The backhoe hydraulic shovels (backhoes) have been widely used in open-pit mining operations in the Kuznetsk coal basin since the early 2000s. Now their number is growing every year, both because new operations begin on new sites, and because of the backhoe advantages. However, up to now parameters of their operation, more particularly the parameters of the face blocks, are often taken according to the actual data, i.e. based on the accumulated experience of the mining companies, and are not calculated using the approved scientifically validated methods. In the given article the authors give some preconditions for creation of a uniform methodology to calculate parameters of the face blocks depending on mining-geological and miningtechnical conditions. It is noted that the manufacturers of excavation equipment quote the data corresponding to the maximum possible parameters of the equipment operation, in particular the height of the excavated layer, as a result of which it is rather difficult to apply this in practice. Preliminary conclusions about the need to take into account the diversity of the above conditions and their interrelation with the parameters of a particular model of the excavation and loading equipment have been made.