"The 11 Largest Machines in the World: One Weighs 260,000 Tons!"
From mind-boggling sizes to unimaginable power, these machines will leave you speechless. Surplex.com has compiled a list of the 11 largest machines in the world, with one of them even located in the heart of Europe!
The Top 11 Largest Machines in the World Rank Machine Length
1 Large Hadron Collider 26,659 meters
2 F60 502 meters
3 Prelude FLNG 488 meters
4 Bagger 288 240 meters
5 Big Bertha 99 meters
6 International Space Station 97.9 meters
7 Antonov AN-225 84 meters
8 Crawler Transporter 40 meters
9 Belaz 75710 20.6 meters
10 P&H L-2350 19.87 meters
11 D575A-3SD Super Dozer 11.71 meters
They are true giants: Surplex.com, the industrial auction house, has curated this jaw-dropping list of the 11 largest machines in the world, ranked by length in meters.
Even the "smallest" machine among them weighs a staggering 152 tons and measures 11 meters in length, with an immense power output of 1,150 HP (860 kW). However, the number one machine surpasses them all, stretching a whopping 27 kilometers in length!
Mining vehicles are the "small" ones among these giants
Rank 11 of the largest machines in the world:
The Super Dozer, manufactured by the Japanese commercial vehicle manufacturer Komatsu, claims the 11th spot. This bulldozer, measuring 11.71 meters in length and boasting 1,150 HP, is employed in coal mining operations in the United States.
Rank 10:
Mining vehicles occupy the 10th and 9th positions as well:
The P&H L-2350 wheel loader by Komatsu measures 19.87 meters in length and has a shovel capacity of over 40 cubic meters, powered by 2,300 HP. Watch the L-2350 in action on YouTube:
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Rank 9 of the largest machines:
The Belaz 75710 dump truck, engineered by the Belarusian machine manufacturer Belaz, measures 20.6 meters. Weighing a massive 810 tons, it is the heaviest dump truck produced in series, requiring a whopping 4,664 HP to transport a payload of 450 tons.
Through the Air and Beyond the Stars Rank 8:
Highly significant in the list of the 11 largest machines in the world are devices from the aerospace industry. At the 8th spot, we have NASA's Crawler, which slowly transports the world's largest rockets to their launch pads. Comprising two combined tracked vehicles, the Crawler measures 40 meters in length and weighs an astonishing 2,721 tons.
"Unveiling the World's 7 Largest Machines: From Flying Giants to Earth-Digging Giants!" Rank 7: Antonov AN-225 - The Super Transport Aircraft
With a length of 87 meters, the Antonov AN-225, the world's largest transport aircraft, sadly met its end at the beginning of the Ukraine conflict. Despite a maximum takeoff weight of 650 tons, the AN-225 could reach speeds of up to 850 km/h.
Rank 6: International Space Station (ISS) - Defying Gravity
Soaring even higher, the International Space Station (ISS) claims the sixth spot with a length of 97.9 meters. Weighing 420 tons, the ISS orbits the Earth at a staggering speed of 27,600 km/h.
Digging Through the Earth: Rank 5: Big Bertha - The Tunnel Boring Machine
Descending back to Earth, we encounter the Big Bertha at fifth place. This tunnel boring machine, 99 meters in length, was specifically built for a tunnel project in the US state of Washington and named after Seattle's first female mayor. Check out the YouTube video below for more insights into Big Bertha's construction and operation.
Rank 4: Bagger 288 - The Earth-Moving Machine
The machine occupying the fourth spot is not one that burrows beneath the earth, but rather one that operates on the surface. ThyssenKrupp's Bagger 288, a massive bucket wheel excavator, can extract up to 240,000 tons of coal daily, powered by a formidable 17 megawatts of electric power.
Rank 3: F60 - The Giants of The Lausitz Coal Mine
Taking it up a notch, the F60 is a colossal bridge-conveyor used in the Lausitz open-pit lignite mine. Measuring a whopping 502 meters in length, it is often referred to as the "horizontal Eiffel Tower of Lausitz." The F60 claims the third spot on our list of the world's largest machines.
$12 Billion for the Floating Gas Terminal Rank 2: Prelude FLNG - The Offshore Gas Facility
Among the largest machines in the world, only one comes from the maritime industry, the Prelude FLNG, which secures the second position. This floating offshore facility, used for liquefying and transporting offshore natural gas, stretches 488 meters in length. Shell, the project's sponsor, invested a staggering 12 billion euros to anchor this facility off the coast of Australia.
Rank 1: Large Hadron Collider (LHC) - Unrivaled Giant
Sitting at a decisive first place in the ranking of the world's 11 largest machines is the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). With a jaw-dropping length of 27 kilometers, this particle accelerator ring from CERN remains unrivaled. However, the researchers at CERN are already contemplating a new accelerator ring with a circumference of 100 kilometers, leaving us curious about what the future holds.
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