Over a century ago, the Marion Steam Shovel Company produced what is believed to have been the smallest electric shovel.
The Historical Construction Equipment Association has brought back to life one of those small diggers, a 1926 Marion Model 21 Electric.
In the video above, you can see the fully restored shovel being powered by a 1951 Caterpillar D13000 generator set at the 2025 HCEA convention.
The video begins with the D13000, an engine used in mid-20th century Cat D8 dozers. The generator’s diesel engine is started by a gasoline pony motor. Once the diesel engine gets going, it sends electricity via cable to the shovel for digging.
Viewers will also note that the D13000 is being hauled by a World War II surplus, 1942 Freuhauf tandem lowboy trailer, pulled by a 1948 International Harvester Seabees military tractor. The D13000 was produced for the U.S. Navy Department’s Bureau of Yards and Docks. From 1942 to 1966, the bureau was responsible for building and maintaining Navy yards, dry docks, and other facilities relating to ship construction, maintenance and repair.
The 6-cylinder D13000 produces 75 kilowatts of power and weighs over 6 tons.
The Model 21 has a 1.25-cubic-yard shovel. It was one of the company’s early machines to move from steam power to more efficient, cheaper and safer electricity, before gasoline- and diesel-powered equipment took over. About 800 Model 21s were produced from 1919 to 1926 in Marion, Ohio.
Powered byThough the company, which formed in 1884, was moving away from steam, it didn’t change its name to Marion Power Shovel until 1946. It became one of America’s leading producers of electric stripping shovels and walking draglines for mining. Its machinery was involved in building the Panama Canal, the Hoover Dam and the Holland Tunnel. It also built crawler transporters for NASA for the Saturn V rocket and the Space Shuttle.
Marion was acquired by shovel and dragline manufacturer Bucyrus in 1987. Bucyrus was acquired in 2011 by Caterpillar, whose rope shovels and drivelines still carry Marion design elements. Electric shovels and equipment are still used in mining for their lower emissions and operating costs.
For more coverage of vintage construction equipment from the 2025 HCEA show, check out:
- Watch Antique Tractors from Holt, Best, Caterpillar at HCEA Show 2025
- Rare Survivor! – 1930 Cat Thirty with All-Original Parts Still Going Strong
- “The Scoopmobile!” — Dr. Seuss-Like Wheel Loader an Odd, Rare Sight (Video)
- Watch the Only 1913 Bullock “Creeping Grip” Tractor with Rare Heer Engine
- Collector Rescues, Restores 1918 Holt 5-Ton Artillery Tractor Built for WWI
