32:02.., Chris I am so glad it arrived as I was on a sweat for a minute wondering if I had the right address, to see it there in your collection and knowing how much joy it brings you means the world to me, because of you I havnt taken my anxiety medication in almost 6 years because your videos are so calming, I cant express my gratitude to you enough the difference you have made in my life and my mental wellbeing.., thank you!
@@DeclanOBriens Cheers, I have enjoyed Chris's videos for years, its actually an accident how I came across this model, I was googling a service manual of the dragline and I came across this site, that diecast model cost $251 but I know how much it would have meant to Chris.., so it was worth every Cent.
@@Lazzar1958 Cheers, Chris is one really hard working youtuber and brought me many hours of enjoyment, I was just pleased to give something back to him.
The old girl is looking good. I see a lot of videos of people starting old machinery but it's nice to see someone take the time to learn how to operate it and put it to use. Wouldn't expect anything else from a legend operator, well done Chris.
I just got a 797 American out of moth balls. Moving this week to a gravel pit. Be videos soon if GoPro doesn't encrypt fills again. About ready to run it over
the drag winch doesnt have enough in it to pull the bucket, so he has to keep the lift line tight so itll move. when he lost the bucket in the last video he couldnt recover the bucket without the lift
@@caullinsmith6210- that’s true, to a point. I have been saying lower the boom & slack your lift line myself, but he is getting so much better than he was.
Actually you don't slack your lift line. You hold certain amount on it and bucket does an arch and fills. If you slack your lift bucket digs in right away and can get stuck.
So cool to have a model replica of your drag line. You have some GREAT followers, for sure! Even on your day off, you learn new heavy equipment skills. The drag line is just over-the-top fun to watch. And, even more fun, to watch you learning to use it! Thanks, Chris, for being so open and sharing with us. We do appreciate it! 👍👏✨❤
I knew an operator in the mid 60's that operated a Bucyrus like yours and he swung the boom to the left or right and he'd cast the bucket like casting a fishing rod.That old man was a old school operator and he'd pull in a full bucket every cast. I bet he's been gone 50 years now Chris. Your doing fine operator, practice makes better then average LOL !
I learned how to dragline and clamshell back in 1983 as a 19 YO airman at Lttle Rock AFB from Mr Mac. On that very same machine 22B. Mac was nearing retirement and was a fantastic operator and great patient teacher. As I gained experience I could cast it out on the return and hit my mark more often than not with a nice smooth cycle. Mac would hit it every time. We would load trucks and sometimes scraper bowls. It took a long time to develop a rhythm and get the timing right, I guess if I had to describe it it's about like playing the drums. One other most important things Mac thought me about free line cranes is keeping the brakes and clutches adjusted and in good order. You don't work near as hard. It's been quite sometime now since I swung a drag bucket. From the looks of things for just starting out you will swinging that bad boy like and old hand pretty soon. Draglines and free line cranes in general are a lot of fun. Thanks for the memories.
You could make a whole video on just the models!!, they usually have them for sale when visiting the factories, The factory that makes the haulers is close by where I live in Sweden, visited them a lot of times so will definitely buy a mini hauler next time
By next year, at this time, you’ll be all ready for the national pike steam show😊 that’s this coming up this weekend i’ll like going to it and seeing all that old equipment running you are a true operator if you could run that old stuff
The trick is to hold your bucket just over the water surface, then pull tension for the swing. Release the tensioner to start the swing. And when to want to hit a spot drop the bucket down with the crane cable. When you're starting the drudge, only pull up the slack on the crane cable don't lift the bucket at all. Pull in the slack line and the bucket will follow the natural ark of the crane cable. You can paint marks on the crane cable for depth indicators to make it super easy.
The overhead view inside the cab is insane, the different functions and levers and movement of your hands just shows how difficult it was to dredge. At least now, with the mutli-function sticks, it makes your hand movements much easier. I'm impressed.
Chris I guess I'm one of the ancient ones I have spent many many hours trying to run the drag line thousands of hours watching one work in a borrow pit as a truck driver for the state of North Carolina hauling dirt out. I think you're getting it now you will figure it out you might not believe or agree but I know season operator can load as many trucks probably as a trackhoe.
So enjoyable to watch old school crane in action. I used to sit next to My Dad as He and His helper would fill the Hot pond with logs for the next day mill's needs. With a 50 ton Orton rail crane. With over 75' of boom. He would swing and slow down so the tongues would make a circle then swing back to put them right in the Helpers hand. It was an art to put them exactly where You want them. He put Me in the seat of a small P&H crane on tracks. And stood next to the door and instructed Me on what to do. I took right to in My pre teen years. He take Me to work so I could stack logs higher to make more room for fork lifts.
Again I couldn't believe a half hour raced by. Watching you use this beast is fun, entertaining, and educational. The overhead view in the cab was awesome. I love watching you work your equipment, but this was magical. The coordinated use of your hands & feet was a wonder to watch and you didn't look like a newby either: those moves were sure and deft. For almost 70 yrs I have enjoyed watching big machinery do their job but you & your channel took it to enjoy watching the operator do their skilled thing. Thanks for bringing us along for the ride.
That dragline is so dang cool. I've seen videos of those things in action and the operators look like they're fishing with the way they cast it. I have a feeling you will keep on until you get really really good at it. Thanks for the demo or the beast in use.
Chris, I swear watching you do heavy equipment work in flip-flops does my heart so much good and takes me back about 50 years. I used to do underwater construction around Wilmington and the beaches as a young 20-year-old wearing board shorts, SCUBA gear, and a SMILE! Thanks for all your work on the equipment and taking the time to send out consistently really good content. "Duplin Doc" Parker
Generosity of some is fantastic - well gifted to the collection. Expert dragline operator having a ball - looked like it and all the camera angles were fantastic, even the feet were getting a workout. Thanks for sharing your downtimes Chris.
Chris,the bulldog clamp on the cable near the dragline bucket should be clamping the running cable to the standing cable. Not just on the standing cable. In other words,clamp the free end that currently has the clamp on it to the lifting cable. The way you have it,it's just for decoration.😉
That is an amazing collection. Impressive. My almost 2 year old grandson and I watch your videos all the time. I got him started on them and now that’s all he wants to watch. He will crawl up in my lap, point to the iPad and say “tractors”. Eventually I will teach him to say Let’s dig or dirt perfect. There is a theme park near my house where children, and adults like me can go and dig some dirt in a real excavator. I can’t wait for he and I to go.
Having a piece of equipment purely for your own wants is something every one needs to have. Something to just while away time where you're not expected to make production or adhere to a schedule. Back when I had more property room, mine was an older yard tractor. No implements to pull or connect, no mower deck. It was mostly primer gray, rust, oxidized red paint, and a large splash of dark blue with gold flake on the right side of the hood. V treads on back, skinny radial groove wheels on the front. Just putz around the property, down to one gas station or another. Romp it through a green belt to the marsh. Cart it out to the woods before turkey or deer season, roam about in scouting which was really just getting away from the easier access points to rivers or ponds. Get those places that are a half mile tromp through the woods to get to a non-heavily fished spot.
toggle your drag clutch in and use you hoist brake to control your depth of cut instead of slipping the hoist clutch. it might help to shorten your dump cable a few inches so the bucket tilts back some when full
Chris, I love the flip flops and shorts while your relaxing and learning a new machine. I always wanted to learn how to operate a dragline and a knuckle buster grader. Your getting smoother. Thanks, Boe
practice, Practice and more PRACTICE is all that you are going to need in the cab to get to be able to make it as a pro. Great job in the drag line Chris.
Here where I live in Tennessee they used to use draglines to strip mine for coal. I remember mountains of dirt they piled up. It took some serious skills to operate one of these machines.
So glad to see you had your safety sandals on today lol. Definitely a learning curve for this machine, makes me respect those old timers a bit more! It's like chewing gum, hopping on one foot, rubbing your tummy and patting your head all at the same time. It's awesome seeing this old iron working, love the sounds it makes. By the way, how much will that bucket hold?
Hey, Chris, you might want to check your dump rope lenth. To me, it could be shortened a bit. Bucket carry angle should be in the 20 degree range, plus or minus a fewb up to 25. It would make a cleaner bank on lift-out, and tend to lay down better on initial drag pull.
I never ran a dragline but did dirt work all my life. I worked with a few very good crane operators and as superintendent I watched them for literally thousands of hours. The liked to cast by using the hoist cable, swinging, and both boom up and down. They were fun to watch. It was like they were casting for fish. Was fun watching them use a 6500 pound wrecking ball on an old American 997 with 200 feet of boom.
I think you got the best dragline of the three of ya, just fuel it and clean it and grease it and it was ready to eat, ( DP and C&C Equip.), You have the knack, my Dad was like you in that regard he could climb into any machine and after a couple hours he'd have it mastered like it was the only thing he ever ran, when I was 6 I watched him run a dragline that was being used to dig a gravel pit on our neighbor's farm to harvest the gravel, after he familiarized himself with the controls it was like he always did it. He served in the Philippines in the army construction corps ,ran a CAT D-7 in WWII, he was from Alabama. You really are that dam good. Love watchin' ya run it, now all ya need is a 2 yard 1939 dump truck to go with it, I know a channel owner who may have one , the name is Merlin's Old School Garage. He has or knows somebody I'm sure of it. He just drove a 1939 Model A Ford with his wife from Ohio to Colorado still on the way home in Lake Havesu , Arizona and he stopped at a friends house to work on his car it had a loose connecting rod and his friend got sent word on facebook to all the model A owners for a connecting rod and found a man who had 2 and he bought them both and fixed his car he's probably home by now, he's good people, him and a bunch of RU-vidrs rode across Kansas on jet skis to raise money for a charity, he's good people, anyhow you take care.
Hey Chris I figured it out! You have your haul back hooked up backwards! Have the line going thru the block . Go thru the hole up front then thru the block then hook how it is! I see how the bucket is dropping to quick when you dump
Chris another great video, your really getting the technique of the drag line. I know nothing about drag lines or excavating but watching you I thought "if the line between the bucket and the drag line was a couple of inches shorter it might keep the front of the bucket up more when lifting it out and keep more material in the bucket".
just a observation from someone who has never ran one of those before. It looks like too me that your lift line should be completely slack while you drag with the pulling line. Toss with the drag line and release the lift line when you are out far enough and leave your lift line completely released and drag the bucket back too you, then lift. thus, a Dragline. that's just my observation as a key board, armchair operator for sure. sure looks like fun to do anyway. would love to try it sometime.
I seem to remember from watching the old draglines working there was more Jibbing up and jibbing down involved. When I was a kid we used follow the draglines as they worked there way down the river to see what might be retrieved. There was the occasional ball ( no shopping trolleys in those days) and occasionally the odd eel which would quickly escape back to the river.
I worked sand&gravel, concrete industry for years in Fairbanks, 1973 on. Pretty much all of the gravel in the Tanana Valley was put up with draglines, then later with log jibs. But, I remember watching dragline operators setup along a strip to mine, then swing and cast, retrieve and dump, like a dance, smooth and consistent. Building a long stockpile along the edge. As it got too tall they would move back and just keep extending the pile. Amazing how far out they could cast. If I remember right the draglines were efficient to about 20-30 feet deep after that we switched to clam shell dredges and a conveyor back to land, those were efficient down to a little over 70 feet deep.
Fair play to you Chris for taking the time to make these videos, there's a lot going on in that cab for sure ,its cool watching you learn how to work that machine,you sure do get to grips with machines quick 👍
I’m pleased that you are having fun with your new toy. I guess some people didn’t realize that it was not a work machine and that it is a toy. The difference between men and boys is the price of our toys!
I am so jealous. The ponds that are on my mom's property were dug with an old Bucyrus Erie dragline. I do not know the model or the year, but it had a pony motor to start it, no electric start. My grandfather, my dad, and his brothers did all the digging in the 60's and 70's. Most of the property was swamp land and the only reason there is high ground now is due to the digging and all the spoils. I used to stand outside the operators door while my dad would dig on the weekends. My dad sold the crane in 1987 and I really wish it was still around. The ponds need to be cleaned out so badly after 30+ years of overgrowth. It's really neat to see you obtain this and learn how to use it.
I thought that a motor grader was a complicated machine to operate. I couldn't imagine trying to operate this one. Mentally I was saying "drop the bucket, let it out, drag it in, etc." I know that it is by no means as easy as watching on a RU-vid video. Without a doubt, it takes a lot of skill to operate a machine like that properly and efficiently. Your die cast model collection is very cool.
Chris it is amazing to see how far you have come since you fist got it. Knowing you you will be very proficient in the operating of your dragline in no time at all.keep up the great videos you have many RU-vid admirers and followers.
Yep, as Logger Wade put it - 'Show this guy (Chris) the controls and he'll be putting on a show within a couple minutes'. Or something like that. This Dragline was a little tougher than most as it is a totally different beast than those Hydraulic machines. Well done, Chris!!!
I don't remember the Old Timers wearing Flip Flops Chris. 😁 The dragline is coming back to life as you operate it, oil, grease and adjustments are breathing life back into the Ole Girl. You found a good one and your skill never disappoints anyone. Brought back memories of times gone by and Jay, the last man I knew using a drag line, when hydraulic excavators soon took over.
You are improving Grasshopper! LOL Before you know it that little pond will be nice and deep and very clean on the bottom. Love, love, love your collection. I had no idea you had all of those and so nicely organized too. Great to have that mini replica of the drag line added to the mini fleet..
The practice is working good for you. Almost like Grandpa Guins is in the house helping you. Have you thought about putting a picture of him in that machine -I`m sure he must have spent hours in one like it.
Chris, I think your Pappaw would be proud! You are getting pretty smooth with that old machine. I'm glad you saved it and I know you will take care of it. I have a bit of eperience with cranes and heavy winch cables. It is hard to tell how old the wire rope on that machine is. Id suggest a pizza party with a few of your friends and grease the cabling looking for bad kinks or fraying. I know its a play toy, but old cable can and does snap especially when jerked and snap torqued. Just a thought my friend I also noticed the wire rope clamp on the crane cable is only around one part of the wire rope. You really want that clamp around both ends of the cable where they go into and come out of the yoke. I know that seems a little OCD, but that clamp is to keep the wire from pulling throught the yoke around the wedge. It also takes that loose wire end and tucks it away nicely.I am also glad to see you using Betty and giving her a little bling. She is sorta slow and a lot old, but boy does she have some heart. God Bless you richly Chris.
Well Chris, I must say that by now you really got the "hang" or to be more precise, "The Fling" of hitting the bucket. You have got a lot of calmness and perseverance in you !! Greetings from Australia
I was on a job cleaning out an intake pond with my dump trucks and had an old boy with his dragline dredging and dumping in the trucks, well we were covered in silty mud by the end of the job. The operator had 50 years of experience running one of these and would jump out with a wrench and adjust his clutches every couple of trucks he loaded.
You did it again! You read my mind when I was thinking “I wonder what it looks like from the front of the cab and wonder what moving all the controls looks like?” Then poof, you move the camera to those exact locations. Interesting set of operations you have to perform, thanks for sharing.
Overhead shot of hand controls was great! Can't imagine what it was like back in the day with nothing but draglines working the sites. Great video Chris.
Boulder Dam was built with draglines. Watching your show from Ohio. I appreciate your beautiful work. I am 85 yrs. And a grandma. No telling who enjoys your show! Lol
Hi! Chris: If you haven't found it yet, there is a drag line video with the title "Digging a New Pond With a Drag Line Excavator. It is a newer version than yours, but the bucket looks to be the same. They show a good shot of the controls and switches. Each has a clear label as to what it does and which way the control goes to do what. The control layout may not be exactly like yours, but you might find out something you didn't know. Hope it helps.
It’s so hard to comprehend what you can improve on exactly since I’ve never ran a friction crane. But I can say your getting the hang of it. Guess it’s one of those things “it just takes time”.
You have to hand it to the old operators compared to whats available today, I mean its machines like this that built America.., they made the best of what they had at the time and I think its great Chris that you get to experience how it was back then.
Well done Chris, your casting is looking gooood. Love to watch you learn. As a 10 years old in the 60s I spent hours watching the identical Ruston Bucyrus 22b in the UK quarrying clay for my local brick yard. And he had to load it into small railway trucks similar to underground mining trucks. Be good to see you loading direct into your dump truck, when you get more confident. Love watching you, keep it up
As a kid I was used to watch such a Dragline working at the local gravel quarry...it was amazing how the operator flew the bucket into the lake and dragged the gravel onto a nearby truck... You get there chris with just a few more hours in operating that old girl and for cleaning out ponds w/o draining such a dragline works wonder...
WOW! your so lucky to have found a decent running dragline that doesn't need alot of attention to get running and do something with. I remember when I was a kid seeing and being around these old draglines on jobs and they were a total nightmare, all greasy and nasty oil and greese everywhere loud and stunk and smoking, plus kinda scary to be around. There was always 5 gal buckets greese on the counter weight. My Dad used to run Bucyrus , Link Belts , North West , Koering, Baycity, American, and a few others back in the day. He also preferred the 22B over the 25B, because the 25B model had air controls and always woud have problems, especially when it was cold and the condensation would freeze up in the air tanks, plus if the air compressor was leaking the oil would end up in the air tank also. You picked the right machine to have! Also , tour doing alot better job than I did when learning how to dig with these old machines👍
