Not all shovels can be folded, or are small enough to be held by hand. Not all shovels are made exclusively for snow or dirt or gravel. Some shovels are even better than that. Power shovels, or machine-operated shovels, are good at what they do and that’s why they have stuck around. You’ll have to go a long way to find a construction site without a power shovel of some sort.
A steam shovel is a large, mechanized, steam-powered engine designed for lifting and moving loose material such as soil and rock. It is the earliest type of power shovel. They were very large and able to lift tons of heavy material with a single rake of their arm. Steam shovels were once a common sight in construction venues.
Parts of a Steam Shovel
Old fashioned steam shovels consist of the following parts:
a house to hold and protect the works – a built-in section for containing various materials
wheels (sometimes railroad wheels or caterpillar tracks) – the kind of wheel depends on the type of soil the steam shovel is designed to stand on
rotating platform mounted on a truck
operator’s controls – serves as the main hub where the operator navigates and controls the machine
winches and steam engines – the steam engine is what makes the steam shovel old and obsolete
coal bunker and water tank
boiler
dipper stick and boom – consists of a giant arm and its parts
a bucket
Today, steam shovels are nearly extinct. Cranes and other construction machines have replaced all if not most of them, and this isn’t a surprise considering the obvious advantages of cranes over the “older” steam shovels.