Face-shovel Rope Excavator

The excavator has a base plate, usually crawler mounted but sometimes wheeled in the smaller machines, upon which rotates the superstructure comprising the power unit (diesel or electric), cable winches, control cabin, boom and bucket arm (stick). The boom has a saddle attachment at about half its length where the bucket arm is attached; the boom and bucket are controlled by cables (ropes) from the cab. Traditionally, the rope shovel is employed to load dump trucks with blasted rock but it may also dig directly into weakly consolidated materials.