Deep in the irrigated agricultural country of NSW stands an iconic sight of Australia’s earthmoving past – a Bucyrus-Erie dragline excavator. Here we look into the history of this key piece of history and the community spirit that is keeping its memory alive
In the heart of the Riverina region of NSW stands a monument to the extensive irrigation channel network that covers that area and turned it into a vital agricultural base for Australia.
Now located in the Lions’ Park in the small town of Coleambally, a Bucyrus-Erie dragline excavator stands tall – one of four dragline excavators that were imported from the USA between 1935 and 1937 to excavate irrigation channels in the Murray Valley and Coleambally Irrigation Area. Each machine cost around $90,000.
After being used to dig the Mulwala canal the draglines were walked in 1941 to Deniliquin. Three then progressed on to Tocumwal to assist in the construction of Tocumwal Airport before being walked back to Deniliquin in 1946 to excavate Deniboota Canal and surrounding channels, working their way up to Blighty.
The fourth was dismantled and transferred to Sydney to be re-erected at Captain Cook Graving Dock to assist in its construction. After the Second World War it then moved to Keepit Dam, around 60km north-west of Tamworth, where it remained until 1962, before being transferred back to Deniliquin.
It’s been estimated that the production capacity of the machines averaged around 120 cubic yards (91.7 cubic metres) per hour, with total excavation of the four draglines around 31,000,000 cubic yards (23,701,200 cubic metres).
The three working in Blighty had been moved to Coleambally in 1957 to work on the Coleambally Canal as well as parts of the Tubbo, Boona, Yamma and Argoon channels.
However, by 1965 the major irrigation excavation work in the area was complete, and these large draglines were no longer needed – leading to their sale in 1966.
Movement to monument
From this point the machines were heading for scrap but one was saved and installed in Coleambally as a lasting memorial to the irrigation construction work that created the town.
Due to the size of the dragline being transferred to Coleambally, which reaches a height of around 45 feet (13.7m) to the top of the boom and with a total width of 28 feet (8.5m), the journey was both slow and complex.
Power and phone lines in the path had to be cut and reassembled around it, and irrigation supply channels filled in to allow the dragline to walk over them.
With the excavator occasionally getting bogged in these channels and needing to be pulled free again with dozers, plus a movement speed of around 0.3km/h, it took 21 days for original operator, Ted Carter, to drive it to its new resting place.
Keeping history alive
Now, thanks to a group of dedicated local volunteers who restored the engine, the Coleambally dragline is fired up every two years at the Riverina Vintage Machinery Rally to showcase the spectacle of this striking piece of earthmoving equipment.
Local farmer and mechanic Trent Gardiner, who is a previous chair of Coleambally Irrigation and ex-president of the local Lions’ Club chapter responsible for keeping the dragline running, was involved in bringing the dragline back to life after sitting untouched for many years.
In the late 1980s, he says he and a group of locals who were handy with engines decided to try and revive the old dragline – a challenging feat after a decade of weather and rust.
The dragline has a 275hp five-cylinder Ruston Hornsby diesel engine and is started with compressed air. The riveted tank wasn’t deemed to be safe to put under pressure, but resourcefulness is key out in the bush, as Gardiner explains.
“We weren’t allowed to pump the tank up, so we had to do it some other way,” he says.
“We didn’t have big enough transportable compressors to run it straight off a compressor.
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“A couple of us, including a local farmer/mechanic John Guymer, bounced ideas off each other until we landed on what seemed the most logical, which was to try a Holden 179 car motor in there to drive the belts that run the compressor. It’s still in there now and works quite well!”
Weighing in at over 100 tonnes with a 2.3 cubic metre bucket, the dragline now forms a dramatic highlight at the area’s vintage machinery rally when the engine is once again cranked to life.
“Every two years we replace the oil using old oil donated from local truck operators and farmers, because it gets a lot of condensation in it,” Gardiner says.
“We put a lever in the flywheel and run it during the Riverina Vintage Machinery Rally & Tractor Pull.”
Surprisingly, he says, for sucha large machine it’s actually “fairly quiet”.
“It has five separate exhaust pipes – big, round stacks out the top – and it just chugs away,” he explains.
He says it was a community effort to restore the dragline to the point where it can be run, with people chipping in their time and skills where they could.
“Brian Ramage fixed up the radiators on it,” Gardiner says.
“We pulled them off 30 years ago and he soldered them all up. He’s since passed away, but we just put a hose in the top and fill it up, and then we drain it when we finish using it, so the frost doesn’t damage anything.”
Crowd-pleaser
As striking as the Bucyrus Erie dragline is, unfortunately, the age and condition of the machine means it can’t be moved. The boom has been braced, the side fan covered and the bucket has to remain stationary on the ground for safety reasons, but Gardiner says it’s still an impressive sight that draws the crowds.
“People bring their old machinery along to the rally and we have a BBQ and stalls. We had around 2,000 at the first one,” he says.
The dragline is now maintained by the local Lions’ Club, who paint it and keep its memory alive.
“It’s a community fundraising organisation and we have a pretty strong club in Coleambally,” Gardiner says.
“We do a good job of raising money and distributing it around the local community. We keep the Lions’ Park maintained, where the dragline is.
“It’s a good attraction because a lot of people stop and have a look.”
The dragline is located on Kidman Way in Coleambally, NSW. Thanks go to Trent Gardiner and Peter Sheppard, with additional information taken from Coleambally Community Conversations, published by the Country Education Foundation of Coleambally-Darlington Point.