Editing Dragline excavator (section)

{{Short description|Piece of heavy equipment used in civil engineering and surface mining}}
{{Redirect|Dragline|the album by Paw|Dragline (album)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
[[File:HD.11B.110 (11823129254).jpg|thumb|300px|[[Big Muskie]] was the world's largest ever dragline.  Built by [[Bucyrus-Erie]] in 1969, it was {{convert|487|ft|m|0|abbr=on|}} in length, weighed some {{convert|13500|ST|tonne|0}}, and hoisted a {{convert|220|cuyd|m3|1|abbr=on}} bucket that could move {{convert|325|ST|t}} of material at a pass.]]

A '''dragline excavator''' is a heavy-duty [[excavator]] used in [[civil engineering]] and [[surface mining]].  It was invented in 1904, and presented an immediate challenge to the [[steam shovel]] and its diesel and electric powered descendant, the [[power shovel]].  Much more efficient than even the largest of the latter, it enjoyed a heyday in extreme size for most of the 20th century, first becoming challenged by more efficient [[rotary excavator]]s in the 1950s, then superseded by them on the upper end from the 1970s on.

The largest ever walking dragline was [[Big Muskie]], a [[Bucyrus-Erie]] 4250-W put online in 1969 that swung a {{convert|220|yd3|m3|abbr=on}}, 325 ton capacity bucket, had a {{convert|310|ft|m}} boom, and weighed 13,500 tons.

The largest walking dragline produced as of 2014 was [[Joy Global]]’s digital AC drive control P&H 9020XPC, which has a bucket capacity of {{convert|110-160|yd3|m3|abbr=on }} and boom lengths ranging from {{convert|325-425|ft|m|abbr=on }}; working weights vary between 7,539 and 8,002 tons.<ref>[https://www.mining-technology.com/features/featuredigging-big-the-worlds-biggest-draglines-4306332/ Digging big – the world’s biggest draglines] ''Mining Technology'', July 6, 2014</ref>