# Ginormous Circular Saw? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 11, 2010, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ginormous-circular-saw/542857 "2010-06-11T23:21:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ginormous-circular-saw/542857/1 "2010-06-11T23:21:37Z")
What on earth is this thing? What could it possibly be created to do? I am flummoxed. [http://thatwillbuffout.com/2010/06/04/funny-car-photos-rather-ominous-caption-contest-winners/](http://thatwillbuffout.com/2010/06/04/funny-car-photos-rather-ominous-caption-contest-winners/) ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ginormous-circular-saw/542857/2 "2010-06-11T23:26:40Z")
[Bagger 288](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagger_288), a digger/excavator. Of course it had to be German made šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ginormous-circular-saw/542857/3 "2010-06-11T23:27:44Z")
It isnā€™t a saw but rather a mining implement. The business end grinds rock up > **[Bagger 288](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagger_288)** > > Bagger 288 (Excavator 288), built by the German company Krupp for the energy and mining firm Rheinbraun, is a bucket-wheel excavator or mobile strip mining machine. > When its construction was completed in 1978, Bagger 288 superseded Big Muskie as the heaviest land vehicle in the world, at 13,500 tons. It took five years to design and manufacture and five years to assemble, with total cost reaching $100 million. In 1995, it was itself superseded by the slightly heavier Bagger 293 (14,200 tons). N... Brian ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ginormous-circular-saw/542857/4 "2010-06-12T00:23:53Z")
There is pictures of it eating a dump truck out there somewhere. Guess when your driving things like that itā€™s hard to keep track of those ā€˜littleā€™ vehicles. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ginormous-circular-saw/542857/5 "2010-06-12T03:50:21Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > It isnā€™t a saw but rather a mining implement. The business end grinds rock up It is a rotary excavator. It doesnā€™t grind up rock. The ā€œteethā€ are similar to buckets on a steam shovel, they dump the dirt and rock onto a conveyor belt that runs up the arm and over the back, where it is hauled off by a corps of dump trucks. Such machines donā€™t normally use tank tracks for locomotion, but large walking feet instead, and move at speeds best measured in furlongs per fortnight. They are electrically powered, and use as much power as a medium sized town. ETA, the machine of the OP IS track mounted, which is an exception to the norm. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ginormous-circular-saw/542857/6 "2010-06-12T04:31:45Z")
An [excellent documentary](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azEvfD4C6ow) on the origins of the Bagger 288. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ginormous-circular-saw/542857/7 "2010-06-12T05:34:21Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > An [excellent documentary](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azEvfD4C6ow) on the origins of the Bagger 288. Thatā€™s some awesome video there. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ginormous-circular-saw/542857/8 "2010-06-12T08:34:37Z")
Hereā€™s what it looks like in itā€™s [walker](http://www.andybaird.com/travels/maine/photos/spider.jpg) configuration, vs. using tank treads. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ginormous-circular-saw/542857/9 "2010-06-12T17:56:04Z")
Put Ellen Ripley at the controls and you could fight Godzilla! ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ginormous-circular-saw/542857/10 "2010-06-12T18:39:29Z")
The sequence where it ā€œeatsā€ a truck is actually, IIRC, an accident with one of tehse diggers in the Tar Sands in Alberta. These are diggers for strip mining. They dump the diggings onto a conveyor belt where it is fed into trucks or trains which take the output to the refinery/whatever. More efficient than a take-a-scoop-and-turn shovel. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ginormous-circular-saw/542857/11 "2010-06-12T18:55:56Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > An [excellent documentary](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azEvfD4C6ow) on the origins of the Bagger 288. So _that_ā€™s the reason the G20 meeting is so expensive this yearā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ginormous-circular-saw/542857/12 "2010-06-12T19:36:22Z")
[Here](http://tempoyaker.blogspot.com/2009/11/monster-terbesar-ciptaan-manusia-heavy.html) it is snacking on a dozer ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ginormous-circular-saw/542857/13 "2010-06-12T21:38:29Z")
Thanks guys! Hereā€™s one of it working : [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn1DhPjnCGM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn1DhPjnCGM) And hereā€™s a similarly sized tread smooshing a Hummer. Donā€™t think the driver even felt it! Some sites claim this is the bagger, but you canā€™t really tell one way or the other. . . itā€™s still fun! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/jn1DhPjnCGM/hqdefault.jpg "Krupp Bagger 288") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn1DhPjnCGM) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ginormous-circular-saw/542857/14 "2010-06-12T21:50:41Z")
So if I wanted to get one of these things for, oh, I donā€™t know, snow removal, how much would it cost and whatā€™s the lead-time on delivery?