It always blows my mind that these trucks are rated for 410 tonnes. To me, the perspective is, that they could carry 7 (yes seven) fully combat ready Abraham tanks!!!
I've worked for Caterpillar in their Spokane distribution center for almost 5 years and one of our routes on my shift is the Mildred Lake/Fort McMurray route. It's awesome seeing where our parts go and even cooler seeing shipping labels in the background I might have put on a box. Your videos are great. I will be binging your videos this weekend.
Fascinating stuff. Really appreciate the effort that goes into these videos, everything is so professional, right down to the size comparison diagrams. 😂👌
I have become so disillusioned by content creators, but Aaron does this so right! Presenting the content with passion and no ego whatsoever! On a personal note, while I would not consider myself a dirt nerd per say, I have grown up with some amazing dirt machines and worked very hard with my father on them and our lands!
Its neat seeing you in Alberta. I have done lots of work at CNRL Horizon and Albion Sands. Drove past Finning Cat quite a bit. Hopefully you have enjoyed your time in Alberta
From my experience at a Cat dealer, the beeping sounded like the back up for the fire system. Its battery power for when the machine isn't running and will beep until you remove the battery.
Next time you are in a shop like that one, with extremely large / heavy pieces of equipment up on jack stands, ask them what the shop floor concrete spec was when they poured it, basically how many feet thick to get the psi needed to hold up each jack stand without breaking through?
I bet its similar to any heavy manufacturing facility. Some presses and benders and stamping machines are like solid bricks of steel. Can also weigh hundreds of tons. Really big ones, the floor is built around them. Im not a concrete guy, but im sure its thick and/or heavily reinforced.
Many of these mines are converting to full automation using very little labor, their newer haul truck fleets as you have pointed out and their D11 stripping dozers.
Discovered your channel today and will follow as sure. I Worked with this machines for 13 years in Brazil and have plans to restart it in Canada as soon!!!
Was there in 1999. Some of the first 797's being assembled. It is my understanding that they had not officially been released by Cat. The dump bodies came as five subassemblies that had to be welded together. Then there was a stack of AR plate to be applied. The frames came in on a trailer with 128 tires. At that time Syncrude was making the transition from walking dragline/reclaimer/conveyor to shovel/truck/hydro transport. I keep hearing that this is dirty oil. Yes, what they excavate is sand, water, and bitchimen. What eventually is sent out has the sand and water removed as well as much of the sulfur and petroleum coke. At that point it is synthetic crude.
As a former trucker from syncrude and now a current employee of Suncor it’s nice to see these videos and share them to friends and family who have no idea what happens here in Fort McMurray keep up the amazing work !
Aaron, thank you so much for putting out such a fun, informative and interesting video! I have shared it with my Team (we move those machines and parts from the US and Canada to the oilsands). We don't get to see WHAT we are shipping very often as it is all #'s to us, so this is a treat!!!
If you mean what I think you mean those are air filters. Each slightly smaller than a keg of beer and there are 5 of them. I'm not 100% sure about the F's but the B's were designed to have 2 engines each about the size of a smart car. So you need a lot of air flow
Goddamn these videos are effing cool! Thanks for showing the world my beautiful, powerful home ❤ and the machines we use to mould it to our needs. Honorary Albertan in my books! 🎉
Thank you so,so much for showing this great mining ⛏️. You "ROCK" in my Humble opinion. Does anyone out there or you my friend explain the Different ( Numbers) on the Dumps. What they stand for, or mean. How many scoops loads a Massive Dump hauler, great CAT equipment. Again thank you so much for having "OK" to film and show the loading of Raw material for mining in a winter pit mine.
Q. At 4:42 min... what do you have on your boots? They look like some kind of anti slip ice studs, upturned as you're clearly not on the ice currently. Interested if I am right... and also if this is Finnings policy requirement?
You are correct! I work at this mine, and they are required to be on your boots at all times in the winter. They can be turned up like his are when not needed.
🤔💪🔧 While it's true that these videos showcase impressive professional work and attention to detail, it's important to consider the larger context. The focus on size comparison diagrams may provide entertainment value, but it's crucial to recognize that there are more substantial aspects to repairing the largest trucks on Earth. These machines play significant roles in industries such as mining and construction, and their maintenance involves complex technical expertise and safety considerations. Let's appreciate the efforts showcased in the videos while also acknowledging the depth and breadth of knowledge required for such challenging tasks.
So why is everything super big on this machine instead of making it super compact so it can lift more dirt? For instance, the cab is oversized. Is that necessary? Can the cat be made smaller to list more? And other features as well. Very cool...
Would have been nice if you told us how much each tire cost & air pressure required. Years ago went thru the Mack truck plant in Pa where they were building a dump truck for the coal industry. Thought that dump truck had huge tires that might have been 8' high.
Changing these tires is my job. Tire costs $60-70,000 depending on the brand. Cold air pressure is 110 psi. Enough force to send you flying over 10 football fields. Well whats left of you. The reason I give that measurement is because there is a poster at my work with that description description.. well minus the "whats left of you part lol".
There was a general contractor on a job I worked on, the general contractor didn't own any tools, they rented everything, but then I found out the general contractor also owned the company he rented the tools from. I think it saved money on taxes. I wouldn't be surprised if the quarry has a similar set up for renting the vehicles.
They go over all the time lol. Regularly get 400-450. Anything above 466 tons the truck won't go outta 1st gear. Which is like 5 miles a hour. You can "bump it down" hold down brake, rev up and release the brake. Sometimes it works. If it doesn't you have to drop your load.
@16:35: Is it REALLY less expensive to completely rebuild the whole frame after ten years rather than buy a new one? I guess so, they would not bother if it didn't make monetary sense for them but that seems crazy to me.
As a retired heavy equipment operator and being in the Seabees we had old Euclid rock dumps and even had some in a Union quarry in South Bethlehem NY in 88. Heavy Equipment is amazing . LOL, Howard Stern???? You can do better than that.
One day maybe they will let you get out at kennecott but I highly doubt it cause of the rules they have out there I know they won't even let are union take pics of the work we do out there
