What we usually tend to refer to as excavators can be actually called with a variety of different, alternative names. Sometimes they are called diggers, 360 excavators, if tracked – then trackhoes and in the UK people call them “Rubber Ducks”. In Japan, the alias has become more popular than the standard name, together with the arrival of the excavator model Yumbo S25. Japanese refer to their excavators as “Yumbo” even in classified ads, in spite of the fact that this is not the formal name there.
Excavators are included into the group of heavy equipment. They consist of a backhoe, bucket and a cab installed on a rotating platform. Excavators are used in many ways and for many purposes, including heavy lift, demolition, forestry work, general grading or landscaping, brush cutting with hydraulic attachments, material handling and digging of trenches, holes and foundations.
Excavators can substantially vary in sizes; while some of the largest models weigh about 187,360 lbs (84,980 kg) and their maximum bucket size ranges to 5.9 y³ (4.5 m³), the smallest ones, so-called mini excavators can have no problem at all with going through a doorway, with tracks that can be adjusted to only 28 inches (70 cm ) wide.
The Attachments
The excavators are available with numerous attachments. For example, Caterpillar excavators and some other machines manufactured by leading brands are sold with hydraulic powered attachments such as grapples, augers or breakers. Also, many excavators are equipped with simplified attachment mounting, which increases the machine’s utilization on the jobsite. The excavators are usually employed with loaders or bulldozers and the vast majority of wheeled excavators have small dozer-blades. Those are horizontal, bulldozer-like blades, attached to the undercarriage and used for pushing removed material back to the trench or hole.
Top Brands
Caterpillar excavators seem to be renowned on the market for being dependable and effective, but there are also other reputable manufacturers who produce top quality equipment including Case, New Holland, Hitachi, Bobcat and Volvo among others.
