Crawlers & Bulldozers
1940s
1948 - 10 Ton Mack
1956 - 33 Ton Euclid Bottom Dumper
1965 - 30 Ton Euclid (Coal Only)
1979 - 155 Ton Terex GM 33-15B Hauler (Overburden Only)
One of the new Terex Haulers on public display at Gepps Cross in 1979, before being transported to the Leigh Creek Mine. Each truck was transported in pieces on three semi-trailers; one for the truck itself minus the front wheels and body, one for the body and one for the front wheels and spares. Once delivered, it took the Leigh Creek workshops two days to reassemble each truck. A Terex weighed 109 tons unladen and could carry 155 tons. In 1979 they cost $700,000 each.
“Terex 584, driven by John Gangell, toppled off the high wall haulage ramp in the Upper Series pit while carting topsoil to the stockpile heap. While John wasn’t seriosly hurt the truck laid there for a couple of days as nobody knew how to put it back on its wheels. Eventually two D9 Dozers righted it using wire slings. ”
1982 - 82 Ton Wabco Haulpak (Coal Only)
1996 - 240 Ton Unit Rig (Overburden Only)
The Unit Rig MT4400 Lectra Haul overburden trucks were delivered in 1996. These trucks used diesel engines to drive generators feeding individual electric wheel motors and with a payload capacity of 240 tons they were the largest rear-dump trucks in Australia. The South Australian Premier at the time, John Olsen, announced his governments investment in a fleet of 13 of these trucks and a giant P&H 4100A electric shovel as part of their commitment to maintain a diverse energy base for power generation in South Australia.
