The Tracked Excavator: A Marvel of Engineering.

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In my dialect, we don't really have a word for curiosity. But we have an adage that literally says "...going back a second time is what killed the meerkat.", This is the Ibibio equivalent of the English adage that says curiosity kills the cat.
Even when my native language may experience a shortage in vocabulary, not having the word for curiosity does not prevent or hinder curiosity itself.

Looking at this massive earth mover, I could not help but allow my curious thought to explore. A caterpillar product that runs on diesel as fuel. And from all indications, the engine sits behind but that is where the whole thing gets confusing, invoking curiosity.

If the engine is stationed up there at the back? How does it connect to this tracks and move them around?
At first I thought there must be an axle connection between the engine and the tracks.

But it dawned on me, if this escavator uses an axle, what happens when the upper side of the machine goes far beyond a 360-degree turn it often makes? An axle will not permit an endless swivel without tangling or bungling.

If there is no axle, drive belt or chain, then how is the engine connecting down to the tracks? Because for sure, there is no separate engine running the tracks.

At some point, I concluded that this could be electric motors that drive the tracks, an idea that needed confirmation. Digging a little further showed that the excavator drives its tracks using the same principle it uses to control its actuators.

The escavator uses hydraulic pressure to control its arms, bockets and drive its tracks.

That big back houses the engine and also acts as a counterweight for the arm, bucket and its content. The raving engine runs a hydraulic pump that goes down through a swivel joint to the tracks. The swivelling joint is the magic that makes its upper structure rotate more than 360°.
The pumped hydraulic is directed into cylinders that lift or lower the excavator's arm and bucket or rotate its upper structure and tracks. The whole machine is powered by hydrolics.

Conclusion

Curiosity can take you to places, help you explore and discover new things. It created my encounter with the working principle of a tracked excavator. This machine is truly an engineering marvel.

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Media Credit

Composer	@manuelhooks
Graphics	by manuelhooks
Captured with	Galaxy-A15
Edited with	Phone App
Posting Date	Sun. 22, February
	(@) 2026

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