With over a dozen types of excavators, how do you know which one you need? Without the right machine, you’re inviting delays, cost overruns, or dangerous situation. This guide will explain the different types of excavators, their pros and cons, and how to choose the best one for your needs.
Excavators are essential for various construction tasks, but selecting the right one is critical to ensure project efficiency and safety. In this guide, we explore the different types of excavators, including crawler excavators, wheeled excavators, mini excavators, long reach excavators, and more. By understanding their unique features and applications, you can confidently choose the right equipment to tackle any job—whether it's for large-scale construction, urban projects, or tight residential spaces.
Now that we’ve established why it’s so important for you to choose the right excavator, let’s dig into the specifics of each type.
What Are the Different Types of Excavators?
Excavators are categorized based on things like design, function, or the job it does. Here are the main types to know about:
· Crawler Excavators
· Wheeled Excavators
· Mini Excavators
· Long Reach Excavators
· Hydraulic Excavators
Each of these types has a unique role to play in construction and come with different benefits based on their design and features. Understanding these different types will help you pick the right machine for what you need to do.
What Is a Crawler Excavator?
Operators can angle the tracks and pivot more effectively in a crawler excavator than they can with a wheeled digger. This versatility makes a track-mounted machine popular among all types of equipment operators.
In addition to the tracks, the undercarriage of most crawler excavators features some form of frame. The frame contains the drive mechanism that turns the front idler wheels and the rear drive sprockets. “Track” weldments get fixed to this frame to hold the track links and track pads in place. Finally, the frame contains the roller mounting points. Rollers, which are the wheels in between the front idler wheels and the rear sprocket.
Crawler excavators: These are large machines on tracks that you use where you need to move a lot of material or lift heavy stuff. The stability of the machine is amazing. The machine’s track spreads out the weight, so it doesn’t care if it lifts thousands of pounds or digs a 20-foot trench 10 feet deep. It’s there as a beast of burden for the things you have to do
that take a lot of power and accuracy.
Advantages:
Stability:
The tracks give the machine a stable working platform, especially when you hoist up heavy things or dig really deep trenches.
Tractability:
It moves over rough terrain, moves well on soft ground, and provides excellent service in a muddy or wet environment.
Heavy-duty capacity:
This is where you go to work on big jobs like big construction sites, mining, and tearing stuff apart to make room for something new.
What Is a Wheeled Excavator?
Wheeled Excavator: This excavator uses rubber tires similar to the wheels on a car or truck so that it operates better on hard, solid pavement than the tracked excavators. Wheeled excavators offer speed and access typically needed in an
urban situation or when moving frequently between various jobs on a larger construction site. Design and Features
More like a pickup truck: Its tires look like the rubber ones on a pickup, which gives you a smoother ride and better speed on hard, flat surfaces, compared to the rough tracks of the track crawler excavator.
Urban sites: They use it for those jobs mentioned before where you need that speed and you’re in town.
Roadwork: Perfect for road work applications when you need to move machine to machine and don’t want to move them in a low boy or drive them on the street because you can technically drive these on the street.
Infrastructure work: This machine does really good in the field kinds of things, like utilities where you’re working within a community.
Advantages
Speed and mobility: They go really fast and move easily from job to job, which is good if you have to move it to a bunch of different places all the time.
Efficiency on pavement: With four wheels on the ground instead of two, a wheeled excavator moves smother and faster on flat, hard asphalt, concrete, or dirt surfaces than a tracked excavator. Lower maintenance: Wheeled excavators typically require less overall maintenance because there are fewer wear parts in the drive system.
What Are Mini Excavators Used For?
Mini Excavators: These little guys are great for getting in the backyard and they work great for digging out your basement or doing utility work. These are also called compact excavators.
Considerations
When considering a mini excavator, remember to take into account the ground pressure. Because of their smaller size, mini excavators can create more ground pressure, which can cause rutting and other damage, particularly in wet or soft soils. Be sure to consider the make and model of the mini excavator since some are designed with a lighter footprint than others.
Safety Notes
When operating a mini excavator, spend time becoming acquainted with the machine. Learn how to handle a small excavator before you are tasked with performing under pressure. If the machine is equipped with a blade, learn how to use it to stabilize the machine; air conditions for trenching; and track conditions for steep slopes. Never assume you can operate an excavator if you`ve only operated larger machines such as a backhoe. Always read and follow the manufacturer's safety procedures in any mini excavator manual.
Advantages
Compact size: Mini excavators can access areas where larger machines cannot, such as narrow passageways, small backyards, or inside buildings.
Portability: Their small size makes them easy to transport between job sites.
Versatility: Mini excavators can be fitted with a variety of attachments, including buckets, augers, and breakers, making them adaptable to various tasks.
Considerations
Ground pressure: Due to their lower weight, mini excavators can exert more pounds per square inch on the ground than larger models. This increased ground pressure can create ruts and compaction that are difficult to fix in wet or spongy soils. Look at the make and model as some are designed to leave less of a footprint than others.
Safety Notes
Book Time: Know how to run a small excavator before someone expects you to perform under pressure. If the machine has a blade, know how to use it to stabilize the machine in trenching air conditions and track conditions for steep slopes. Just because you can run a backhoe doesn't mean you can operate an excavator. The safety is there, but it's a different beast than other equipment. Read and follow the manufacturer's safety procedures for any mini excavator in the manual.
What Is a Long Reach Excavator?
Extended reach and depth: A Long Reach Excavator can access areas beyond the reach of a standard excavator, such as the deep bottom of a pond. Versatility: Typically, these machines can also use standard buckets, and some can use standard quick-attach couplers.
Extended reach and depth: A Long Reach Excavator can reach places a standard excavator cannot, such as the bottom of a deep pond. Versatility: Typically, these machines can use a standard bucket and, in some cases, a standard quick-attach coupler. Considerations
Use: These machines aren’t meant for everyday digging; they are for the one job, like cleaning out a pond or dredging a ditch. Safety Notes
Book Time: Before taking a long reach machine right to the bank, understand the stability of the machine. Understand its limitations and how close to the bank you can get. Note the pin height and how they scale when the machine is extended. Restrictions when digging or dragging something off the bank, or bringing it back up the bank (to avoid rolling the machine). Operate the machine per the user manual for that piece of equipment.
Advantages
Extended reach: Long reach excavators can access areas that are otherwise inaccessible with standard machines, making them ideal for specialized tasks.
Increased versatility: The extended arm and boom allow operators to perform a wider range of tasks, from dredging to demolition.
Improved productivity: These machines help complete tasks more efficiently, as they can work from a distance, reducing the need for repositioning.
What Is a Hydraulic Excavator?
Hydraulic Excavators use hydraulic systems for lifting and digging operations, providing greater force, precision, and control compared to other types of excavators. These machines are the most common type of excavators and are used for a wide range of tasks.
A hydraulic excavator is a versatile machine typically utilized in construction and demolition applications. These machines use hydraulics for precise, powerful movements required during a variety of tasks. Excavators are commonly used to dig, move or place rocks, and handle demolition materials. The machine’s ability to compensate and “tweak” small maneuvers is one of its most-desirable features. Additionally, once the actuating lever is in a desired position, the operator can let it go, freeing him or her to operate another machine.
Advantages
· Precision: The hydraulic system allows for precise control of movements, making hydraulic excavators ideal for complex tasks.
· Powerful performance: Hydraulic excavators can lift heavy loads and dig deeper than machines without hydraulic systems.
· Versatility: Hydraulic systems enable these machines to perform a wide range of tasks, from digging to lifting and demolition.
What Are the Main Advantages of Crawler Excavators?
For example, the crawler design naturally provides more stability on slopes and when the operator swings the equipment, making it more stable during certain applications or in adverse conditions. Optional rubber tracks allow the machine to be used in various applications, such as in a building, where it may have to work on a finished floor. Use them in landscape applications where you don’t want a tracked machine to damage the yard or other lawn irrigation systems. Generally, an excavator with tracks makes for a better, all-around machine providing superior stability and traction.
Advantages
Stability: The tracks give you a solid base to lift heavy materials and dig deep trenches.
Versatility: A crawler can work in soft, wet mud, but you can use it in rocky and very uneven sites too.
Heavy-duty: These machines can take the heavy, hard working demands of large-scale excavating and mining operations.
What Are the Key Benefits of Wheeled Excavators?
Wheeled excavators are ideal for jobs that require moving between several locations or working in situations where they need to travel at speeds not typically associated with heavy crawler equipment.
Advantages
Faster travel: A wheeled excavator will get you there faster making it ideal when you have to move from site to site to site making it helpful to have a fast moving excavator. Less Damage: They won’t tear up a street or parking lot or other sensitive area like a rubber tracked excavator can.
Operational Costs: They don’t use the same fuel or cost the same amount to maintain.
When to Use a Long Reach Excavator?
Long reach excavators are ideal for jobs where you need to reach out a long way and dig deep. You’ll see these machines used for dredging, demolition, and deep trenching, as well as working in areas where access is tough.
Advantages
Extended reach: Long reach excavators can access areas that other machines cannot, making them essential for specific tasks. Improved efficiency: With their long reach, these machines reduce the need for repositioning, making the job more efficient.
Conclusion
Choosing the right type depends on the work you’re doing and the problems you’re trying to solve. Whether you’re working on a large construction site, a residential project, or you have a specialty need like dredging or demolition, knowing about the different types of excavators and their capabilities is critical. Think about the type of work you’re doing, the terrain, how far you need to reach, how far you need to move, and how big your site is. Then use the information in this guide to help you make the best decision. If you make the right choice, you can make more money, spend less money and have a more successful project.
