One of the most unexpectedly popular stories I have ever penned here on BangShift was the tale of the land clearing operation that made way for the Hungry Horse dam. A pair of enterprising contractors came up with the ingenious idea of attaching two bulldozers together with massive steel cable and then using the cable as a huge scythe to essentially tear down anything caught in its path. The addition of a massive steel ball in the center to keep the cable a couple of feet off the ground completed the simple equation and allowed for a speedy and highly profitable end to the work. If you have read the story or read it now at the link above you will see some cool photos but what you will not is video. Thanks to BangShift reader Two Sprints, we have video from the operation below that shows the system in action and it is fantastic. From the young boys leaping to reach the top of the ball to the strange looking sphere wading through the forest and dealing destruction in its path the video is great.

It wasn’t just other land clearing contractors that saw what the guys did during the dam job. Since it was government work there was extensive reporting and documentation of all the stuff that was done. One agency that apparently looked into how it worked was the military because the second video which is shown below the dam clearing piece was shot in the jungles of Vietnam circa 1967 and it depicts armored dozers clearing forest using a big logging chain tied between them with a third dozer following behind. We’re not 100% sure what the function of the third dozer was other than maybe to give a push on something that hung the other two up. You’ll see those things rolling along like they are on main street just obliterating the forest.

Land clearing companies were very active in Vietnam, clearing jungle where the enemy could set up and preparing land for other purposes as well. This is a small example of their work but it is pretty amazing to see it happening about 20 years after the work was finished at Hungry Horse. This method is still commonly used if large swaths of land are needing to be cleared out. Brutal but highly effective.

Press play to see the Hungry Horse Dam clearing AND a more recent application

Watch Hungry Horse Dam Reservoir Clearing in Educational & How-To  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com