by Nick Drew | Thu 25 Nov 2021
Building the Big One!
Time for some heavy metal here on the Digger Man Blog! Have you ever wondered how much work goes into assembling one of the largest hydraulic excavators in the world? Well, courtesy of Liebherr Mining, we have the answer in just under 2 minutes of viewing pleasure!
Weighing in at 800.00 tonnes in backhoe configuration, the Liebherr R 9800 is an absolute beast of a machine, the likes of which, most of us will never see working in anger. The giant machine stands as tall as a three-storey building and is powered by 2 x Cummins, or 2 x Liebherr engines as preferred by the customer, which have a combined power output rating of 2,984kw (4,000hp). An all-electric version is also available.
Typically, the R 9800 has a rated backhoe bucket capacity of 47.50 m3 and is designed to pair with Liebherr’s T 264, T274 or T 284 heavy mining dumptrucks.
Assembling these monsters is no mean task and every detail of the construction process is meticulously planned to the last nut and bolt.
The assembly phase takes around 12 weeks to complete once the components have been delivered to site. But thanks to some awesome time-lapse video, we are able to witness the build up of this example in Australia in under 2 minutes, so sit back and enjoy!