What you need to know about the different types of excavators and their functions

  • Editorial Team
  • Excavators
  • 19 September 2019

Excavators are one of the most essential heavy equipment types of machinery used in most of the construction sites. They are useful in an array of activities such as hauling, breaking ground, lifting heavy materials, digging trenches, and much more. With such a wide variety of functions, it is only logical to have different work tools and attachments on excavators that can help you in achieving your goal. While the most standard work tool attachment on the excavator is the bucket, others include hammers, augers, thumbs, and couplers among others.

Further, with the different types of activities they perform, excavators not only come in different forms but different sizes as well. For example, the mini excavators that are lightweight and much smaller may perform lighter duties as they can quickly lift and transport materials in construction sites. Besides, the advanced technology on the hydraulic systems has seen some of the smaller excavators outmatch the larger pieces of equipment. It is, therefore, important to know the capabilities of the different types of excavators if intending to acquire one of the heavy equipment for sale.

Below are some of the different types of excavators and their uses:

Wheeled excavators

The wheeled excavators run on wheels where they are useful when excavating and loading materials. They are best suited for ground operations and may not be suitable for sloped or hilly landscape due to the low grip of wheels on the ground.

Crawler excavators

Also known as compact excavators, crawler excavating types of equipment are heavy-duty machinery that is mainly used for mining. They contain high horsepower that helps in lifting heavy materials and debris where this is achieved by the use of hydraulic power systems. The crawler excavators are best suited for landscaping and grading of sloppy areas.

Standard excavators

A standard excavator consists of a stick, boom, and a bucket that is attached to its front. The heavy equipment machinery can rotate up to 360 degrees, a factor that can allow it to move soil or other debris while remaining stationary. It has two parallel tracks that provide low ground pressure, hence suited for sloppy or hilly terrain. The machinery is available in different sizes where it is mainly useful in landscaping, forestry, construction, farming, and mining among other industries.

Backhoe excavators

The backhoe excavator is mainly used in landscaping, mining, and construction sites. Though it can rotate only to a maximum of 200 degrees, it is often confused with the standard excavator. This is because its work tool attachment is designed at the backside of the excavator and it can perform other functions apart from excavation. The additional functions include moving large volumes of materials and levelling the soil.

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