Page 16 - Equipment Echoes Issue #137

Sauerman Slackline Cableway Excavators

the bucket and released the rear drum to slacken the track cable,
lowering the bucket and carrier. When the bucket contacted the
material, the operator threw in the friction on the front drum
to draw the bucket in, filling it. When it was full, the rear drum
friction was thrown in to tighten the track cable; this raised the
bucket and carrier as it continued to be drawn in, and it stopped
when it reached the dumping point. Some applications required
dumping to the rear of the excavation, and this could be done by
modifying the rigging accordingly.
Operating Cost
Operating costs were a function of the size of the bucket,
Look out below! Dumping was even more spectacular without a pile or structure in place to span length, material being handled, and the costs of labor and
receive the spoil. On this job, material is being dredged from a river and placed to backfill a power supply. The efficiency of management and the operator’s
retaining wall for a dam.
industriousness also came into play. Sauerman touted the cost
to the other corner. The load cable ran up to the top of the mast, competitiveness of its system versus other excavators; one aggregate
through the lower guide block, and then to the hoist’s front drum. producer reported operating costs of 5 cents a yard including labor,
power and maintenance. On a well-run machine, the cost of wear
Method of Operation parts ran about 1½ cents a yard.
Starting with the bucket having just dumped, the operator Sauerman noted the economies of scale. A larger machine
released the load cable by releasing the friction of the hoist’s front would work at lower cost per yard than would a smaller one,
drum; the brakes on this drum slowed and stopped the bucket. The because with a smaller machine labor – the only constant between
carrier and bucket rolled down the track cable by gravity. When the two machines – became a greater proportion of cost per yard.
the starting point of the cut was reached, the operator stopped

This smaller installation is excavating a dam foundation and dumping to a grizzly for dump car loading. Temporary railroads saw wide use on large construction projects before the advent of
trucks and other modern haulers.

14 | Equipment Echoes Summer 2020 | #137