Random Stuff # 2 – Snow throwers, Chippers, Grinders, and Chainsaws

This might seem weird to some (as in just how random it is). But I’ve been in love with industrial equipment and all things that are on a large scale. I remember going on week long truck hauls with my cousin Scott back in Missouri (I need a picture of his rig…the thing is so nice!) He’s had the truck custom painted, stretched, chromed etc. It’s really a gorgeous truck. Just the sound and shake of starting a big rig up makes me smile, not to mention the turbo spool and crawler gears. I’ve always loved stuff like this ever since I was little. And from below you can tell it’s still there. I remember always riding the tractor with my father and my cousin Dulles who used to farm back in Missouri. He had some of the coolest equipment…it was like a dream land. I would go out and harvest corn, oats, wheat, etc in the combine.

This picture’s almost exactly what it was like.

Then we’d load that into a large tractor trailer truck and then drop the grain off at either one of his silos or at a grain elevator (you dump the grain into a pit and an elevator takes it to different silos). Ahh fun times, I really do miss those times. Farming became way to uncertain for Dulles back in the day therefore he had to make a switch to a job with more steady income and benefits. At the time I didn’t understand but now that I’m older I do.

I’ve always thought of finding a company like this and selling their equipment. I think it would be a pretty cool job to do, to be head of a marketing department for some of the best brands out there such as Caterpillar, Vermeer, Komatsu, etc. The stuff that is so fascinating to me is just how everything comes together and the shear size and power of it all. Someone (most likely a team) designed this. Someone sat down and thought about how fast the drums need to rotate for the crusher below, what types of metals are suitable and what aren’t. What types of hydraulic motors to use and the gearing necessary to get the required PSI so that the operation is smooth and powerful enough. All the thought and time that goes into producing some of these things on the scale they exist on is truly mind blowing.

I was sitting here watching Tropic Thunder (never go full retard) and a random thought hit me - “what’s the largest snow thrower out there?” Not completely random since it happened to be snowing outside…but still.

How about a full tree chipper? They come anywhere from 700-1000 horsepower. I remember always going outside to watch these guys when they came to chip trees that had fallen or neighbors wanted taken down. Nothing on this scale though:

 

Then that lead to this site and company called SSI. They built this: Skip to 58 seconds if you want to see it “eat.”

What I thought was cool about this company (if you watch some of their other videos) is they are pretty funny about stuff. They will crush/shred/compact anything you want them to, just simply send in your request. The power the hydraulic motors have on these things is absolutely amazing.

How about a hemi powered chain saw? I’ve seen V8 chain saws in years past but they are always a fun thing to behold.