The Liebherr R 9800 mining excavator is a 10.3m-high beast weighing in at over 800 tonnes, so you’d expect it wouldn’t be the easiest machine to transport. This fascinating time-lapse video shows an R 9800 being transported to, and assembled at, the Moolarben Coal mine in eastern New South Wales.
Powered by two 16-cylinder, 60-litre Cummins QSK60 engines pumping out 4,000 horsepower (2,984kW), the German-built Liebherr flagship has been “built to outperform all competitors in the Ultra class mining market”, the company says.
Buyers have the option of swapping the Cummins engines for 12-cylinder MTU 4000-series diesels or an electric drive system.
The shovel/backhoe capacity is 42 cubic metres, which makes the excavator a good match for 200-tonne, 290-tonne and 360-tonne class dump trucks.
“Logistically it’s been a bigger effort than normal as the Moolarben R 9800 is the first fully sound attenuated R 9800 in the world,” Moolarben manager Bruce Birchall told the Mudgee Guardian.
“Typically build time for one of these machines is around six weeks but Moolarben’s has taken more than three months because of the non-standard sound attenuation equipment that has been added to the machine.”
That sound attenuation has brought noise levels down from 127 decibels to 114 decibels, which means this Liebherr R 9800 excavator will be able to operate at night.
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