Quote:
Originally Posted by Daper Dan
I have seen several dragline shovels in operation that were operated by hand brakes and clutches spooling the cable in or out.
|
That's the kind of machine my dad ran and that I learned to run. It's quite a "dance" to operate one. You've got 3 levers that control clutches (hoist drum, drag drum, and swing) and brake pedals for the hoist and drag drums. The clutches engage to pull the cables in; you control how they feed out with the brakes. You have to be smooth so as not to abuse the machine or tangle the cables. You're moving something ALL the time.
Hydraulic backhoes have almost completely replaced small draglines for the kinds of jobs he used to do. Occasionally you can find someone using a small dragline to dig a pond these days, but it's a rarity.