Excavator Rentals

Steam Shovel - The "Old Name" for an Excavator

Designed for lifting and moving material

A steam shovel is a large steam-powered excavating machine designed for lifting and moving material such as rock and soil. It is the earliest type of power shovel. The steam shovel was invented in 1839.

The first machines were known as 'partial-swing', since the dipper arm could not rotate through 360 degrees. They were built on a railway chassis.

Steam shovels became more popular in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Originally configured with chain hoists, the advent of steel cable in the 1870s allowed for easier rigging to the winches.

Later machines were supplied with caterpillar tracks, obviating the need for rails to be laid.

During the 1930s steam shovels lost out to the simpler, cheaper diesel-powered excavating shovels that are the forerunners of those still in use today. Open-pit mines were electrified at this time.

Only after the Second World War, with the advent of robust high-pressure hydraulic hoses, did the more versatile hydraulic backhoe shovels take preeminence over the cable-hoisting winch shovels.