Did you know that the world’s largest excavator within the mining industry weighs more than 5,500 tons? Not all of the best excavators are this large as there are many different types of excavators for a number of different jobs.
Things like crawler excavators are important for providing effective and efficient excavation within the construction industry while still allowing for great job site safety. In order to choose the best excavators for your next construction job or project, it is important that you know the options for the different excavators on the market today.
The good news is that you’ve come to the perfect place to learn more about the types of excavators as well as their uses. Continue reading this article to learn more.
Table of Contents
Crawler Excavators
One of the most common and popular types of excavators in use today is the crawler excavator. This type of excavator is popular within the mining industry as well as the construction industry. Landscapers also use them as a way to help with grading land and digging trenches.
One of the main reasons for their popularity is the treads that they move on. The treads allow them to remain stable and traverse rough terrain much easier than excavators that are on wheels. No matter how rough or uneven the terrain is, a crawler excavator will have no issues getting the job done.
The drawback to a crawler excavator is that it is slower than its wheeled counterpart. The tradeoff is that your crawler excavator has a much higher level of stability when compared to the wheeled excavator. If you’re working on a muddy or steep job site then you should purchase or rent a crawler excavator.
Wheeled Excavators
The next type of excavator on this list is the wheeled excavator. This excavator is essentially the same as the crawler excavator except that it trades the rotating treads for wheels. This type of excavator is designed and built to handle work on paved roads as well as surfaces that are hard and flat.
This means that the wheeled excavator is perfect for areas with concrete like residential neighborhood construction sites. The wheeled excavator can move quickly and easily along any areas that are concrete. The downside is that the wheels won’t provide good grip or stability if you need to take the wheeled excavator off-road or onto muddy terrain.
Long Reach Excavators
Long reach excavators are similar to crawler excavators in that they’re often on tracks rather than wheels. The big difference that you’ll see between the long reach excavator and the other types of excavators is that they have a much longer arm. This makes them perfect for use on job sites that have areas that are difficult to reach with a normal excavator.
This also provides additional job site safety since the long arm helps to reach difficult places in a safe way. The drawback to this is that the long arm makes it difficult to maneuver and operate if you’re working on a smaller job site. The arm on the long reach excavator has the ability to reach up to 100 feet away.
Hydraulic Shovels
Another common type of excavator in the mining industry is the hydraulic shovel. This excavator is designed to move large amounts of earth so it is well-suited for mining as well as digging. What sets this type of excavator apart is the large shovel that is mounted on the front and the powerful engine that moves it.
These two things combine to make the hydraulic shovel the perfect tool for digging and moving tons of dirt and rock from one place to another. While this means that it is perfect for mining, the downside is that it doesn’t have many other applications. The hydraulic shovel is often too large for use on other job sites.
Skid Steers
Skid steers are popular for people that want the DIY option for smaller construction and landscaping projects on their property. They are perfect for helping to clear dirt and debris from a job site thanks to their small size and maneuverability. A skid steer is a great tool to have on almost any job site since it is small enough to navigate even the most cramped work areas.
The downside to skid steers is that they operate on wheels rather than tracks. This makes them perfect for construction areas that have hard surfaces to work on like concrete or gravel. If the ground is muddy or sandy then a skid steer will run into trouble trying to operate effectively. Check out this site if you need takeuchi mini excavator parts for your skid steer.
Dragline Excavators
Another great excavator option when it comes to the mining industry is the dragline excavator. This type of excavator is designed for handling tasks like pile driving, surface mining, and even deep excavation. The dragline excavator has the ability to dig down more than 200 feet.
While it has the ability to dig much deeper than other types of excavators in this article, it is a specialized tool. The dragline excavator is large and has limited use. If you don’t need to handle excavations underwater or deep in the earth then you should consider other types of excavators.
Suction Excavators
Suction excavators are a tad rarer than the other options listed in this article. They’re another specialized type of excavator like digging jobs that are fragile as well as cleaning up debris around a job site. This type of excavator is popular for work in residential and urban areas because it lowers the possibility of damaging utilities underground.
These suction excavators are impressive with their ability to suck up debris and dirt at up to 200 miles per hour. The downside is that the hose of the suction excavator is too small to allow for large-scale cleanup. This means that it is best suited for smaller construction projects.
Now You Know the Types of Excavators Available Today
Knowing the types of excavators that you can choose from is valuable knowledge to have before you get started on your next construction job. There is a type of excavator that is right for almost any situation. Suction excavators are perfect for underground excavation while dragline excavators are perfect for underwater.
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