Categories: Business

5 Reasons Why You Should Have An Excavator At Your Construction Site

Excavators are heavy vehicles identified by the presence of an arm, moveable tracks and a bucket. Owing to their mobility, versatility and powerful load capacities, excavators have become an integral part of housing projects and other construction-related tasks.

With the appropriate attachments, excavators can do anything from demolishing buildings to digging trenches. Here are the 5 crucial functions excavators can perform at construction sites.

IMAGE: UNSPLASH

1. Demolition

Excavators make demolition tasks easier and quicker. Demolition remains one of the most challenging and hazardous processes in the construction industry. That’s why it is extremely important to perform it with appropriate and safe equipment.

Being a highly versatile machine with different attachments and good maneuverability, an excavator helps navigate job sites with the harshest of terrain and break down tough materials like concrete and stone.

Apart from helping tear down buildings, excavators are utilized for leveling the soil and carrying off debris. Long-reach excavators are widely used in demolition projects, especially for tasks that require extra precision.

2. Digging

The bucket attachments for excavators have sharp teeth-like edges which enable easy digging and scooping of the earth. Heavy-duty buckets are used with excavators to maximize digging efficiency. Tilt buckets have sharp edges which help the bucket go deeper into the soil along with better control while digging.

You can dig anything from trenches and holes to foundations for buildings since excavators are available in capacities and powers.

Some of the common types of excavators used for digging include,

Crawler Excavators – Crawler excavators are standard excavators which use hydraulic power to excavate rough and muddy surfaces.
Hydraulic Shovels – They have a fairly large bucket capacity which is useful for heavy digging projects.

At truck1.eu you can find all kinds of excavators including ones from top-tier excavator brands like Komatsu. If you don’t have the budget for a brand new one, you can consider getting one of these used Komatsu excavators.

3. Underground Excavation

Underground excavation plays an important role in the construction of underground tunnels, shafts and other structures. Underground excavation methods include jacked box tunneling, soft ground tunneling and cut and cover tunneling.

Since these methods also require lifting heavy loads of soil, excavators with proper attachments are essential pieces of heavy equipment. Augers and buckets are usually used with excavators to execute underground excavations.

The former is a drilling machine that has a hydraulic motor. An auger attachment enables drilling into the ground which is suitable for landscaping and boring.

4. Lifting

Excavators are capable of lifting very heavy loads which is an important part of construction operations. The hydraulic motor in an excavator controls its arm and is used to perform heavy lifting operations.

Different excavators have different lift capacities. Choose an excavator with a higher lift capacity if heavier loads are involved. Each excavator comes with a lift chart that specifies the maximum lifting capacity based on combinations like arm length, bucket size, boom length and counterweight size.

Follow the lift chart properly to avoid losing control of the load. Using excavators for heavy lifting jobs saves money, time and labor but it should be done with care.

5. Land Clearing

Before building structures or amenities like roads or parks, the land must be cleared and leveled. Excavators are necessary when it comes to clearing a large volume of land which involves moving and lifting heavy debris and other materials.

The excavator attachments you need for land clearing will depend upon the size of the land, the type of terrain and the amount of debris to be removed.

Conclusion

Research well before getting an excavator and finalize the type of excavator you will need for your construction project. A used excavator that’s in good condition can serve well for your purpose too. Always take appropriate safety precautions while operating excavators and follow the specified instructions.