The earliest known actual walking dragline was from Ransomes & Rapier 1939 using the patented Cameron and Heath walking method. Model W170, it had a 4-yard bucket.
TRACTION OR PROPULSION MECHANISM OF THE WALKING TYPE – Cameron et al.
Colin McLeod Cameron and Alfred Thomas Heath
British Patent 320,223
Granted Feb 21, 1940.
Filed Mar 3, 1939.
See US Patent here.
US Patent number: 2259200
Filing date: Feb 21, 1940
Issue date: Oct 1941
There was an earlier patent by Vincent G. Anderson in 1918 where he proposed a walking dragline or excavator resulting in a similar walking and steering fashion.
Patent number: 1455380
Filing date: Apr 22, 1918
Issue date: May 15, 1923
See here.
Bacyrus-Erie took over Ransomes & Rapier in 1988 and continued to use this method of propulsion for these gigantic land machines.
"Big Muskie"
Big Muskie was a coal mining Bucyrus-Erie dragline owned by the Central Ohio Coal Company (formerly a division of American Electric Power), weighing nearly 13,000 metric tons (13,000 long tons; 14,000 short tons) and standing nearly 22 stories tall. It operated in the U.S. state of Ohio from 1969 to 1991.
The Big Muskie was a model 4250-W Bucyrus-Erie dragline (the only one ever built). With a 220 cubic yards (170 m3) bucket, it was the largest single-bucket digging machine ever created and one of the world's largest mobile earth-moving machines. Its bucket could hold two Greyhound buses side by side. It took over 200,000 man hours to construct over a period of about two years.
I worked for Geo Wimpey and spent time working at Maesgwyn cap in late 1960's I also witnessed and worked on W-1800. The work was maintainence tasks including greasing the sheaves at the end of the boom, while the machine was working (boom rotating!) H&S would not allow this task today ! I also worked on Lima 2400 draglines: happy days !
AS the author of a number of books and countless journal/magazine articles on the histories of Excavators/Cranes/Earthmoving Equipment, I am interested in any site featuring them on my computer. I have actually been on the Rapier W-1800, at Maesgwyn Cap, the Marion 7400-M (same site) and the “Ace of Spades” (Stobswood)..also watched the Marion 195-M crawler dragline at work at Glynneath. Please keep in touch. Sincerely..Hinton