Dredging or excavating machine for marshes or canals

In a machine for dredging and cleaning out aquatic bodies such as ponds, marshes, canals, channels, and rivers and comprising a supporting structure with stabilizing feet, means for scraping and dredging said aquatic bodies, said scraping and dredging means mounted on said supporting structure for pivotal movement about a substantially vertical axis and a substantially horizontal axis, and an operating means on said supporting structure for driving and controlling said scraping and dredging means, the improvement wherein:

• said supporting structure comprises a central longitudinally extending fluid-tight substantially cylindrical body having a low coefficient of friction with the ground, a girder telescopically mounted adjacent one of said ends of said body and means for adjusting the extent of telescoping of said girder relative to said body, and a base which is beveled at opposite front and rear ends of said body, and wherein said feet are telescopic toward and away from said body;
• said scraping and dredging means comprises shovel means for excavating, said shovel means being mounted adjacent each of said body ends for pivoting through an angle of at least 180.degree. from one lateral side of said body to an opposite lateral side of said body about said substantially vertical axis, one of said shovel means being carried by side girder, each of said shovel means comprising first and second arms articulated together, said second arm mounted on said body for pivoting about said substantially vertical axis, a ground-engaging bucket articulated to said first arm, and fluid operated cylinder means for shifting said arms and bucket relative to each other and to said body, said shovel means and said telescopic feet being selectively operable for excavating, for displacing said machine along the ground longitudinally of said body, and for displacing said machine transversely of said body.