I took a trip to Texas this week to document the largest rock cutting machines ever built. Texas is home to the largest concentration of giant trenchers, road miners and rock cutting surface miners in the world. Geology plays a role in this, in particular around San Antonio and Austin. This is home to some of the largest rock excavation companies in the world and the equipment they use all over the southwest and other areas.

The Trencor 1860HD is the largest rock trencher ever built. Only 9 such machines exist, with six in Texas now. I was able to see the last unit built in operation near Breckenridge Texas trenching for a huge water supply project. This unit was cutting solid limestone 7 feet wide and 10 feet deep. The machine has a 1,250 hp Cat 3512 to power the digging chain and a 3306 to power the hydraulic system. It weighs about 220 tons. The power and size is incredible to see first hand.









It takes FOUR D-8 track chains to handle the digging




Here is one of five Trencor 3000 SM's ever built. Realy a giant milling machine on steroids, it is powered by a Cat 3412 at 1250 hp and weighs in excess of 150 tons. This unit is working on a huge rock job carving out a massive shopping complex and industrial park.It is one of several on this job.



And here is a big Trencor 1660 road miner also on this big job

Thanks for sharing pics and info. I would imagine the up keep on these machines is very high.

Are these on G.T. Sirizzotti, LTD. jobsites? The logo on the hi-vis looks similar.

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Flickr Photostream

Thanks for the post. Excellent machines there.

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-John

No, they are all ok, I was there this past week right after the worst of the flooding. I never saw any real problems and had good weather every day except at night when storms cropped up. All the jobs kept going through it all.

Tim thanks for sharing. Getting the forum back to its glory. I have wanted to do the same thing to go see Gene and take some snaps. Thanks again. Graham

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Still Plays with Toys

[quote=321DLCR]Before moving to Dallas I lived in Georgetown Texas where the limestone is notoriously hard. In George Town they have a quarry for lime stone where they blast huge sections of cliff face to excavate the rock. Just want to share a few common sights form when I lived there. I have more pics if any one wants to see them

The Austin machine with the road miner head is one of H.L. Chapmans machines that was built by them in house. Harold Chapman started his own operation that is now called Chapman Rock Excavating LLC since H.L. Chapman Pipeline is ownd by another firm now. Guys like him never stay out for long it seems. They "H.L" were/are the largest rock trenching /milling contractor in the world as far as I know.They have a huge fleet of machines.

The 1860 I saw was one of Bechtels units that trenched most of the massive GME gas pipeline in Algeria back in the mid-late 90's. They orderd three of them for that job, then sent them all to another huge pipe trenching job on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico before selling them. I have a film of the GME construction and I think it was the first 48" Gas Line ever laid. They used the 1860's instead of blasting for security reasons as the country had a big rebel uprising going on at the time..Bechtel had tons of armed security with them at all times. The job set many speed records for miles completed and was finshed under budjet and ahead of shedule. Thanks in large part to the 1860's!!

Thanks for sharing Tim, looks like you got to the jobs just in time for maintenance. haha.

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regards,
Jim


"Once again, concussion by safety" -Mike Rowe

great pics thanks man those 3 trencorp's would make awsome 1:50 models

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I have the 1255, and it IS fantastic model. I think I got it at MineXpo several years ago. The 1255 is much smaller than a Trencor 1860 however, not even half the size. It is built as a terrain leveler. Vermeer does build a 1655 now, and its about the size and power of an 1860HD, It is basicly two 1255's side by side. Only used in Australia as far as I know.