Komatsu PC8000 excavator - GIF

**ToolTalkBot** · Jul 31, 2024, 08:14 AM

Komatsu PC8000 excavator.

Previously:

Komatsu D155W underwater bulldozer - photo
Komatsu micro excavator - GIF

**Karl_H** · Aug 1, 2024, 07:50 AM

I'm hoping my local tool rental place will get one of these soon.

**BuffaloJohn** · Aug 1, 2024, 09:39 AM

Found a spec page on this:

https://www.komatsu.com/en/products/...ors/pc8000-11/

weight comes in at 768 to 777 tons, 55 cubic yard bucket, 4020 HP motor

track width is 8.33m (27.25ft), overall width is 10.1m (33.16ft), height is 9.775m (32.1ft) to top of cab

**nova_robotics** · Aug 1, 2024, 01:02 PM

Big hydraulic shovels like this usually end up in places like the oil sands in Alberta. I've seen some before, but not this big.

Edit: Wait... does it have to have the bucket on backwards to be a hydraulic shovel? Does that make this an excavator? Is there a definitive rule on that?

**Floradawg** · Aug 1, 2024, 03:58 PM

Wonder how the "progressives" plan to battery power that?

**BuffaloJohn** · Aug 1, 2024, 04:53 PM

Originally Posted by Floradawg

Wonder how the "progressives" plan to battery power that?

They have an electric drive version of the PC8000, each motor is 1450kW, total of 2900kW. I suppose one could try to calculate how big a battery would be.

Tesla has a thing called a POWERWALL which is 14KWh with a max of 5KW discharge rate. 2900kW / 5kW is 580 PW battery modules and that gives just under 3 hour run time. Assuming needing to run two 8 hour shifts, that would mean 580 * ((2*8) / (14/5)) = 3314 PW battery modules which if you could stack the modules with no space between them, that makes a volume of 422 cubic meters - equivalent to the capacity of 10 bucket loads and the weight of this battery pack would be 371,200 KG, so about half again the weight of the machine.

But, the fuel tank is 3680 gallons (13,925 ltr), so not knowing what that means in run time, I suspect battery operation is looking at a much larger battery.

Progressives are stupid anyway...

**nova_robotics** · Aug 1, 2024, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by Floradawg

Wonder how the "progressives" plan to battery power that?

I do a lot of work on these big Stacker Reclaimers, mostly on coal terminals. They're 100% electric and WAAAAAAY bigger than that itty bitty little toy in the above video. Like all things, it would be a dollars and cents business decision. Does lower operating cost, lower maintenance cost and longer maintenance intervals justify the (probably substantially) higher purchase price and 8-12 hour downtime to recharge the battery. Personally I think diesel would probably be a more useful machine for most use cases, but I can definitely see a lot of situations that could push a Client toward electric. Like up in the Diavik and Ekati diamond mines and some of the other very remote sites it makes a ton of sense to go 100% electric. Those places have to truck/fly in diesel. It would be a no brainer to go with an electric shovel for cases like that.