Face shovel excavator bucket - GIF

[schuylergrace]

Many years ago, steam shovels used a very similar style of bucket action. That evolved into the familiar shoulder-elbow-wrist configuration of modern excavators. This machine is almost a full circle of that, except with hydraulics and diesel instead of ropes, cables, and steam.

The first thing I thought of was a book I remember from my childhood, Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel.