin and I, at 10 years old, on a road trip to this museum to really get a feel for who and what his work serviced. He was incredibly kind and gracious, and seeing this video pop up in my feed let me remember him for how great of a grandpa he was for us. Thank you so much for posting this.
Damn, must have been one heavy sample case he carried!
Ooo Biiig Brutiiiiiiss
Really interesting 👌
11 years seems like a short life for such a large investment.
Working 24 hours a day, non stop for 11 years. That's around 33 years worth of working day 8 hour shifts. Or 96000 hours. Google how many hours people get out of other earth moving equipment.
@@markdee3506 I can’t remember the name of the one that burned but someone said during that editorial that Brutus was out dated , not efficient, hard to use and cost more to operate than the coal it dug was worth.
@@bradleymorris8875 Yeah I'm pretty sure by the 1960s' they had begun building those giant rotary excavators (probably not the right technical name, but think Badger 288 style). With those you're getting constant excavation and transportation of the material by just swinging the machine around and occasionally moving it forward. Much more efficient, though they are much larger and more complicated than a steam shovel.
@@MrMattumbo does anyone recall the name of the one that burned ? I can’t find the video.
@@bradleymorris8875 I thought big muskie was the one that burned but it was a shovel named "the captain" that burned and was scrapped
My father in law machined some of the gears on Brutus in the 60's. Great Video.
I live a mile and a half away from big Brutus and I never appreciated the size because I though they were all that big because I went as a child. One of the most impressive feats of engineering sitting in my backyard in the middle of no where kansas
I heard when Brutus drives it actually stays still and the earth rotates under its tracks
Bro, it aint that big
@@drewdown826mate, caterpillar had Brutus decommissioned because they couldn’t compete
@@drewdown826 my package is though
@@drewdown826 dude it's a joke
@@drewdown826 r/woooosh
I didn’t see any cup holders where the captain sat. I guess technology wasn’t very good then. lol.
No USB port either to plug in his iPhone. :-/
That's because he never put his beer down.
Probably coz back then the operator kept his beverage in a hip-flask. 😜
well, it was the 1960s after all. not to mention this beast of a machine was created for the purpose of mining
There’s a fairly large break room directly behind the operator. I’m sure they had a fridge in there at the time. It and the operators cab were the only part with a/c.
The elevator was primarily for bringing oil and grease drums up into the machinery room of Brutus.
And when it operates it’s the only way up
@hewman ok, so you wanna use the catwalks to climb up a machine that weighs 11 million pounds that has the top half constantly moving and out of place of the correct alignment to get up? You can only use the stairs to get up when it’s parked, while it’s operating there’s no window to use them otherwise you run the risk of being crushed, the elevator was made so you can get up, also don’t tell me I’m wrong when I’ve studied these machines for 2 years
@hewman another internet argument won, my wife's boyfriend will be so proud
@@Leatherface123. just because youve studied them doesnt mean you cant be wrong. it should be encouraged to question those who tout themselves as experts
@hewman you can’t use the 2nd way up while it’s operating actually
They would retract the ladders and lock the hatches
These kinds of machines are the ones that no one would believe existed unless one was still around like this. Monsters like this are legendary and nearly mythological now.
My wife and I payed Big Brutus a visit about two years ago (2020) and really enjoy our time there . So much history you could see just looking at the exterior of its body and when it came to its internal works, the Brain power of the men and women to make it function. To me it is a work of art. I have been around heavy equipment since 1969 and work on and operated the cranes , but never a shovel like this , Love it. Gene and Polly Born.
It seems strange that these land giants were less cost-effective than smaller machines when the opposite is usually the case, such as with ships. I heard elsewhere that environmental regs reduced their productivity but no mention of that here. I suppose smaller machines can be mass produced, but so can smaller ships.
@@alan6832 ships being better while bigger makes sense since they are floating, land vehicles become less efficient after they are so damn large and heavy.
@@TheDevilRejectsNone Why?
Brutus was the creation of MEN. So damn tired of the compulsory inclusion language that we're forced to use where women are made equal to MEN in such enterprises. Secretaries in the home office played their part but, don't equate their efforts to the men who designed, built, and operated it.
BTW, we could never make something like Brutus in the U.S. now. We don't have the industry or the skills or the infrastructure or the MEN to make it.
God, imagine a killdozer event but with this.
Pretty easy to out run :)
Kyle Wiech yeah “tread” on Netflix is about it
Need more top speed for that
Just kill the power plant, and all the fun is over, though 😂
well that would end a lot faster considering the max speed of the thing is next to that of a snail, but the behemoth could probably still 1000 tanks and anti tank guns, mounted artillery and apache helicopters and missiles
what a amazing bit of engineering his catracks /crawlers almost look to small for its mass, glad big brutus was saved and that you choose to share
Each pad was one ton. NOT small at all!
That was made in my town! Bucyrus Erie in Erie PA. So cool!
I live on the other end of the state of Pennsylvania in an area called the Susquehanna valley. It's about 25 mi east of Harrisburg. and it always makes me smile to hear about things being manufactured in Pennsylvania. I often want to visit Erie Pennsylvania so I can see the lake.
Joshua Felty yo same, I live in Pottstown, near reading or 35 mins from KOP, always wanted to see what different parts of Pennsylvania was like
Nice! Im from Erie too!
Same name as as Brutus Buckeye.
Warren, PA here
I actually worked as a welder for 'Bucyrus-Erie' at the Pocatello Idaho plant in the '70's. This type of electric shovel is dwarfed by the 'Walking Drag-line' Class of electric shovel (a full size bigger). 'Big Muskie' was one of those. Guinness book of records holder for many years.
Apples and oranges bud. Cable shovel vs dragline.
Just visited big brutus it is a must see you really can't believe how big she is until you see her in person !!!!!!
12:53 those are the resistor packs. when the operator hits the "brakes" on the cables, it dumps the power generated into those, producing heat. that area must have been ripping hot if that's the only bank of them. lotta power to dump when that thing goes from max reach to minimum for the next bite
A little Tesla car makes enough power to run a small neighborhood while breaking. I can't imagine this thing...
@@Ranstone except that’s not really true 🤣 Maybe a small neighborhood of homeless people. I guess you meant “braking” also.
@@Ranstone probably a home if a tesla roadstar uses only the regenerative braking to stop from 200km/hr to 0
Not a lot. Modern trains can dump more heat with dynamic braking. Like 6000hp ones can put down 4mw of heat when dynamic brakes r engaged . This pack looks like diodes to me. Probably not but it kinda looks like those selenium rectifier diodes.
@@KuntalGhosh that's stopping a lot more than these would be. remember these systems are a lot more balanced than a locomotive going downhill. it only needs to stop the arm from moving really, it wouldn't even have to stop it when it's full because it's not like this machine is for "placing" things. it just lifts, turns, dumps, returns.
I grew up close to Brutus. My Dad would take us to watch it digging. I’ll never forget the sounds, the dust, and dump trucks flying all around. It was very scary as a child. After it closed we’d climb to the top of it which is 160 feet.
So basically you had a childhood unlike now day where they teach u to be gay
@@ChrisHillASMR “positive affirmation and love asmr” lmao shut up
@@ChrisHillASMR bruh your channel is easily the gayest thing I've seen today
Uhmm you sure?
@@boejudden9011 I mean it clearly took one to know one
I wish all of the great earthmovers had been preserved like Brutus. The GEM of Egypt, Silver Spade, Mountaineer, Captain, and Big Muskie, to name a few, would’ve served as incredible museum pieces but, instead, met the torch. They were mechanical works of art and engineering that powered a nation for a long time.
Oh man Big Muskie
That name gives my chills and goosebumps every time I see/hear/say it
great earthmover sounds straight out of a fuckin rpg
Big Muskies bucket is still preserved. Went there last week. Its awsome. Of course the wife asks. Whats that thing. And whats a drag line. Oh well.
The Spade was almost saved but legal issues couldn’t be figured out. Sadly it’s gone along with the other real giants. I remember seeing one of them working at night and it was pretty terrifying
@@apollomoon1 I grew up not far from the mines where the Spade, GEM, and Mountaineer worked. It was not uncommon to see them along Rt.9, Rt. 519, and I-70. They fascinated me, especially at night when their lighted gantries were visible above the hills.
As a welder/fabricator the amount of skill that went into this engineering marvel is immeasurable.
I work as an electrical engineer for a company that is specialized in big electrical winches. But this stuff keeps blowing my mind what they could do back in the day. No small feat for sure!
I put myself through college in the late 70’s working on a Bucyrus Erie Drag line just like this beast in the Phosphate mines in Florida. For three summers I worked on and around a machine almost identical to this for Agrico Chemical Company.
Starscream: why are we here lord megatron?
Megatron: fellas! Allow me introduce my acient friend!
Dude that would be sick!!!
Yeah he would be a dynobot
Ancient*
There is a comic number where he goes haywire in a mine with machinery such as this.
I think this would be a good opponent to devastator
The minute Chris said Brutus cost more to operate than the coal it unearthed, I thought: "It sounds like a _government_ project, except if that had been the case, it would've taken two or three times the time projected, would've had huge cost overruns---and would've been obsolete by the time they finished it." Wonder what it sounded like to be inside when it was running? Thanks, Chris, it was fascinating to see this. Stay safe, everyone.
That's what I was thinking ,how it sounded...my assumption from my imagination is all the "scream'n demons" plus All the unimaginable scraping and grinding from the tracks to the turntable and ECT. Plus that much energy dumped had to make an interesting sound I assumed it sounded like screams of the damned from a distance and sounded like running gears of hell on the inside , it sure would be nice to pick up a sound byte of this monster
Took my kids and finally got to see Brutus today, I am still at a loss for words, just amazing!
I love how quiet you are, you really let the magnum opus speak for itself
When you buy the wrong scale model for your diorama
I literally laughed out loud. Thank you. 😊
If brutus was in the neighborhood I grew up in ,no matter how many generations it took i guarentee there would be 0 copper wires left inside him
it would be full of kids having parties and doing drugs
How dare you assume Brutus’ gender
Same here brother. I actually lived in the project's and I had to move cuz the housing authority was going to ter em down but right before all the homeless went threw them and took anything they could
@@GardenGuy1942 it’s not assumed. Brutus is a boy. How dare you assume Brutus isn’t a man! You’ll make him feel depressed!
@@nylotical Brutus (preferred pronouns it/that) came out as non-binary with a mechanical attraction to tractors. You should really learn to be more sensitive to others, this has been known since Brutus turned 400 operational hours.
Really Awesome Piece of History. My father and Grandfather both worked for P&M Coal Mine in York Canyon New Mexico until it closed down in I want to say 2002 or 2003. Have not seen anything P&M related in years so cool man!
Mine too! Grandpa was at Mine 19 (where Brutus worked) when the shovel arrived and was constructed. Dad started at Mine 19, then transferred to Midway Mine, then Kemmerer Mine, then lastly McKinley Mine just outside of Gallup, NM.
@@coryschmidt1251 How cool. Grandpa worked underground most of his life Dad worked underground for around 15 years and then above surface the reminder of the time until they closed. Ended up working the gas fields in Southern Colorado near Trinidad. Where was the Midway and Kemmerer Mines located? We grew up in Raton New Mexico
I can only imagine what our descendants would think if they stumbled upon this monstrosity a few centuries from now.
We should partially bury it somewhere and when it's unearthed one day people will think it's ancient equipment of some type
@@GageDrums not hard to figure out its function, though
@@ruutjormun2262 well then we will take the bucket along with anything else that gives it away off of it
I kept thinking about that too. Of the entire empires built in human history, this stands amongst them.
The thing is that they’ll have technology such as what we have now. I myself didn’t know about this til saw I the thumbnail. They’d just be like “Wow this is small. The ones we have nowadays are like 10 times bigger.”
I think this is one of my favorite videos of yours. I remember when you posted it. I still come back to it about one to two times a year. This piece of machinery is simply unbelievable to me.
Being a heavy equipment operator this is the coolest thing to me. I have to go check this out in person sometime
..same here. MUCH appreciated..
Yes it's worth your time to check it out and the other things to loom at n the museum too
Can't imagine how darn loud that upper room where they had several huge 2 stroke Detroit diesels humming away at full song running the electrical generators that powered this beast
Sorry Aaron. It was electric that was sullied off in the distance, can't remember exactly. It dragged a huge extension cord basically being it. Seems like it was 4 or 6 inches in diameter. There used to be a section of it laying there.
Its electric
It’s a shock boi
He could power a city
It was fed by a big cable but that did not power it that turned motors that ran generators that supplied clean power to the electrical systems .
So it would be much cheaper to run 100L Cummins?
In the beginning of the video, I thought that this machine would have been diesel electric powered, similar to a railroad locomotive but you're telling us that it essentially ran on a bigass extension cord! Amazing.
Whats interesting its is all the large equiptment like this they are all electric.Imagine if they were fueled by the whatever they were mining how much bigger they needed to be with the engine to boot.
I went to college at Pittsburg State, starting in 1960. After a break in schooling and in the Army for 3 years, I returned to Pitt State and was aware of Big Brutus. It was a cool place to take a date and back then when it was working, you could ride up the elevator, exit on the main floor, walk up behind the operator and ask questions. When you got off the elevator you had to be careful as the floor was usually moving where you were stepping. Certainly before OSHA, they'd NEVER let anyone do that now. Great memories of that area, the strip pits and great fishing.
Thank you for visting big brutus i remember the place my late grandpa had pictures taken this video really means alot too me thank you
No idea why this got recommend to me but I'm glad I got to see this
It’s great that companies have the foresight to donate these machines to museums, there’s got to be millions just in scrap,well done.
yes but back in the 70s scrap iron was basically worthless, and besides, the donation to a museum meant a sizeable tax write-off that was probably more than the value of the scrap
Pretty cool
Would really been cool to hear stories from the guys who worked with
Ole Brutus
Bet the operator was very proud and carried himself in a manner
My parents took me here like 10 years ago when I was 4 and it’s exactly how I remember it thank you!
Went to college in Pittsburg, Ks in the late 60's, early 70''s. Used to get a case of beer and sit and watch Brutis dig for hours. Removed 80 ft. of dirt just to get to a 2ft layer of coal. Created wonderful strip pits that filled with water and created great fishing places..
The repairs on the shovel were not that, they are anti-wear plates and welds to prevent erosion to the shovel
I thought something didn't seem right with them
Yup you can just imagine the friction all that weight created wearing the walls of that bucket thin so plating and hard face welding was applied just to keep the integrity of the bucket to specs. Phenomenal!
Good ole 7018 and a Tombstone
Correct
Not so much "anti-wear" plates but more "sacrificial" plates. They were hardened to last longer and when worn down they would cut the welds and replace with another to prevent the bucket itself from wearing down. You are still correct though, just more of a semantics thing.
I don't know if this is weird or not, but I low-key wanna crawl up in there and take a nap.
it's totally understandable. it's like a military base meets a treehouse.
Yes it’s weird. Quite weird.
@@nylotical nah bro. that place looks dope.
I also just feel like having a nap in that thing, its secluded and full of calming white noise
Not in the summer, there are bee’s everywhere in there!! And everything is oily and greasy.
Man! This is exactly why I love TH-cam! Never would have found this on my own and damn was it cool! Great video
Fact that you referred to it as him and his really makes me happy. It goes to show that some people still care about pieces of equipment like this.
When I was in Southeastern Kansas I was driving along, one of my friends told me about Big Brutus. I didn't realize how big it was until I saw it up close. I'll never forget that day. The day of Big Brutus
Excellent adventure. Man can create some astounding machines.
A year to build all that back in the 1960’s by 50 men is very impressive. American integrity.
It was already built, it took a year to assemble the parts once it was shipped.
@@jerrypelletier2328 Some assembly required!
@@jerrypelletier2328 correct
@@JeffDeWitt batteries not included
What should it have to do with "integrity"?
Just then the baby bird saw a big thing, this must be his mother.
"There she is" he said
"There is my mother"
The baby bird ran up to the big thing and said "mother, mother here I am mother. But the big thing Just said "snort"
"No you are not my mother" said the baby bird. "You are a snort"
Ahh! As soon as I saw this I thought about that book, read it over & over as a kid 😅
Classic
THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR AHHHH I WAS LIKE WTF DOES THIS SHIT REMIND ME OF OMG A CHILDHOOD MEMORY!!!!!!
My favorite part was always the car
Exactly what I thought of when I saw the thumbnail
We went to visit Big Brutus this summer of 2022. It was facisnating
I work at a drilling company alongside a BG50 and we just got a new drill that dwarfs all the others. Always amazed me how monumental the machines made by man are
I missed the restroom, shower, kitchen and barracks area. Will re-watch now.
Honestly, I really appreciate that something like this was ever even built. It is a beautiful, ridiculous, incredibly special machine and a standout of in the story of human history. Ill bet 1000 years from now they won't care to know who any presidents were but they'll know about this machine like they'll know about the pyramids.
I live about an hour away from ol Brutus. Believe it or not, all those water filled trenches around it were dug by Brutus istelf.
Thank you for taking the time to show us this amazing machine.
I absolutely adore steam shovels, after growing up with Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne, and this is incredible!!! Thanks!!!
A Fantastic veiw! Thanks for the great tour of this unique and Massive machine! Appreciate the effort's you put into capturing this for us all to see.🙂✌Cheer's🍻
Imagine being in a post apocalyptic world and making a home out of this thing in the wilderness
Would be 🔥
Not bad for a zombie outbreak shelter.
Bro u get tht bit running your untouchable😂
Begin operation Fortify Brutus
*FALLOUT 5* all I’m saying. This could be a raiders hideout that you have to clear out and then you can use it as your shelter/base.
Lol at 0.2 mph I don’t think your going anywhere in that thing
You should go to AEP Recreation land and check out the big Muskie bucket! There’s a great story behind the big Muskie and what it created for today’s outdoorsman
Big Muskie should have never been scrapped
@@detroitdiesel-vu3ig you are so right it was the largest drag line made
In my top 5 most beautiful videos on YT. Thanks for showcasting this pretty machine
Thank you so much for walk around of that beast. For everyone out there that want to read the ( BUCYRUS-ERIE) story. Highly recommend getting the book. One hundred Booming years.
A History of BUCYRUS-ERIE Company 1880 to 1980. Myself own a little of BUCYRUS-ERIE myself. Bought a 1978 Dynahoe-190. The standard backhoe digging depth was 19 feet. It is powered by a 353 Detroit Diesel. I wanted to own a BE machine myself so badly. The Dynahoe was a powerhouse in the day. But way more expensive than say a Case or JD. A guy who sold them in 70s. Told me my Dynahoe-190 was just under $100 thousand back then. I saw local company that still had them working jobs into the early 2000s.
It’s currently 3am on a school night and I’m watching a video about a really big shovel.
When I was a kid we learned about Big Brutus and the shovel that was in Ohio doing the same work. That shovels name was Big Muskie.
Thanks for the tour.
That was interesting.
Big Muskie was a dragline.
@@superdave380 Yup.
I never said the were the same type.
I merely said we learned about it when I was a kid.
Big Muskie was a dragline
The biggest mobile machine until the bagger 288
"Tell the kindly folks not to worry, I have the watch and I'll keep the lights burning."
Brutus
And then he proceeded to use twice as much power as the coal he was digging up and was shut down
@@machine-shopbilly6584 "he used twice as much power as the coal he unearthed" power?
Located in Kansas just over the Oklahoma border. My whole car club stood in the bucket for a picture. I sat in the operators seat. All the
electric motors are stripped out.
There was an elevator on it to take the men onto it.
Cavernous inside without the motors.
. There is a ghost town nearby called Scammon Kansas that used to have only 1 business . An Italian restaurant called Josies t
hat was a delicious place to eat.
In front of Brutus is a miles long strip mine, now filled with water. Dug by big Brutus.
I walked up the top of the boom for a ways. Great view.
Its nice to see but its Kansas , so there is nothing else for miles and miles. Nice video
I could see why these things aren’t used anymore. They probably cost a lot to keep up, plus we have other bulldozers that are just as efficient and smaller than this thing. Still, it is pretty cool. 😱😀👍
I've been there. Definitely worth a side trip if you are in the Pittsburg, KS/ Joplin, MO area.
This was a very unexpected delight! You gave him a face, super enjoyable- 11 million pounds worth, thank you 😊
Sad that he'll never run again, but he's still a beautiful beast.
He might
It's actually good he was abandoned. It is probably the reason he still exist. The spade was pressed back into service and died in the pit she was working
@Cheeto Brutus, is that you?
I saw this and it brought back a childhood memory. I used to read a book called Mike mulligan and his steam shovel. The smaller excavator reminded me.
Great, it's so nice to watch something like this without some loud music with it.
Just a thought, but imagine dropping a turret from an iowa class battleship on that ring. Would probably work like a charm!
The third reich had begun creation on super tanks not much smaller than this with battleship sized turrets by 1944. Had the war lasted till the late 1940s, it's believed they would have been ready for action.
War historians have speculated that they might have had plans for nuclear capability, although I can find no credible source for that claim.
@@Ranstone yea the Ratte
@@Ranstone but in reality a waste of time and effort as to large to be very mobile and quickly destroyed by air. Brutus needed a prepared surface to be mobile not a thing you can do in battle. It was foolish waste of resources like that helped us win the war.
Yes, but with a top speed of .2 MPH you aren't going anywhere very fast!
@@Ranstone They would’ve never had enough oil to run it, it would’ve had massive down time.
First few seconds: “are you my mother?”
Only the real ones will know.
You're literally sandwiched between comments talking about the same book.
@@nonnaurbisness3013
I am ? :/
Ngl this made me kinda sad missing my childhood
Imagine it having a small nuclear reactor onboard, like a submarine. It would be unstoppable
It could fight against the Bagger 288.
I'd pay to see this! :D
@@TheJan714 It would be like watching a transformers movie lol
This thing would be scary alone just going it’s too speed, I’m shocked it can go around 20 mph
I live about an hour and a half from Big Brutus and drive by the area several times a year. And yet, I've never been to it. Everyone I know has. Now I have to see it!
I’ve watched this video a handful of times and am still captivated by this engineering marvel every time.
If Tony Beets could buy this he would
This can’t dig gold
If it at all went near a wet part it would sink
Sink to bedrock but still keep digging
Tony: “Minnie, Since the f#$&ing dredges are not producing, I’m going to f#$&ing Kansas to take a look at some f#$&ing earthmoving equipment. Mike’s taking the f#$&ing OshKosh. I’ll be back in a couple weeks with some new sh!t for this f#$&ing mine. Have Monica build a new pad. A reeeally f#$&ing big one. Tell her to just level the f#$&ing hill, OK? And we’re gonna need a new f#$&ing wash plant...something that can do about 90 f#$&ing yards a minute. OK? Done.”
Come the apocalypse I’m going to be driving this thing around with an upgraded engine and transmission wrecking shit
In my neck of the woods, Southern Ohio, there is a place that is kind of like a fairgrounds but it is called the antique machinery grounds where there is shows every year in August. There are a few steam powered machines that stay there year round, I always said that if an apocalypse happens that's the first place I'm going, get a giant steam powered tractor, at least I wouldn't have to look for gasoline.
@@danielfinney4295 Personally, I would go for a 1920s/30s steam lorry.
Rubber tires, headlights, enclosed driver's cab and a nice flatbed.
I'm in
You're gonna operate it for a grand total of 2 hrs lmao
How do you plan on fueling it? You could cover it in solar panels and it still wont move. Run maybe, but not move.
I think there's one like this in Germany as big if not bigger which is simply abandoned. At least BB is being preserved by being in a museum.
Yes you are correct, there is a massive rotation conveyor shovel in Germany in a very remote location abandoned and slowly decaying , it is incredibly larger than big Brutus
heyyyy! My grandma used to live in cheryville
We would visit this for fun as kids.
Great video! Thanks for sharing.,going to share this with my family, it's a great part of our past!!
☮️☮️☮️☮️☮️☮️☮️☮️☮️☮️☮️😎
There’s one exactly like this near my home at the st Aidens nature reserve. Was previously an open cast mine. The mine actually flooded in the 90s from the local river bursting its banks. I love it
I'm glad my megalophobia doesn't act up from videos. Actually standing next to Big Brutus would likely send my megalophobia through the roof 😬
Imagine getting the boys together and just coasting across the desert in your land yacht
Imagine being the head engineer that had to keep that thing running.
Love any old earthmoving equipment but to see inside big Brutus was fantastic
Amazing how big machines are kept in amazing condition, more old machinery should have been kept like this to show future generations how we operated in the past when times were hard
This looks like something that would be on a moon in a space movie
Well, it would certainly be a lot lighter up there!
From the days when our country actually made things.
Ok? Stuff is still made today
Was built in Canada
I went with my family around 15 years ago to see Big Brutus. I think it's about time to go see it again.
Love Big Brutus....What a achievement for man and engineering...Good story Mobile instinct...