Practical Construction Applications: Excavator Variations

The construction industry simply cannot do without excavators as they are integral to a wide variety of tasks within the scope of any given projects. These tasks include basic functions such as digging holes, pits and moving earth from on location to another or filling earth and flattening ground at project sites.

Apart from the basic functions mentioned above excavators nowadays are able to perform a wide variety of extended tasks that were traditionally dependent on specific equipment, human labour or hand-held tools such as drilling or boring holes, demolition of structures, crushing concrete, cutting steel, gripping and moving debris and so much more due to the rapid advancements of hydraulic related technologies.

Excavators are also manufactured in various sizes ranging from a mere 1 ton all the way up to hundreds of tons depending on the tasks that they are required to perform. Generally, they are classified into 3 basic categories which are mini excavators, standard excavators and large excavators.

 The Mini Excavator

Mini excavators generally weigh slightly below 1 ton all the way to about 8.5 tons. These machines are not just compact, but are also agile and able to perform tasks in exceedingly tight spaces such as urban areas, streets, residential areas and are most often used for home improvement projects. Among the more popular mini excavators brand include Komatsu and Kobelco mini excavators that are generally available for hire from heavy construction equipment support companies and rental companies such as Scoop Hire.

Available in tracked or wheeled versions and some even come with adjustable widths and rubber tracks, most of these machines support a standard backfill blade and independent boom swings. These excavator functions are driven by transfer force of hydraulic fluid. Just about every mechanical aspect of the machine is activated by hydraulic fluids that trigger hydraulic cylinders. Even the mobility mechanism elements such as slew and movement are via hydraulic motors. 

Most home improvement projects hire mini excavators for a wide variety of reasons that range from demolition to landscaping not to mention cost saving as a single mini excavator is capable of doing the work of a dozen men in a day.

The Standard Excavator

Standard excavators are in essence just like mini excavators except for the fact that they are bigger, more powerful and obviously more expensive. Standard excavators also range in size from 9 tons onward up to about 70 tons. These are the most common types of excavator rentals that are used for projects and it would be a rare thing to not be able to observe one at any given construction site.

The advancements in technology have taken these excavators to an entirely new level over the last decade or so as these machines are capable of an array of task like never before. They are integral to the activities of not just construction, but also forestry, dredging, road works, mining, land reclamation, dumpsites and more.

 Although typically the standard excavator comes with a boom arm and a bucket, however as mentioned earlier, the advancement in technology allows these machines to accommodate a wide range of tools through hydraulic couplers making them more versatile and more essential than ever before.

Large or Mega Excavators

These are the ‘big kahunas’, large or mega excavators weigh easily over 100 tons and are usually observed at mining sites or river dredging. Monster sized excavators are usually assembled on site and are stationary or have limited movement ability. These machines are critical to the mining industry more than any other industry and are less popular compared to mini and standard excavators due to their limitations due to their large sizes.