Monday, December 1, 2008

Extreme Mining Machines: Stripping Shovels and Walking Draglines

Extreme Mining Machines: Stripping Shovels and Walking Draglines

Discover the largest machines ever used in the mining industry. Giant mining equipment such as stripping shovels and walking dragline shovels were at one time the largest machines to ever move on land. Packed with amazing photos, this book chronicles the history of the machines built from 1900 to 1971. The sheer size and mind-blowing capacity of these mining machines has won many fans. Also provides information about construction, operation, and maintenance. A necessity for earthmover or big-machine enthusiasts!

I enjoyed this book. It has a wealth of background information and contains good diagrams (such as how a walking dragline propels itself) that are not easy to find. Well-researched and well written in a style that is easy to follow and understand. The tables in the back are complete and helpful to anyone researching shovels & draglines. The photographs are great (and many in color, a nice feature), and illustrate the differences between the machines. The details of mining operations and company histories are much better than I would have expected in a 120-page book, considering the scope of the subject. I would recommend this book to anyone with even the slightest interest in mining. A layperson will be able to skip a sentence or two and still add a great deal to their knowledge base. People in fields associated with mining will also learn something, and enjoyably.

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