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Bucyrus Erie 770
At this writing, or at least when these pictures were taken, a new and exciting dragline was working its' way toward the Rockport/Ceralvo Road. A dragline operator, using a "Joy Stick" was comfortably digging the earth, uncovering the coal seam. The machine was working smoothly and quietly uncovering the overburden from a three foot plus coal seam, and on the other end of the pit coal haul trucks were being loaded with the newly uncovered coal. As you look at the picture of the old nineteen-forty version of a small dragline, one might wonder, about the previous statement of it being new and exciting. Guess new is in the mind of the beholder and in this case, the dragline operators. The Bucyrus Erie 770 dragline, that is pictured, is a late 1940 era dragline equipped with a 20 cubic yard bucket. This is very small in comparison to the behemoths that once stripped in this area. In the 1940 era of coal mining, most all draglines used DC motors to cause the machines to move and dig. DC motors had been proven desirable in manufacturing and earth moving work areas like in the digging of canals and excavation. DC motors used in the dirty and dusty conditions of a coal mining operation were less reliable. At that, the DC motor characteristics, like speed control, were better than other types of motors and were the choice of the time. It would be another sixty years before another type of motor, the AC motor, would become more desirable than the old DC motor. That was then, this is now. Some fifteen years ago, an old Bucyrus Erie 770 dragline was in operation at the Peabody Seneca Mine in Colorado. The small shovel was built in the late nineteen forties and had outlived its' ability to dig economically. It was a small machine, old, worn out, and was just shut down. Left in a mine area, it sat idle for over ten years, waiting on a salvage crew to cut it up for parts and salvage. Surprise, Armstrong Coal Company had an idea. For years, Flanders Electric out of Evansville, Indiana has been in the business of supplying motors, material and technology to mines worldwide. New technology helped Flanders Electric develop new A/C motors and the controls for operating those new motors. Armstrong Coal Company approached Flanders Electric Company about retrofitting this BE 770 dragline from Colorado. The "Wheelers and Dealers" for both companies agreed to give it a try and they did. As the old saying goes, the rest is history and now an old worn out dragline that sat idle for ten years is now digging for the Lewis Creek Mines near Rockport. The BE 770 was moved to Ohio County and Flanders Electric designed and built a new power and control system for the old dragline. The old internals of the 770 were removed and newly designed AC motors and new controls were installed. This machine would be the first retrofitted A/C drive machine in the USA. It uses VFD drives developed by Flanders Electric. Interested company personnel, as well as just onlookers from the USA and Australia, have toured this mine and machine just to see the operation of a newly designed dragline. The BE 770, after being retrofitted, became a test model. It could operate in a local mining environment, close to the company that rebuilt it, and test data could be collected and acted upon as the machine was operating. Any changes or modifications could be made with just a short drive from the Flanders Electric Company. A plus for Flanders and a plus for Armstrong Coal Company. The company that retrofitted the machine and the company that was operating the machine are within a few relative miles from each other. For more information about Flanders and this BE 770, click on the following link. "Bucyrus Erie 770" Lewis Creek Mine is a surface mine located in Ohio County and near Rockport, Ky. The miners are extracting seam coal from the West Kentucky #13A and 13 coal seams. Lewis Creek utilizes one dragline and the truck-and-shovel mining methods. Lewis Creek produced 0.8 million tons of coal in 2012. Lewis Creek Mine 3211 Hwy 85E M1 Lane Rockport, KY 42369 ; ) |