Caterpillar 797B
• Rear-wheel-drive, six-wheel dump truck
HEIGHT: 23 ft 3 in. (at roof) | WEIGHT: 687.5 tons
ENGINE: 3370-hp 117-liter V24 diesel with 12,170 lb-ft of torque
MEGA FACTOR: 3 ft 6 in. of ground clearance
Caterpillar 797B
It’s just like the pickup in your garage—only this truck’s torque equals that of a half-dozen semi tractors. The axle assembly (top) is the size of an F-150.
In the world of mining trucks, there’s an ongoing dispute about exactly which one is the largest. Many of these beasts are equipped with electromechanical drivetrains, like a locomotive. But not this massive Cat. The 797B uses the same kind of direct mechanical drive as, say, a Chevy Silverado. So in terms of conventional powertrains, this is the largest. “It’s just a big yellow truck,” says Mark Richards, marketing supervisor for Caterpillar’s large mining trucks division. A big yellow truck powered by a V24 diesel that generates 3370 hp and a mind-boggling 12,170 lb-ft of torque.
TLD DBL-110
• Boeing Dreamlifter cargo loader
HEIGHT: 33 ft with deck extended | WEIGHT: 110 tons
ENGINE: 325-hp twin Cat diesels with 1880 lb-ft of torque
MEGA FACTOR: Can move 68 tons of cargo at up to 10 mph
TLD DBL-110
The 110-ton TLD DBL-110 loader can handle 68 tons of cargo. The deck, which is one-third the length of a football field, can be elevated to a height of 33 ft.
Boeing’s wide-body airliner assembly plant in Everett, Wash., is the largest building on Earth by volume—472,370,319 cu ft. Big things here are almost pedestrian. Even so, the 118-ft-long, 32-wheel TLD DBL-110 cargo loader stands out. Way out. “That’s DBL,” chief operator Chris Dailey says, “as in Darn Big Loader.” Actually, darn big is an understatement: This is the largest aircraft loader, period. The DBL-110 is the ground link in the supply chain for production of Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner. The manufacturing of 787s is global, so the challenge was to orchestrate final assembly in Everett. Suppliers fly in parts on a fleet of three modified 747-400s called Dreamlifters. The DBL-110 is then used to offload wings, fuselage sections and tailpieces through the swing-away tails of the 747s. The DBL’s cargo deck is identical to the deck of the 747—whatever fits inside the aircraft fits onto the loader. Its cab is stuffed with monitors, hydraulic deck controls and a laser sensor that aligns the loader with the plane. However, it’s the operator who guides the loader up to the aircraft, not a computer. And the two vehicles never make contact. Freight moves from the plane’s belly across an inch-wide gap and onto the loader’s rails.
Oshkosh Striker 4500
• Eight-wheel-drive Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting Apparatus
HEIGHT: 12 ft 6 in. | WEIGHT: 58 tons
ENGINE: 950-hp Cat diesel with 2400 lb-ft of torque
MEGA FACTOR: Sprays 1250 gal per minute from 4500-gal tank.
The Striker is designed to extinguish blazes, but with 17 in. of clearance, 16 in. of wheel travel and differential locks, it would be at home on a 4wd trail too. (Photograph by Nathaniel Welch)
“Sure, they look glamorous,” says Portland, Ore., airport firefighter Pete Hallenius as his department’s new “Slime Lime” Oshkosh Striker 4500 emerges from the fire station, “until you have to wash them.” The $1 million Striker 4500 is the airport’s newest firefighting vehicle—a 58-ton colossus that can cross tarmacs at 70 mph to reach a burning aircraft and can fight that fire longer than any other Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting apparatus. “We always know where we’re going,” firefighter Ken Edwards says as he moves into the center driver’s seat. “Each of the trucks has its assigned spot if there’s a crash. We don’t leave anything to chance.”
The LeTourneau’s massive bucket is 24 ft wide. So, in a schoolboy’s fantasy, it could easily swallow two 1970s Cadillac Fleetwoods piled on top of one another and lift the sedans 45 ft in the air before dumping them. (Photograph by John Burcham)
Asarco’s open-pit Ray Mine in Arizona is so rich in copper that water sprayed on its dirt roads to keep down the dust instantly turns green as the ore oxidizes. If you stand at the bottom of the mine, which covers more than 50,000 acres, and look up at its high, tiered walls, you travel back in time to the top shelf, where the first cuts were made a generation ago by men with picks and shovels. Here at the bottom, though, the world’s largest wheel loader—the LeTourneau L-2350—gulps 75 tons in a single bite.
It took six months for PM to track down America’s largest moving machines. These monster trucks and wheel loaders include a front-end loader that scoops 75 tons, a 950-hp fire truck and more. We hitched sky-high rides and took some of these intimidating rides for a spin.
