Excavators: Equipment Every Construction Business Needs

Excavators are essential tools on any job site where heavy loads of soil must be lifted. Known for their bucket, arm, rotating cab, and movable tracks, excavators are popular earthmoving equipment.

The components of this heavy equipment allow it to perform a wide range of functions, including digging trenches and breaking holes, lifting waste, and mine extraction and so much more.

What is the purpose of excavators?

Contractors and industries use excavators for various purposes, including mining, constructing roads, and building and demolishing buildings.

Large excavators are made to handle heavy-duty tasks, while smaller machines perform digging and drilling functions. Consequently, you should consider both the size and speed of the excavator you’re renting and the job site conditions, such as space and soil.

Types of excavators

1. Crawler Excavators

Features: A tank-like chassis and tracked undercarriage are the major features of this machine.

Unlike other large excavators, Crawler excavators are equipped with two large endless tracks that enable them to operate at a higher speed and are ideal for mining and heavy-duty construction jobs. These machines use hydraulic mechanisms to lift heavy soil and debris.

Due to their chain wheel system, they can slide down and scale hills with less risk, making them useful for uneven landscaping terrain, and grading hilly areas.

Generally, crawler excavators are more flexible and stable and provide greater balance than other excavators.

Pros: Offers greater stability and balance on uneven terrain

Cons: Cross-site travel is more time-consuming than other excavators

2. Wheeled Excavators

Features: Stabilizing outriggers and wheels; suitable for excavation projects and road construction.

Unlike crawler excavators, wheeled excavators run on wheels rather than tracks. With wheels instead of tracks, they can be moved more quickly and easily on concrete, asphalt, and other flat surfaces, while still providing the same power.

The most common use is in roadwork and urban projects. Operators can add outriggers to increase stability if the transition is from asphalt or concrete to an uneven surface.

Pros: Easily moves over flat surfaces and is fast

Cons: Does not perform as well on uneven terrain

3. Dragline Excavators

Features: dragline system with unique hoist rope. Dragline excavators are used for underwater excavations, road excavations and pile driving

This excavator is much larger and operates using a different process. The equipment uses a hoist rope system connected to a bucket with a hoist coupler.

In addition, one side of the bucket attaches to a dragline that runs from the bucket to the cab. Hoist ropes lift lower buckets while draglines pull buckets toward the driver.

Because draglines are heavy, they are often built on site. Large, civil engineering projects, such as canal dreading often employ this type of excavator’s unique system.

Pros: Dragline systems are ideal for underwater excavation and canal dredging

Cons: Its size and weight make it unsuitable for smaller jobs

4. Suction Excavators

Features: Its characteristics include a wheeled vehicle with high-pressure vacuum and water jets;

This product is useful for underground and delicate digging projects and debris cleanup.

Suction excavators, or vacuum excavators, employ a suction pipe capable of providing as much as 400 horsepower. After releasing a water jet, the excavator loosens the ground.

Using the pipe’s teeth along the edge, a vacuum is created, capable of transporting soil and debris up to 200 miles per hour.

There are several advantages of using a suction excavator. One of these is that it can significantly reduce the risk of damaging delicate underground objects by more than fifty percent.

Pros: Improved precision reduces damage to delicate jobs

Cons: For large-scale applications, narrow suction pipes are not practical

5. Long Reach Excavators

Features: Large extension arm that can extend from 40 to 100 feet. Used for industrial demolitions and heavy digging

These excavators are most useful in demolition projects, such as crumbling structural elements and breaking down walls over water. The arm can be fitted with an assortment of attachments for performing additional functions such as shearing, crushing, and cutting.

Pros: Especially useful for hard-to-reach areas and demolition jobs

Cons: Hard to manoeuvre in tight spaces

7. Mini Excavators

Features: A compact design with zero tail-swing; Used for delicate terrain and tight job sites

Mini excavators are becoming more popular as contractors look to minimize ground damage and fit through crowded, narrow spaces such as parking lots and indoor locations.

Pros: Can be used inside and fits in tight spaces

Cons: Limited to handling smaller loads

Parts and accessories for excavators

Engine, counterweight, boom, cab, arm, hydraulic cylinder and track frame enable excavators to perform numerous tasks. In addition to hydraulic cylinders, booms, components and attachments, a cab-like structure provides controls for the driver to control the excavator.

Various hydraulic attachments can be used with excavators for multiple purposes. Buckets, drills, breakers, clamps, and quick couplers are more popular attachments.

Excavators come in various types, but their core functions are similar. Almost any construction site requires them because of their lifting and digging abilities.

A great advantage of excavators is that they have reduced construction schedules dramatically while increasing worker efficiency to an unprecedented degree.

By taking advantage of the power and agility of today’s construction excavators, one can now accomplish what used to take months or years in a matter of weeks or days.

When you’re looking for an excavator for sale in BC, contact Great-West Equipment today. You can also call us at 1-855-919-3944 your trusted Volvo Construction Equipment dealer