The Excavator: Basics of a Heavy Industrial Machines
What is an excavator?
An excavator, which is also known as a 360-degree digger, is a civil engineering vehicle that is made-up of three parts; a backhoe, a cab mounted pivot, and a moveable undercarriage. The cab can pivot around in a full circle, giving it 360 degree rotation ability, while the undercarriage can be equipped with either tracks or wheels.
The wheeled varieties are known as bucket wheel excavators. These heavy industrial machines are commonly used in combination with both loaders and bulldozers in construction and other similar projects that require other earthmoving machines.
What are these machines used for?
The primary use of excavator machines for digging or excavating earth, hence their name. Specifically, they are used most often to dig trenches, holes, and foundations for demolition projects, as well as for heavy lifting, placing of pipes and other materials, and in mining applications.
They are essential in any heavy duty engineering or construction project, and you will rarely see such a project without these massive machines. The drivers who use these machines are usually highly trained and only the most experienced operators will move these machines.
Machine size and variety
There are many different types and styles of excavators and they range in size from small to larger models. The compact models can literally fit through a doorway, while the larger, crane sized machines that weigh over 180,000 lbs are suitable only for open areas. Like similar engineering machines, the bucket can be replaced with a host of other tools like an auger, grapple, or breaker.
Common specifications by which the models are compared include: dig depth, arm force, dump height, maximum height, and power rating. The smaller machines usually have a small backfill or blade on the black. Its primary purpose is to push and move material back into a hole. They can cost a large amount of money and thus you will only find one or two at any given work site, perhaps more if the models are the small ones.
Major excavator machine manufacturers
Since excavator's are an essential piece of machinery for any large engineering project, every major industrial machinery company has multiple models available.
These include Caterpillar Inc., Bobcat Company, Hitachi Construction Machinery, Ammann-Yanmar Excavators, Volvo Construction Equipment, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Case CE, Manitowoc Company, Mustang, Hyundai Heavy Industries, JCB, Hydrema, Daewoo, Liebherr, and last but not least, Komatsu.
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