From home building to constructing commercial, industrial, and civil structures, excavation operations are essential for construction projects of almost any magnitude. One of the popular types of equipment used for excavation works on construction sites is excavators.
Excavators are powerful machines that can be used to excavate and move soil and debris. They can also be used to load heavy material onto large construction trucks. If you're considering hiring an excavator for your next construction job, you should explore your options so you can choose the best machine for the job.
Check out these 3 common excavator types used in construction today.
Standard Excavators
Standard excavators are the most common excavator type used on construction sites. They have a boom, stick and bucket all attached to the front section of the machines. Extension and retraction of these machines are hydraulically operated.
The boom arm extends with the bucket facing the ground to dig and scoop soil or other debris. The loaded bucket then retracts toward the machine to lift and load the materials onto a construction truck or dump it at a separate location set aside for collecting construction waste on-site.
Standard excavators are sometimes referred to as crawler excavators because they run on two parallel tracks just like a military tank. Tracked models provide better traction than other types of excavators, thus delivering an increased level of stability, safety and efficiency on the job. These excavators are well-suited for use on sloped terrain, as well as landscapes with soft terrain.
Crawler excavators come in a variety of sizes so you can find a suitable machine for your needs. This quality makes them a versatile option for construction applications. Depending on the demands of your job, you can choose from mini, midi and full-size excavators.
Wheeled Excavators
Crawler excavators aren't the right fit for every construction job. In cases where work is to be done on construction sites with hard surfaces, such as concrete and asphalt, tracked machines can ruin the surfaces.
This is where wheeled excavators come in — they can handle the same tasks as tracked excavators without causing costly damage to the surfaces.
Compact Excavators
Sometimes, construction workers need to use a machine that can deliver the performance of a larger excavator but in confined spaces where the manoeuvrability of a standard machine is limited.
Don't let the compact size of compact excavators fool you — these excavators typically weigh less than standard excavators but can deliver a comparable work performance.
The above information is only intended to serve as a general guide for machine selection during excavator hire. Contact the experts at excavator hire companies to discuss your construction needs and get assistance with choosing the best machine for your job.