Heaviest land vehicle

According to Off-Highway Research, the heaviest machine capable of moving under its own power is the 14,196-tonne (31.3 million-lb) Bagger 293 (previously known as RB293) bucket-wheel excavator, an earthmoving machine manufactured by TAKRAF of Leipzig, Germany. Employed in an open-cast coal mine in the German state of North Rhine Westphalia, it is 220 m (722 ft) long, 94.5 m (310 ft) tall at its highest point, and is capable of shifting 240,000 m³ (8.475 million ft³) of earth per day. The 18 buckets - each with a volume of 6,600 litres (1,452 gal) - are fitted to the outside of a massive wheel (the bucket wheel) at the front of the machine. As the wheel revolves the buckets scoop up earth and then dump it onto a conveyor belt to be carried away. These conveyors are supported by cables attached to booms standing 94.5 m (310 ft) tall. The bucket wheel measures 21.6 m (71 ft) across - as tall as a four-storey building!