According to Phyllis Bitner, chair of the museum board, the moving project has garnered a large amount of attention.
“There’s just been a lot of people asking the question about how it worked and those kinds of things,” she said. “Ted, who was one of the speakers today, he had agreed to be a consultant if anybody had any questions.”
In addition to there being a large amount of attention, it’s come from people all over the country and people who haven’t been to the museum before.
“I would say 75 percent of the crowd today were new people to the museum,” Bitner said. “They're not people that we have seen before, so we're excited about that.”
Ted Pryor was joined by David Grotheer for the program. Both worked on the dragline after the coal mines closed. It was used then by Mission Clay Products for clay mining. Pryor was an operator and Grotheer did maintenance on the machine. They answered questions about its features and the work they did. For example, Pryor explained how the machine moved and why it’s called a walking dragline.
“If you could sit on the floor, on your rear, put your hands down and lift yourself up and scoot backwards, that’s pretty close to what it does,” he said.
Pryor and Grotheer said the dragline was more efficient to use than a bulldozer or wheel tractor-scraper. The bucket could pick up nine tons, totaling 540 tons per hour and 4,320 tons during an eight-hour shift.
“A six-yard bucket on an 18-foot tub,” Grotheer said. “So when we talk about a 618, it refers to the size of the machine.”
A video of the presentation can be found on YouTube.
According to Bitner, it’s been about 10 years since talks began between the museum and Wendell Wilkinson, who donated the machine and whose grandparents owned the Wilkinson Coal Company. Funding for the project was secured three years ago, including $337,500 from Kansas Tourism and $250,000 from the John U. Parolo Education Trust. Additional funding has come from the Patterson Family Foundation, the Coleman Family Foundation and the Mitchelson Family Foundation.
Now, Tilton & Sons Housemoving is preparing the dragline to be moved to the junction of U.S. Highway 69 and Kansas Highway 47. Once moved, it’s expected to bring more visitors to the area.
“They'll want to go to the other museums,” Bitner said. “They'll want to stay in Pittsburg. The motels, the restaurants, everyone is going to benefit from this. It's good for all of us.”
A special exhibit about the dragline is currently on display at the museum and will be through the end of the year. The museum will also host a program with Tilton & Sons when the machine is moved.
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