ERIE STEAM SHOVEL RESCUE!

Everyone wants to save Steam locomotives but not everyone wants to save Steam shovels, nice work!

It should be entered in a old engine museum, great job of getting it going

The wooden cabin is the icing on the cake

In Nederland, Colorado there is a steam shovel that is up for sale. The history on that machine is that it was a maintenance shovel used in the construction of the Panama Canal. The very last survivor. This shovel was shipped up the west coast and then shipped to Nederland to work in a silver strip mine. Abandoned for years it was rescued by locals and driven out under compressed air.

Great to see younger people saving a piece of history.I read mike mulligans steam shovel as a kid. Then had to buy the book for my grandson who's name is Mike mulligan.

The Ball Engine Company was founded, by F. H. Ball and W. H. Nicholson, in Erie in 1883 to manufacture stationary industrial steam engines. Recognizing that the market for such engines was maturing it began manufacturing steam shovels in 1914. This diversification took place following a conversation between Ball’s vice president Fred McBrier and A.C. Vicary, a salesman for Thew Shovel. Vicary had some forward-thinking ideas about improving the design, manufacture and marketing of steam shovels, and Ball hired him and applied his ideas. Ball used the name of its hometown as the trade name for its shovel line, as did Thew with its Lorain machines. Ball initially produced only two models, the 1/2-yard model A and the 3/4-yard B. The thinking behind this was to minimize costs by simplifying and streamlining manufacturing and service through the use of standardized, mass-produced parts that were interchangeable between the two models. Oddly, the Erie B’s introduction predated that of the A by about a year. The A and B could both be mounted on crawlers or steel traction wheels, and the B was also available with railroad wheels. The B could be set up as a shovel with various combinations of booms and dipper sticks for general, overburden, railroad ditching, or open-trench excavation. It could also be outfitted as a crane or dragline, although it had limitations as a dragline due to the low line pull typical of steam excavators. The Erie A and B were aggressively promoted, and their design concepts proved so successful that Ball dominated the small-excavator market. Ball Engine spun off its stationary steam engine lines in 1920 and became Erie Steam Shovel in 1922. The Erie B was replaced in 1925 by the B-2 Dreadnaught, a 7/8-yard excavator that was intended to be a transitional machine into the internal combustion excavators that were rendering steam obsolete. Bucyrus of South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, had also achieved considerable success with steam excavators, but had only a small share of the market for small machines such as the Erie A and B. To rectify this, Bucyrus merged with Erie to form Bucyrus-Erie in 1927, following Erie’s reorganization the year before under a new board that included two members of the Bucyrus board of directors. All production of Bucyrus-Erie small excavators was consolidated into the Erie plant, which remained open until 1984, when it was closed and sold as part of Bucyrus-Erie’s restructuring into a manufacturer solely of surface mining machinery consequent to the recession of the early 1980s. Bucyrus-Erie was renamed Bucyrus International in 1996; in 2011, Bucyrus was acquired by Caterpillar and became Caterpillar Global Mining. Source: https://eriehistory.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-ball-engine-company.html

I'm not 6 minutes into this one and already getting yelled at for waking my wife up laughing. The humor is awesome, and I love the camaraderie.

That steam shovel cartoon brought back some deep seated memories - wow.

Slap a fresh coat o' paint on 'er, she'll be alright for another hundred years! Crackin' job, fellas! Seriously though... It's damn near miraculous what you guys managed to achieve with a bit of heat, grease, persuasion and persiverence! Just looking at her, I didn't think she'd ever move again.

I live in Erie pa and drive past the old bucyrus erie plant every day and it's cool to see the equipment that was made there 100 years ago... Good work guys

Now this is a real restoration project for you guys. Please make sure this restoration is well covered on this channel. This will build up this channel 👍

Very cool! Glad it was Saved! There was a 1907 or 1902 Steam Crane-Shovel here in MI rescued a few months back & Had been found in a lake! sitting since the 1940s or so. It was taken out and now awaiting a FULL Restoration! I hope the same for Erie.

Using old equipment to make even older equipment move ... love it . Great video

My grand father ran steam shovels in the 30's and 40's, he lived till 2005.I love these vids.

Love, Love, how you are saving history, hats off to you bud for what you do, and for showing us the process...amazing Taylor..just amazing.

Its always amazing how much help shows up when old iron is being Rescued Steam shovel-- old truck . Tractors etc ... old timers always Offer great advice and want to see it saved and see when restored .. my grandfather wants to see this running restored before he is buzzard food ( his own words ) he is watching this ... great video thanks

Was great seeing you get the old machine running.

Having grown up around a lot of old derelict long forgotten antiques this is one of the coolest videos I've ever seen on YouTube

Gentlemen, this was a great watch! This machine is a testament to American ingenuity from a time when the country was growing at great speed. The men that designed, built and ran those machines are smiling down for sure. I hope she is reassembled and put on display for all to see.

I was going to comment on what a kick ass rescue this was, and give Jonathan W a shout out, but he beat me in the comments... Both of you folks do some great videos. I love to see our history saved in such ways. Thanks to all those who care enough to work that hard for history.