How to re-open an old road. Add some chains to the tires and this is what I had the opportunity to drive today.* The wheels are just shy of six feet tall. The articulation is incredible (rear and front axles are independent) but the blind spots are massive. It is a delicate, reactive machine, but it is big. There is a reason for those warning signs. And, even though this really is a baby, it is quite able to pull a downed eighty foot hemlock without complaint.
*The one I was in doesn’t have as pretty a paint job, nor a cowl over the grapple arm….way to create a bigger blind spot there!
Acair Fearann 
someday you are going to have to show me where you find these wonderful toys and places. remind me to tell you stories about anamet mines and tires that were as thick as i was tall.
The places and the machinery are courtesy of that rather unusual water company contract of mine! It gave me a much better perspective on what I need to mark out for protection in job sites.
One really doesn’t quite get just how big the equipment is until one is right up next to it. I’ll be interested in those mines of yours!
long ago in another life, i worked for a company that made diesel engines in the 10,000 – 20,000 HP range. people pit mining for copper need a lot of power in one place and we could provide it. the trucks used to haul the ore to the electro-smelters used the same engines as locomotives but were tired vehicles. one felt like a lilliputian in that place. let me know if you need an intern.
thanks for the iais reference. i found what will prove to be a very useful book. i still don’t agree with either them or the pequot museum about eastern aboriginal dugouts. punts maybe, but not canoes.
I would like to own a backhoe that would fit in one of the tires. Then I could move it in my van from house to house as I re-did the flower gardens and drainage ditches and also dug test pits for water table evaluation. It could be a walk/stand behind machine. LRS