Bucket-wheel excavator

Bucket-wheel excavators (BWEs) are heavy equipment used in surface mining.

The primary function of BWEs is to act as a continuous digging machine in large-scale open-pit mining operations. What sets BWEs apart from other large-scale mining equipment, such as bucket chain excavators, is their use of a large wheel consisting of a continuous pattern of buckets used to scoop material as the wheel turns. They are among the largest vehicles ever constructed, and the biggest bucket-wheel excavator ever built, Bagger 293, is the largest terrestrial (land) vehicle in human history by weight according to the Guinness Book of World Records.