Gizmodo Australia » machinery

How Do You Ship The Biggest Trucks In The World?

John Herrman — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:20:00 +0000

You drive them, you idiot. But if that’s not an option — say, if you’re shipping your Belaz mining truck from Belarus to South Africa — you’ve got to break them into pieces. Hulking, multi-ton pieces.

English Russia’s got a series of photos detailing how some of the largest vehicles on the planet, the 10m long, 8m high Tonka-styled mining trucks from Belarusian manufacturer Belaz, known in mining truck circles as “the Komatsu of the Balkans” (I made this up), get shipped from one place to another. The first stage is to break these things down into slightly smaller parts, though still obscenely huge. Cue comically oversized pieces of machinery in unusual positions, now:

The pieces are then transported by train, plane or flatbed truck to their destination, where they are reassembled, Transformers style, into the comically huge vehicles we all know and love/fear/resent for ruining our sense of scale. And the fun isn’t over, apparently: the 118,000kg trucks aren’t exactly morning people:

During the first start-up of an each car, engine makes such an awful noise that the human ear can barely stand it.

More heavy equipment porn at [English Russia]

Concrete Crusher Vs. Concrete Is As Entertaining As You’d Expect

Adam Frucci — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:20:00 +0000

It’s the simple things and life that bring the most pleasure. Like watching an industrial concrete crusher apply over 1.4 million pounds of force to a block of concrete. It done crushed it good! Wheeee! [CollegeHumor]

Machinery With Organisational Fetishes Come to Life in Stop Motion Short

Adrian Covert — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 00:40:00 +0000

Since CGI has rendered stop-motion filmmaking all but obsolete, it’s nice to see someone doing something fresh with the format. In this case, John Douglas Powers has created a mini-masterpiece using various machinery.

In the short, entitled “The Collector,” a helping hand, in a very Wall-e-esque manner, roams the landscape in search of various objects it can catalog and add to it’s sizable stash. Somehow this leads to a Peacock feather sprouting from a hole once occupied by a screw, and is subsequently collected in a glass tube.

Not sure what that has to do with anything, but I cant complain, seeing as the style kinda reminds me of the early Gumby cartoons I hold near and dear to my heart…but without the clay and all. [John Douglas Powers via Make]

Floating Cranes Are Unnatural, Physics-Defying Monstrosities

Wilson Rothman — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Those coolhunters over at Oobject have uncovered another gem of engineering: the floating crane. Because the cranes require a massive superstructure and a relatively shallow hull, designers have to approach them pretty much the opposite way they approach typical ship design. They weigh many thousands of tons, and yet somehow manage to lift thousands of tons, too—engineering that truly borders on magic. There are two more insane crane shots below; feel free to hit up Oobject for all the crane porn you’ll ever need. [Oobject]

Man Dances Passionately With a 5 Ton Digging Machine

Sean Fallon — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:00:00 +0000

Sometimes we forget that diggers are more than just utilitarian machines. Inside their steel body beats a heart filled with passion…and lust. Behold the grace and beauty of the ‘Transports Exceptionnels’ performed by one 5-ton digging machine and a crazy guy from a French dance group. It just goes to show you—when it comes to art, there is no such thing as “too stupid.” [Reuters via Geekologie]

20 of the Biggest, Baddest Boring Machines (the Right Kind of Boring)

John Mahoney — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:00:00 +0000

Sometimes, you just need a huge fucking hole dug. Enter the world’s most interesting boring machines–all big enough to Chunnel their way under vast bodies of water, massive gem mines, that kind of thing. Huge well-ventilated rotating digging heads are the name of the game here–good to ogle from the safety of the internet, because if you’re hanging out in a cave with Sly Stallone and you see one of these coming, you’ll be too busy runing. [OObject]