Most pricey crawler excavators

The compilation begins with typically tailored but uncommonly huge crawler excavators and ends with astounding bucket-wheeled vehicles that may seem weird in non-professionals’ eyes. Do learn if a machine that moves up to 8.48m cubic feet of material every day is worth a fortune of 100 million dollars and share your impressions in the comments!

5. Doosan DX700LC – $755,000

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The South Korean representative of the list is not on the top, but it is, perhaps, the most well-built example of gigantic excavators. Along with an eye-catching and appealing look, the Doosan DX700LC has impressive technical data as well.

The long carriage (LC) design includes the fully expanded undercarriage and offers optimum performance in all kinds of applications (digging/ lifting/ loading). The excavator is powered by a 6-cylinder common rail diesel engine, featuring a high-pressure fuel injection system, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and an inter-cooler. These merits are intensified by the Electronic Power Optimizing System (EPOS). Its purpose is to synchronize the engine and hydraulic system via a data transfer link, attached to the engine's electronic control unit. The use of the EPOS technology results in fuel economy without loss of favorable performance.

The covetable efficiency rates are also achieved thanks to various power modes, which are interchangeable according to operating conditions (power mode, standard mode, economy mode, lifting mode).

Specifications
Engine	Isuzu AH-6WG1XYSC-01
HP	463 hp
Weight	70.1 t
Max. digging reach	13.25 m
Max. digging depth	8.41 m
Max. loading height	8.32 m
Max. digging height	12.165 m
Bucket capacity	4.5 m3

4. XCMG XE700С – $790,000

© www.xcmg.com

The Chinese market of construction machinery in general and excavators in particular is shared by numerous large foreign companies. Nevertheless, the fully-revolving XE700С crawler excavator (from the Chinese multinational state-owned XCMG Group) doesn’t lag behind the “immigrant” offers and has a significant rate of sales. Even the overseas markets, such as African and South American, have welcomed this model and honored it with respect. Furthermore, the XE700С is in demand in the Middle East and in Australia.

What is the source of such a success? As at first glance, the excavator can’t boast any extraordinary virtues for its class. But true genius lies in simplicity. The key points for any heavy machinery are revealed in the highly reliable structure, able to operate under severe conditions and show considerable efficiency rates.

Specifications
Engine	Cummins QSX15
HP	450.4
Weight	68 t
Max. digging reach	11.58 m
Max. digging depth	6.9 m
Max. loading height	7.37 m
Max. digging height	11.35 m
Bucket capacity	3.5 m3

3. Terex RH 400 – $11,000,000

© 1-87vehicles.org

It goes without saying that the most expensive excavators are at the same time the largest ones. The Terex RH 400 opens our Top 3 and initiates the trend to the monster-like features, relevant to this category of machinery.

As the Terex mining equipment division is now owned by Caterpillar Inc., the bronze medalist is also produced under Caterpillar’s brand (known as 6090 FS Hydraulic Shovel).

This model is famous for its giant bucket, which weighs 84 tons (incl. abrasive wear kit). Equipped with such a mighty instrument, the RH 400 is able to scoop up around 9900 tons of material per hour, providing thus a leading-edge result.

Specifications
Engine	2 x QSK 60-C 2-stage
HP	4,500
Weight	980 t
Max. digging reach	19 m
Max. digging depth	2.3 m
Max. loading height	14.5 m
Max. digging height	20.2 m
Bucket capacity	50 m3

2. Bagger 288 – $80,000,000 - 90,000,000

© piximus.net

We wager the majority will be surprised to see such an incredible excavator. Still, this monster is a bucket-wheel excavator, applied as a mobile strip mining machine. It is aimed at removing overburden prior to coal mining. The value of such vehicles can’t be overestimated. It takes the Bagger 288 only a few days to perform the work that even reliable bulldozers and conventional excavators will have been doing for several months.

Our runner-up boasts 13.500 tons of weight, 240 meters of length, 96 meters of height and 46 meters of width. The boom with a rotor at the end is over 200 meters long. The size of the rotor is comparable to the one of an 8-storey building. The scary outlook of the rotary mechanism is brought out by 18 buckets (with the capacity of 6.6 m³) fixed around. But this is the case when appearances are deceptive. The performance of this self-moving vehicle is mind-boggling: it shovels 240.000 m³ of rock per day. To make it clear, this capacity could fill the bowl of a football stadium up to the height of a 10-storey building.

1. Bagger 293 (MAN TAKRAF RB293) – $100,000,000

Do you know what could you buy with $100 million? If you haven’t ever thought about such a fortune, here is the example of your possible possessions: at least 2 luxury houses in California, a sports car (no worse than a Bugatti), a 35-meter long yacht, an extraordinary helicopter trip to China’s Great Wall for a privately created dinner, a business jet, the whole island somewhere in the Bahamas, a baseball team and you will even have $35 million more for charity.

Or, you can purchase a bucket-wheel excavator Bagger 293 (previously known as the MAN TAKRAF RB293) and be the owner of the world’s largest and heaviest land vehicle according to the Guinness record book. Built in 1995, it is presently used in a brown coal mine in Germany. The champion dimensions are a 96-meter height, a 225-meter length and a 14.200-ton weight. The up-dated 293 model features the same number of excavator buckets (18) on the rotor as its predecessor, Bagger 288, but their capacities are far too great and can hold over 15 m³of material.

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