Excavators are an essential piece of equipment for most construction projects since they are used for material handling, landscaping, demolition, trenching, river dredging, and construction. They are often called diggers and used for many jobs as previously listed. The chassis of an excavator is made up of a boom, dipper, and bucket. These pieces connect to a cab that sits on a rotating house. Most excavator cabs can rotate 360 degrees for increased visibility. Excavators are available with either tracks or wheels depending on the manufacturer and the nature of the project.
Excavators are available in a variety of sizes and classes and can weigh up to 180,000 lbs. There are many other attachments for excavators that can take the place of the digging bucket to diversify the machine. By swapping out the bucket for an auger, drill, ripper, or rake, excavators can be used for many different jobs.
Which excavator is right for your job?
To choose the right excavator for your job you will need to assess what you need the equipment to do for you. You will need to know what size excavator you need, what attachments are necessary for your specific job, and the length of time you will need the equipment. Knowing this information will help you decide if you are going to rent the equipment or buy it outright.
Due to their versatility, but mostly used for earthmoving, excavators are very important in many different types of jobs. Usually, excavator sizes and classes are broken down into mini, medium, large, demolition, long-reach, wheeled, and track. This versatility makes the excavator one of the most seen pieces of equipment on construction sites.
Track vs. Wheeled Excavators
There are two main classifications of excavators. They are:
- Crawler or track excavator – This is the most common type and used for mining and digging trenches. They get their name from the way the travel the job site on tracks, which are better suited for rough and uneven terrain. Tracked excavators are better for soft, uneven land and hills. Wheeled excavators do have stability arms and the dozer attachment to provide stability while working but the track provides even weight distribution while driving. The tracked excavator has a lower center of gravity, making it better for work on hills or steep terrain. If the site is particularly rocky, tracks won’t be punctured by uneven stone, rocks, or raw materials in certain worksites.
- Wheeled excavator – A wheeled excavator is like a normal track excavator, but it is fitted with wheels instead of tracks. The wheels are better on finished roads and pavement compared to the metal track of a traditional excavator. For road, urban, or bridge work, wheeled excavators provide a transportation and road friendly alternative. They can drive themselves from site to site and are safe to operate on finished pavement without worrying about damage to asphalt or concrete. With universal attachments they are capable of the same kind of tasks as tracked excavators and provide the same level of lifting and digging power.
Next Steps
Which kind of excavator is right for your job? Whatever the job is, there are different types of excavators for different jobs. It is up to you to decide which type of equipment you will need to best perform the job you have. If you need to rent excavator, Partner Rentals has your back. And keep in mind that if your rental needs to be serviced, our mechanics can go to your jobsite, or it can be hauled back to the yard. If you need to book equipment for your next project, call 877-740-RENT (7368) today to book with Partner Rentals.
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