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I've had several people contact me and ask about
the current situation with Brutus, The Marion 7820 dragline that
flipped recently in western Pennsylvania...
Well, Here's what I've heard so far.
They've decided not to scrap the machine, instead,
they are going to try to save as much as possible and rebuild it. The
boom and masts were destroyed in the rollover, and have been cut off
and pulled away from the machine. They've began work to flip the
machine and are well under way.
The plan is to bury the draglines three buckets
about 20 feet deep, with cabled attached to them, to use as anchor
points. They've also filled in below the machines counterweight. They
plan to attach cables and snatch blocks to the front of the tub, and
gently roll it over the counterweight, back onto its base.
By rolling it on the counterweight, they won't have
nearly as much weight to try to lift when they try to flip it back
upright. This also applies for the Motor generator sets, which are
located at the rear of the machinery house. Since they are located so
far to the rear, the leverage effect is kept to a minimum.
I don't know what they're planning on pulling with,
but it seems to me that with the approach they're using, and all of
the excess weight removed from the front of the machine, a few D11's
with the right rigging should have no trouble in getting the machine
back "On it's feet"
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