A side excavating machine comprising a rotatably driven cylindrical drum adapted to advance generally endwise along a pre- existing working face, but angled so that trailing portions of the drum project beneath the plane of the pre-existing face. The drum has a distribution of rock cutting rollers on its cylindrical surface which are freely rotatable about rolling axes which are fixed in a predetermined relation to the axis of the drum, defining a small forward skew angle. The cylindrical drum is rotatably mounted by bearings on a frame which advances along the working face, with the drum axis lying at a small acute angle to the direction of advance so that trailing portions of the drum excavate rock as the frame advances along the face. The major component of rock-cutting forces thereby applied to the drum is normal to the direction of advance of the frame, and there are means to provide side reaction force to the frame corresponding to this major component of rock-cutting forces. The fixed axis skewed rollers in rolling action upon the rock are adapted to generate a force assisting in the forward advance of the cutting rollers. Embodiments shown include a single such rotatable drum with the frame provided with a tractive device, and a pair of such drums mounted at opposite tilted angles. A bed mechanism which retains cuttings also provides the reactive forces in another embodiment.
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