Here at SITECH, we are all about improving efficiency on the job site with our construction management software. With our construction technology, you can manage your workers, schedules, and machine usage to pinpoint areas of waste and focus on improving production. Please feel free to give us a call for more information on how our product can improve your construction company. In the meantime, enjoy this informational overview of excavators: an important addition to any construction site.
What is an excavator?
An excavator is a construction machine made up of a house, undercarriage, stick, boom, and bucket. The house holds the engine, and sits on top of the undercarriage that moves on tracks or wheels. Hydraulics power most modern day excavators, although there are cable operated versions of excavators as well.
Excavators have many different uses in construction, including digging trenches, holes, and foundations, handling materials, brush cutting, forestry mulching, grading/landscaping, open pit mining, river dredging, driving piles (with a pile driver), driving shafts, and snow removal. Other common names for excavators are “diggers”, “mechanical shovels”, “360-degree excavators”, and “JCBs” (a proprietary name). Sometimes tracked excavators are referred to as “trackhoes”, as an analogy to the backhoe.
Types of Excavators
Even though excavators are mainly just used for digging trenches, holes, and foundations, they also dredge rivers, help with forestry, lift heavy objects, handle materials, and assist in demolition. With so many uses, it is no wonder that there are many different kinds of excavators. We will go over five of them here.
Compact Excavators
The compact excavator is a wheeled machine that weighs at least 0.7 tons. Movement is handled by hydraulic fluid that is powered by hydraulic cylinders. The three main parts of a compact excavator are the under carriage, house, and work group. The house gets used for slewing, while the under carriage acts as a major support for both the work group and house. The work group (the “arm” doing the heavy lifting) consists of a boom, bucket, and arm.
Dragline Excavators
Used primarily for mining or engineering, dragline excavators come in two different types: lifting cranes and heavy duty on site machines. Lifting cranes are generally smaller, and are made to be assembled and disassembled easily. This makes them perfect for many civil engineering jobs, like road, port, and pond construction. The heavy duty on site machines are still made to be assembled, but it is a big job that generally has to be done “on site”, hence the name. These machines are mostly used to mine sand or tar.
Crawler Excavators
Chances are if you see an excavator, that it is a crawler. These excavators dominate the market, are big and bulky with lots of horsepower, and can work with extremely heavy loads. That is why they are so commonly found on construction sites, especially larger scale ones.
Long Reach Excavator
Long reach excavators are primarily used for destructive purposes. They are very similar to a crawler excavator, but with a much longer arm. This long arm allows for longer and more precise reach, so that the excavator can even reach up above buildings to strategically bring them down. You don’t want to be under a structure with one of these things around!
Suction Excavator
The suction excavator is also referred to as the vacuum excavator. As the name implies, this excavator uses suction to clear debris from certain areas. It has a nozzle with handles, which the operator uses to control the entire machine. The suction pipe is fitted with jagged teeth up its length, which act to break up earth and other debris as it is sucked up. An air lance water jet is also used before suction to loosen up the earth before suctioning it up. The primary use of suction excavators is to safely identify and remove unwanted underground elements.
There are many quality excavator manufacturers out there. You can never go wrong with Caterpillar, John Deere, or Komatsu, but other brands include Hitachi, CNH Global, Case CE, Bobcat, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Heavy INdustries, BEML Limited, and Samsung Group.
Hopefully you feel a little more informed about this powerful and useful machine. Excavators are just one of the many major facets of construction that you can streamline for efficiency with our construction management software. Construction technology is bringing more and more contractors to the forefront, as it allows them to mitigate mistakes, increase efficiency, and improve worker safety. If you think your construction company could benefit from our construction management technology, please do not hesitate to give us a call at your earliest convenience. One of our friendly and knowledgeable staff members will be happy to answer any questions that you may have.