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Shovels At Bingham - Shovel Builders

This page last updated on July 31, 2011.

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(These timelines focus on the companies and specific models of shovels used by Kennecott at Bingham.)

Overview

From the 1910s through the early 1960s, the cable shovel was the principal means of digging and loading earth. The 1960s saw the acceptance of hydraulic machines as an alternative to cable-type shovels. In the mining industry, cable shovels have been, and are presently, the machine of choice for large-scale operations worldwide. Bucyrus Erie, Marion, and P&H produced the bulk of the shovels used large scale mining operations. They went on to dominate the mining industry with cable shovel model offerings that could not be matched, let alone produced, by any other manufacturer. (Eric C. Orlemann, Power Shovels, page 61)

Bucyrus Shovels

Overview

The following comes from Keith Haddock's Giant Earthmovers:

Timeline

1880
Bucyrus Foundry and Manufacturing Company was founded by Daniel Parmelee Eells, an Ohio industrialist, in 1880 in Bucyrus, Ohio, and became Bucyrus Steam Shovel and Dredge in 1890. Two years later the company moved to Milwaukee, which has been its home ever since. After a financial reorganization in 1896 the name was changed to the Bucyrus Company, and it remained under the control of the Eells family until 1911. That year a merger with a competitor, the Vulcan Steam Shovel Company, resulted in a dilution of the Eells holdings, although family involvement in the company continued until 1952. Already a leader in the shovel industry, Bucyrus further consolidated its position in 1927 by merging with Erie Steam Shovel Company, the leading manufacturer of small shovels, to become Bucyrus-Erie Company. (William Haycraft, Yellow Steel, page 83)

The steam shovels built by the Bucyrus Foundry and Manufacturing Company earned a solid reputation for reliability in railroad construction. The 70C (chain hoist) was one of the most popular in the early twentieth century. Employed mostly on railroad construction, this type of heavy-duty half-swing machine became known as a railroad shovel. (Bucyrus, Making The Earth Move For 125 Years, page 12)

At 107 tons in working order, the 95-C was the largest shovel available in its day. The carbody supporting it measured 44 feet long by 10 feet wide. The 95-C was widely sold throughout the world from rock quarries in Illinois and Indiana to copper mines in Utah, and from iron ore mines in Sweden to copper mines in Spain. (Bucyrus Heavy Equipment, page 132)

1882
First railroad style (non-rotating) steam shovel was built.

1904
Bucyrus supplied 77 of the 102 steam shovels used to dig the Panama Canal, through 1907. (Marion Power Shovel supplied another 24.)

1911
The Bucyrus Company, Atlantic Equipment Company, and Vulcan Steam Shovel Company merge to form "Bucyrus Company", a public corporation.

1912
The Model 110-C was billed as the largest and most powerful railroad shovel ever built when introduced about 1912, and specified for the toughest digging assignments or where blasting was restricted, the 110-C was equipped with either a 5- or 6-yard dipper and weighed 127 tons. Main engines were sized at 13-inch bore and 16-inch stroke. (Bucyrus Heavy Equipment, page 133)

1915
The 3.5-cubic-yard Bucyrus 78C was introduced in 1915. (Power Shovels, page 16)

1921
Caterpillar style mounting was first incorporated on a Bucyrus shovel.

1922
One of the last Bucyrus railroad shovels to be introduced was the 103-C in 1922. It was also the first railroad shovel to be equipped with crawler tracks. (Bucyrus Heavy Equipment, page 133)

1922
In 1922, Bucyrus started to offer crawler mounts for use on its railroad-type shovel designs, freeing them from the constraints of the steel rail. (Power Shovels, page 16)

1925
The innovative 120-B (introduced in 1925) was the world's first "Quarry and Mine" shovel, a heavy-duty Ward-Leonard electric machine built with the ruggedness of the old part-swing railroad shovel, yet with the flexibility of a fully revolving shovel. Initially the 120-B was rated at 4-cubic-yards capacity and tipped the scales at 168 tons. It was ruggedly built with massive castings and riveted construction. It featured wide-spaced dipper handles with rack-and-pinion drive and motor mounted on the boom. Like the 100-B, the early shovel version of the 120-B could be recognized by its forward-positioned A-frame. When electric welding came of age in the mid 1930s, both the 100-B and 120-B shovels graduated from riveted construction to electric-welded construction. While retaining their rugged steel castings for carbody and revolving frames, their welded booms and other assemblies permitted increased dipper capacities to 4 yards and 5 yards respectively with no significant gain in overall machine weight. The 120-B revolutionized mass excavation methods and is the machine recognized as the forerunner of today's high-capacity Bucyrus electric mining shovels. Production of the 120-B ended in 1951, after a production total of 303 machines. (Keith Haddock, Bucyrus Heavy Equipment, pages 65, 212, 218)

1925
The Bucyrus Erie 120-B is considered the earthmoving industry's first true, heavy-duty, full-revolving, two-crawler mining shovel. Released in 1925, the 120-B was equipped with a 4-cubic-yard dipper and was meant as a replacement for railroad-type loading shovels in the mining industry. Though primarily an electric-powered shovel, some of the earliest units were specified with steam power. (Power Shovels, page 64)

The 120-B was introduced as the world's first fully rotating electric mine and quarry shovel designed for loading rail cars or trucks. First built in 1925 as a 4-cubic yard machine, it was soon upped to 5-cubic yard capacity and revolutionized the shovel industry, selling over 300 around the world until 1951.The 120-B was the forerunner of a long line of Bucyrus electric quarry and mine shovels. It was soon joined by the similarly-designed 3-1/2-cubic yard 100-B (1926); the 2-1/4-cubic yard 75-B (1928); the 6-1/2-cubic yard 170-B (1929); and the 3-1/4-cubic yard 85-B (1935). With the exception of the 75-B, all remained in the line until the early 1950s. (Keith Haddock, Bucyrus, Making The Earth Move For 125 Years, page 72)

1926
During the 1930s, the ruggedness and somewhat overdesign of the 100-B (introduced in 1926), plus the introduction of welded components, allowed an increase to 4 cubic yards. The Ward-Leonard electric machine was equipped with a single vertical swing drive as opposed to two on the larger 120-B. Standard boom length was 32 feet. The 100-B was a very successful machine, staying in production until 1950 by which time its operating weight increased to 136 tons. Production of the 100-B ended in 1950, after a production total of 150 machines. (Keith Haddock, Bucyrus Heavy Equipment, pages 62, 212, 218)

1927
The Bucyrus Company was consolidated with the Erie Steam Shovel Company to form Bucyrus-Erie.

1929
More than 10,000 Bucyrus shovels, cranes, draglines and dredges had been produced by 1929.

1930s
Use of steam powered excavators superseded by electric drives.

1930s
During the 1930s, the ruggedness and somewhat overdesign of the 100-B, plus the introduction of welded components, allowed an increase to 4 cubic yards. The Ward-Leonard electric machine was equipped with a single vertical swing drive as opposed to two on the larger 120-B. Standard boom length was 32 feet. The 100-B was a very successful machine, staying in production until 1950 by which time its operating weight increased to 136 tons. (Bucyrus Heavy Equipment, page 62)

When electric welding came of age in the mid 1930s, both the 100-B and 120-B shovels graduated from riveted construction to electric-welded construction. While retaining their rugged steel castings for carbody and revolving frames, their welded booms and other assemblies permitted increased dipper capacities to 4 yards and 5 yards respectively with no significant gain in overall machine weight. The 120-B revolutionized mass excavation methods and is the machine recognized as the forerunner of today's high-capacity Bucyrus electric mining shovels. (Bucyrus Heavy Equipment, page 65)

1952
For an 8-cubic-yard mining shovel in the 1950s, they didn't come any better than the Bucyrus Erie 190-B. Originally introduced in 1952, the electric-powered 190-B was an extremely popular shovel for the company. Weighing approximately 275 tons, it could be found operating in quarries and mines the world over. In 1968 it was replaced by the 12-cubic-yard 195-B. (Power Shovels, page 65)

1952
Bucyrus began producing its Model 190-B electric shovel; production continued through 1976. (Keith Haddock, Bucyrus, Making The Earth Move For 125 Years, page 156)

At Bingham, Kennecott shovels 16 and 21 were Bucyrus 190-B. They were in service in 1979 and 1980. By 1983 only shovel 16 remained in service.

1981
First Model 395B electric mining shovel commissioned with AC electric power system.

1985
Bucyrus-Erie Mining Machinery Division became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the newly created parent company, Becor Western Inc.

Bucyrus-Erie sold the Construction Equipment Division to Northwest in 1985, which became Terex the next year.

1985
Bucyrus-Erie sold the Marion Power Shovel Company to Dresser Industries.

1990
Model 395B and 495B AC shovels were introduced.

1994
Model 295B AC shovel introduced.

1995
Model 395B and 495B shovels introduced.

1996
Bucyrus-Erie changed its name to Bucyrus International, Inc.

1997
Bucyrus acquired the Marion Power Shovel Company.

1999
Model 595B shovel announced as a successful descendant of the acquired Marion 351M model.

2000
Model 495B 100-ton capacity shovel introduced.

2000
Concept model 795B, 135-ton capacity knee action shovel, was introduced at MINExpo 2000.

2002
Model 495HR/HF shovels were introduced, incorporating best of product features from Marion and Bucyrus models, offering 110 -120 ton single pass capabilities.

July 18, 2010
Caterpillar announced that it would begin production

October 2010
Caterpillar and Rio Tinto signed a five-year agreement for Caterpillar to furnish Rio Tinto's worldwide mining operations with surface mining equipment, including trucks, shovels, wheeled loaders, tracked tractors, and wheeled graders.

November 15, 2010
Caterpillar made an offer to buy the entire Bucyrus product line of mining shovels. Included in the planned changes was for Caterpillar to move its entire mining business headquarters from Peoria, Illinois to the Bucyrus plant at Oak Creek (South Milwaukee), Wisconsin.

January 6, 2011
Caterpillar, Inc., announced that it was suspending development of its own line of mining shovels, to be built at its plant in Aurora, Illinois. The decision, effective immediately, was reportedly in response to Caterpillar's pending acquisition of Bucyrus International, Inc., which had a comparable line of mining shovels, acquired by Caterpillar as part of its purchase of Terex's mining group in late 2009. (DieselProgressOnline, January 6, 2011, citing the Milwaukee Business Journal)

May 20, 2011
The U. S. Department of Justice approved Caterpillar's purchase of Bucyrus International. The proposed acquisition was announced in November 2010. The value of the acquisition was reported as $8.6 billion. (Caterpillar press release dated May 20, 2011)

July 8, 2011
Caterpillar, Incorporated completed its acquisition of Bucyrus International. On the same day, the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China approved the purchase.

Marion Shovels

(with focus on shovels that worked, or may have worked at Bingham)

Overview

The following comes from Keith Haddock's Giant Earthmovers:

Marion produced 96 five-yard Model 92 shovels between 1909 and 1930. Marion started offering crawler mountings for its railroad shovels in 1923. (Marion Mining & Dredging Machines, page 8)

With a bucket capacity of six cubic yards, the Model 100 was Marion's largest railroad shovel. Between 1909 and 1926, Marion built 39 of these behemoths. (Marion Mining & Dredging Machines, page 9)

The four-crawler, 3-1/2-yard Model 70 electric shovel was a good example of the adaptation of the railroad-mounted, half-swing shovel to crawlers. Built between 1912 and 1930, 74 were produced. (Marion Mining & Dredging Machines, page 11)

The Type 4161 was a very successful shovel, with 206 units delivered between 1935 and 1964. Marion changed its shovel front design from single dipper sticks to twin sticks to better transmit load-related stresses from the dipper to the boom. (Marion Mining & Dredging Machines, page 32)

The Marion 4161 was one of the company's more popular mining shovels during the late 1930s and 1940s. Released in 1935, the 4161 was rated as a 6-cubic-yard shovel, and weighed 215 tons in shovel form. (Power Shovels, page 68)

Introduced in 1945, the 151-M electric shovel had a rated capacity of 7-1/2-cubic yards and was manufactured as recently as 1982, with 170 units produced. Electric shovels of this size were used most often in mines and quarries, but some also saw use in heavy construction. (Marion Mining & Dredging Machines, page 33)

Marion took the wraps off the first 151-M in 1945. Originally designed as an electric mining shovel of 6-cubic-yards capacity, the 151-M was soon adapted for dragline work with buckets up to 8 cubic yards, and as a 12-cubic-yard shovel for coal-loading duties. In 1970, Marion offered a diesel-electric version employing two Cummins engines providing 700 horsepower to independent electric motors for the hoist, swing, and crowd motions. In the 1960s, Marion gradually pulled away from the small "construction-sized" machine market, preferring to concentrate on the large mining machines such as stripping shovels, walking draglines, blast hole drills, and large two-crawler excavators. By the mid-1970s, the 151-M was the smallest excavator in Marion's product line. It continued until 1982 offering dippers up to 12 cubic yards. (The Earthmover Encyclopedia: The Complete Guide to Heavy Equipment of the World, page 215)

When Marion designed and built the first 191-M in 1951, at 10-cubic-yards capacity it was the world's largest shovel on two crawlers. Nearly all subsequent 191-Ms were electrically powered. One of the most successful mining shovels of all time, the 191-M continued in production until 1989, by which time it had been upgraded to carry a standard dipper of 15 cubic yards. (The Earthmover Encyclopedia: The Complete Guide to Heavy Equipment of the World, page 215)

In 1951 Marion introduced the 10-yard 191-M, claiming the title for the world's largest shovel on two crawlers. Later improvements more than doubled its rating to 22 cubic yards, and its demand required production to continue until 1989. Most were electric, but a few were built with diesel power. Several were built as draglines. (Marion Mining & Dredging Machines, page 35)

Marion built its first 191-M series mining shovel in 1951, and for a time it was the world's largest two-crawler shovel. The original 191-M was equipped with a standard 10-cubic-yard dipper, but later versions would get 11-cubic-yard units. Operating weight was 386 tons in diesel-powered form or 355 tons when configured as an electric shovel. (Power Shovels, page 68)

When Marion designed and built the first 191-M in 1951, at 10-cubic-yards capacity it was the world's largest shovel on two crawlers. Although nearly all subsequent 191-Ms were electrically powered, the first machine, sold to Western Contracting Corporation, was diesel powered. One of the most successful mining shovels of all time, the 191-M continued in production until 1989, by which time it had been upgraded to carry a standard dipper of 15 cubic yards. (Keith Haddock, The Earthmover Encyclopedia, page 215)

Marion Electric Shovel Production

Marion Model	Year Introduced	Year Of Last Production	Total Units	Dipper Size	Manufacturer Notes	Kennecott Notes
Type 4160	1927	1937
Type 4161	1935	1964	206		First with twin dipper sticks	In 1979-1980, Kennecott had 11 Type 4161 shovels in service; by 1983 the total had been reduced to five shovels
151-M	1945	c. 1982	170	7-1/2 yards		By 1983, Kennecott had a total of 12 151-M shovels in service.
191-M	1951	1989		10 yards	later increased to 22 yards	By 1983, Kennecott had a total of seven 191-M shovels in service.

Timeline

August 1884
The Marion Steam Shovel Company was established in August 1884.

Based on Henry M. Barnhart's patent for an improved swing mechanism, the Marion Steam Shovel Company was founded in 1884 in Marion, Ohio. Financial backing came from Edward Huber, a Marion industrialist and threshing machine manufacturer who would later build farm tractors, static road rollers, and motor graders under the Huber brand. Early Marion shovels were marketed under the Barnhart name. The Marion company remained closely held until its acquisition by Dresser Industries in 1977. (William Haycraft, Yellow Steel, page 83)

1911
By 1911 90 percent of all large bucket steam shovels and draglines were produced in Marion Ohio, which was also the headquarters of Osgood Steam Shovel, Fairbanks Steam Shovel and General Excavating Corporation. (Competitor Bucyrus Steam Shovel was founded 15 miles from Marion in nearby Bucyrus, Ohio (Bucyrus relocated soon thereafter to Milwaukee, Wisconsin after Bucyrus city officials refused to approve expansion plans for the company.)

April 1946
In April 1946, the Marion Steam Shovel Company changed its name to the Marion Power Shovel Company to more closely reflect its products.

1955
In 1955, Marion Power Shovel Company acquired its crosstown rival, the Osgood Company, which manufactured shovels under the Marion-Osgood and Osgood brand names. Osgood's product line focused on shovels, cranes and draglines that were small capacity machines as opposed to Marion's line, which focused increasingly on high end strip mining draglines. Osgood also built road-ready mobile units that used Mack truck undercarriages.

1976
The Marion Power Shovel Company was sold to Dresser Industries in 1976 for approximately $250 million. The Company grew from 1,500 employees in 1974 to over 3,200 employees by 1978 during the massive growth in coal mining demand of the late 1970's.

1977
Dresser continued to push into construction and mining equipment with the purchase of the Marion Power Shovel Company in 1977, paying $126 million in cash and securities for the closely held company based in Marion, Ohio. Although results were not made public, Marion, at estimated sales of $350 to $400 million, was the second-largest power shovel maker after Bucyrus-Erie. At the time of its acquisition by Dresser, Marion's principal business included mining shovels for truck loading. (William Haycraft, Yellow Steel, page 271)

Kennecott Copper Corporation bought Marion Model 151-M (8 cubic yards) and Model 191-M (15 cubic yards) shovels as late as 1977.

1997
Operating as the Marion Division of Indresco (the successor name to Dresser), Marion was acquired by Bucyrus International, Inc. in 1997.

Bucyrus International closed the Marion, Ohio works, (while retaining the brand name) ending shovel production and engineering as well as ending shovel production in Marion, Ohio.

July 2011
Caterpillar acquired Bucyrus, International, including the Bucyrus and Marion lines of mining shovels. In October 2010, Caterpillar and Rio Tinto signed a five-year agreement for Caterpillar to furnish Rio Tinto's worldwide mining operations with surface mining equipment, including trucks, shovels, wheeled loaders, tracked tractors, and wheeled graders.

P&H Shovels

Overview

The following comes from Keith Haddock's Giant Earthmovers:

After Harnischfeger introduced its first electric shovel in 1936, it promoted and developed this type of excavator intensively over the next two decades. This early experience positioned the company to build electric excavators in sizes larger than the economic limit of diesel machines, and paid off handsomely when sales of the small "construction-size" cable excavators dwindled in the 1960s. This mining machine expertise contributed largely to Harnischfeger becoming the dominant force in the mining shovel industry by the 1980s. In 1963, Harnischfeger shipped its first 15-cubic-yard electric shovel, the 390-ton Model 2100, a machine that would soon became the standard for large open-pit mines around the world. The upgraded 210013 of the same dipper range appeared in 1969, but weighed some 65 tons heavier. (The Earthmover Encyclopedia: The Complete Guide to Heavy Equipment of the World, page 220)

Harnischfeger kept pace with the increasing size of haul trucks, and industry demands for larger equipment to take advantage of economies of scale. It introduced larger shovels and improved the performance of its existing shovel models. A big jump in size occurred in 1969 when the first P&H 2800 shovels were shipped with dippers of 25 cubic yards. The 2300 followed in 1972 in the 20-cubic-yard class, and the same year P&H unveiled the world's largest shovel on two crawlers, the 5700, with dippers up to 44 cubic yards. The first 4100 was shipped in 1991 with a 56-cubic-yard dipper designed to load a 240-ton truck in three passes. This shovel incorporated state-of-the-art electronic control and integrated diagnostics, a means of alerting operator or maintenance personnel of any pending malfunction. (The Earthmover Encyclopedia: The Complete Guide to Heavy Equipment of the World, page 220)

Timeline

1884
Alonzo Pawling and Henry Harnischfeger join forces on December 1, 1884, starting up a small machine and pattern shop to craft and support high-quality components and assemblies for brick-making, beer-brewing, industrial sewing and other industrial equipment manufactured in and around Milwaukee, Wisconsin

1887
Pawling & Harnischfeger rebuild and improve upon the design of a damaged overhead bridge crane made by another manufacturer. Soon after, industrial customers line up to order more bridge cranes built by "P&H" as the firm reorganizes and expands to meet demand.

1911
In failing health, Alonzo Pawling decides to sell his interest in the business to his partner, Henry Harnischfeger. Pawling asks Harnischfeger to keep the "P&H" trademark on company products going forward. Harnischfeger agrees to keep the now well-known P&H trademark. "Pawling & Harnischfeger" becomes "Harnischfeger Corporation" led by Henry Harnischfeger.

1914
Harnischfeger Corporation introduced its earliest earth-moving equipment.

1920
P&H Model 206, a crawler-propelled power shovel equipped with a 1/4-cubic-yard dipper, becomes the first highly successful P&H earth-moving platform. P&H 206 and subsequent P&H 300-series machines were "convertible" into power shovel, backhoe, clamshell, dragline, construction crane, augur, backfill and magnet configurations.

1930
P&H began converting its cranes and excavators from riveted construction to all-welded construction.

1935
Harnischfeger Corporation introduced new Ward-Leonard drive electric excavators.

Pre-WWII
P&H introduced the Model 1500 as the first large DC electric drive shovel for use in mining.

1944
P&H had lagged somewhat behind its competitors in the shovel industry, Bucyrus-Erie and Marion, by not offering larger, heavy-duty electric models. In 1944 P&H offered its first electric mining shovel, the 5-yard Model 1400. (William Haycraft, Yellow Steel, page 85)

1945
P&H introduced a new-generation electric mining shovel featuring simpler control components and factory-installed wiring for faster field erection and commissioning.

1946
Harnischfeger Corporation engineers developed "Magnetorque" electro-magnetic brake and control system to replace traditional friction mechanisms for greatly increased digging power and speed. Magnetorque revolutionized the heavy equipment industry and continued to be used on smaller electric shovels in the 21st Century.

1954
P&H rolled out its new Model 1800 electric mining shovel -- the latest and largest heavy-duty digging machine in the P&H line with electronic control, centralized AC motor drive, and nominal 8 cubic yard dipper capacity.

1960
P&H shovel maximum dipper capacity reaches 12 cubic yards to help meet growing demand for highly productive taconite and other hard-rock mining excavators.

1963
After Harnischfeger introduced its first electric shovel in 1936, it promoted and developed this type of excavator intensively over the next two decades. This early experience positioned the company to build electric excavators in sizes larger than the economic limit of diesel machines, and paid off handsomely when sales of the small "construction-size" cable excavators dwindled in the 1960s. This mining machine expertise contributed largely to Harnischfeger becoming the dominant force in the mining shovel industry by the 1980s. In 1963, Harnischfeger shipped its first 15-cubic-yard electric shovel, the 390-ton Model 2100, a machine that would soon became the standard for large open-pit mines around the world. The upgraded 2100B of the same dipper range appeared in 1969, but weighed some 65 tons heavier. (Keith Haddock, The Earthmover Encyclopedia, page 220)

1967
P&H shovel maximum dipper capacity increases to 15 cubic yards.

1969
The P&H 2800 electric shovel debuted initially with a 25 cubic yard dipper capacity to help meet growing world demand for coal, iron and copper.

Harnischfeger kept pace with the increasing size of haul trucks, and industry demands for larger equipment to take advantage of economies of scale. It introduced larger shovels and improved the performance of its existing shovel models. A big jump in size occurred in 1969 when the first P&H 2800 shovels were shipped with dippers of 25 cubic yards. The 2300 followed in 1972 in the 20-cubic-yard class, and the same year P&H unveiled the world's largest shovel on two crawlers, the 5700, with dippers up to 44 cubic yards. The first 4100 was shipped in 1991 with a 56-cubic-yard dipper designed to load a 240-ton truck in three passes. This shovel incorporated state-of-the-art electronic control and integrated diagnostics, a means of alerting operator or maintenance personnel of any pending malfunction. (Keith Haddock, The Earthmover Encyclopedia, page 220)

1976
P&H increased maximum dipper capacity on its 2800 shovel to 40 cubic yards. Also, P&H introduced "Electrotorque" solid-state control for DC motors.

1988
P&H Mining Equipment launched the P&H 2800XPA shovel.

1991
Harnischfeger Corporation acquired the Gardner-Denver line of large production drilling rigs.

Harnischfeger Corporation introduced the P&H Model 4100 series shovel line to help mines efficiently load new-generation 240-ton haul trucks. The P&H 4100 featured 85-ton dipper payloads.

1995
Harnischfeger Corporation purchased the assets and interests of the Joy Mining Machinery Company of Franklin, Pennsylvania.

1996
The P&H Model 4100 shovel evolves into the 4100A, featuring DC digital "Electrotorque Plus" drive.

1999
P&H Mining Equipment introduced the P&H 4100XPB, with features tailored to mines utilizing haul trucks of up to 360-ton capacity.

June 1999
Harnischfeger Corporation was forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy by the failure of a major paper manufacturing business based in Indonesia and the subsequent default on numerous contracts, including $250 million owed to Harnischfeger Corporation.

August 1999
P&H Mining Equipment, the above-ground mining arm of Harnischfeger Industries Inc., announced that the company had sold the first of its new Model 4100XPB shovel. The customer was Triton Coal Company for use in its North Rochelle mine in the Powder River Basin near Gillette, Wyoming. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, August 13, 1999)

2001
P&H Mining Equipment introduced the P&H 4100BOSS, a higher-performance successor to the well-regarded P&H 4100TS. The BOSS featured many of the technology advances introduced on the P&H 4100XPB shovel.

July 2001
Harnischfeger Corporation emerged from Chapter 11 reorganization under the name of Joy Global, Incorporated, a reflection of two strongest segments of Harnischfeger's previous widespread business interests. These segments were P&H for its above ground mining equipment, and Joy for its underground mining equipment. Harnischfeger had acquired Joy Mining Machinery Company in 1995. P&H Mining Equipment became a subsidiary of Joy Global.

May 2006
P&H announced its 'C' series of shovels that incorporated the design features of the Centurion control platform, for improved reliability and productivity. The shovel line included five models: the 4100XPC, 4100C BOSS, 4100C, 2800XPC and 2300XPC. The first nine units were completed, and were in service by November 2007, including two Model 4100XPC shovels at Kennecott's Bingham copper mine.

2007
P&H Mining Equipment rolls out next-generation shovels and drills, including the P&H 320XPC hard rock production drill, the P&H 4100C BOSS, P&H 4100XPC and P&H 2800XPC shovels featuring all-new operator cab environments and numerous other performance-enhancing breakthrough solutions driven by customer requirements.

P&H Mining Equipment also successfully introduced an AC-drive P&H 4100BOSS shovel. Increasing AC drive reliability and maintainability drives this departure from traditional P&H DC drive product offerings and the effort is launched and completed within a fast-track, 24-month time frame.

By 2010, the P&H Mining Equipment Company was a business unit of Joy Global, Inc.

October 2010
Caterpillar and Rio Tinto signed a five-year agreement for Caterpillar to furnish Rio Tinto's worldwide mining operations with surface mining equipment, including trucks, shovels, wheeled loaders, tracked tractors, and wheeled graders.

Joy Global at Wikipedia

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