Excavator Parts in Wisconsin - Excavators are instrumental for completing building projects on time and on budget. They are extremely efficient in moving and transporting heavy loads within minutes. These machines are used in landscaping, agricultural applications, road work and bridge work along with the construction industry. Also called diggers, 360-degree excavators and mechanical shovels, tracked models are sometimes referred to as trackhoes. Excavators can be equipped with numerous attachments to facilitate a range of jobs including grading and landscaping, demolition with a cutter, breaker and hydraulic saw attachments, material handling, river dredging, forestry, construction, open-pit mining, regular mining, driving piles when working with a pile driver, digging holes, foundations and trenches, snow removal with snowplow and snowblower attachments, drilling for rock blasting and footings with hydraulic auger attachment or drill, mulching for forestry and more.
An excavator is a popular kind of heavy construction equipment made up of particular parts. The dipper, boom, cab and bucket are situated on top of a rotating platform called the house. The house is located on top of an undercarriage that features either wheels or tracks. Excavators have evolved from steam shovels of yesteryear. Today’s hydraulic excavating models use hydraulic fluid to complete all functions and movement. The hydraulic cylinders feature linear actuation making them different from excavators that are cable-operated, relying on steel ropes and winches instead.
Excavator Models
Hydraulic excavators come in a variety of different models and sizes. Compact and tiny models weigh in around two thousand pounds. The largest models conversely fall into the two million pound category.
Three hydraulic pumps are utilized by modern hydraulic models instead of relying on mechanical drivetrain configurations. Two pumps deliver high-pressure oil for the accessories, swing motor, track motors and arms. A low-pressure third pump delivers power to pilot the spool valves. This setup enables less physical effort required for the operating controls. The three excavator pumps typically consist of a gear pump and two variable displacement piston pumps. These three pumps can be found in the excavator in numerous configurations depending on different manufacturer models.
The House and the Undercarriage
The house and the undercarriage make up the two main portions of the machine. The undercarriage is comprised of the tracks, track frame, the gears and the hydraulic motor that operates the blade tracks. The house consists of the operator cab, the counterweight, hydraulic oil tanks, fuel and the engine. The house and the undercarriage are connected via a pin. A hydraulic swivel located at the pin axis supplies high-pressure oils to the hydraulic motors’ tracks. This design allows the excavator to move freely in 360 degrees.
The house is available in a variety of configurations and is attached to the main boom. Mono booms are among the most common. This type features zero movement besides straight up and down. A knuckle boom is another option which allows it to move right and left in line with the machine. Typically an option on compact excavators, the booms’ base has a hinge option that enables it to pivot one-hundred and eighty degrees independently to the house. Triple articulated booms are also on the market.
At the end of the boom, the stick or dipper arm is located. This apparatus provides the required digging force to drag the bucket through the ground. The length of the stick is optional depending on whether breakout power or reach is necessary. Longer stick models are utilized for reach applications, while shorter sticks are used for breakout power situations. At the end of the stick, the bucket is attached. A mud bucket refers to a wide bucket that has a straight cutting edge for cleanup applications and leveling and where teeth are not required. General-purpose bucket designs commonly are used to break up hard ground and difficult rocks, with their side cutters and hardened teeth that are typically smaller and stronger. There are different buckets available in numerous sizes for a variety of applications. Numerous attachments can be used for ripping, lifting, cutting, boring, crushing, and more.
Before the 1990s, the excavating machines were outfitted with a conventional counterweight that was located at the back of the equipment. This was in place to add more lifting capacity and digging force. As one can imagine, this became cumbersome when working within confined spaces. Today’s machines have been designed with the counterweight to stay in the width of the tracks for a much more user-friendly design.
The SAE and the ISO are the two types of control configuration used to operate the boom and the bucket. This configuration disperses the top four digging controls between two separate y-x joysticks, providing the operator with simultaneous control over all four movements. Certain excavators have switches to allow the operator to decide on which configuration they want to use during operation.
Hydraulic excavator jobs have surpassed bucket and excavation tasks. Many attachments including an auger, a grapple or a breaker have become common hydraulic powered attachments. Some models come with a quick coupler feature to increase efficiency while simplifying the attachment mounting process. Excavators commonly work alongside bulldozers and loaders. The majority of medium and compact sized wheeled models have a dozer blade or a backfill blade. This horizontal blade attaches to the undercarriage. It is used for pushing and leveling material back into a hole.
8 Main Excavator Types
There are eight main kinds of excavators including the dragline, long reach, crawler, bucket wheel, backhoe, steam shovel, skid steer and suction.
Steam Shovel
Steam shovels are one of the original types of excavators. They utilized steam energy back in the day, while current models rely on diesel or electric motors. Steam shovels resemble backhoes with the shovel or bucket facing away from the machine as opposed to towards the unit. This enables the operator to shove dirt away from the machine instead of pulling earth towards it. Steam shovels are used for digging around objects that may interfere with a typical backhoe.
Backhoe
One of the most well-known types of excavators is backhoes. This equipment consists of a wheeled track base and large bucket that extends from an arm or boom above the ground. The operator can scoop earth toward the machine as the design has the bucket facing the operator’s cab. There are many kinds of excavators and sizes including heavy-duty applications such as dredging water and bridge construction to compact residential models ideal for backyard landscaping. The more compact units are ideal for accessing smaller spaces and this offers a 200-degree swiveling range for digging close to the machine.
Dragline Excavator
A dragline excavator resembles a backhoe and includes various cables and lines to facilitate the bucket pulling motion. The dragline allows operators to reach farther and dig deeper in comparison to a regular backhoe. The boom and cables allow users to work over unstable or wet ground and where a traditional backhoe would not work.
Skid Steer Excavators
Skid steers are designed with their booms and buckets facing away from the operator. This design allows attachments to reach over the cab as opposed to around it. Skid steers are excellent in narrow areas and can easily negotiate tight turns thanks to this specific design. These machines often complete residential jobs such a digging pools, site cleaning and working in limited surroundings while removing debris.
Suction Excavator
The suction excavator looks similar to a dump truck and relies on vacuum technology and a large hose to suck earth and rocks out of the ground. The material is moved back to the truck. The suction excavator ensures a safer environment for digging around equipment and underground pipes compared to typical backhoes.
Crawler Excavators
Crawlers run on two tracks and not wheels. They are popular in the mining and construction industries. Crawlers are also known as compact excavators. They lift heavy debris and soil by using hydraulic power components. The chain wheel configuration allows the machine to traverse down hills with less risk, making them an ideal candidate for hilly locations and tricky terrain. Crawlers are slower in speed compared to other models but offer superior balance, flexibility and stability.
Long Reach Excavators
The long reach model features longer arm and boom options. Long reach excavators are excellent for hard-to-reach locations. This machine offers over one hundred feet of horizontal reach. These excavators are used in demolition applications and working over a body of water. Various attachments can be fixed to the arm to complete jobs such as cutting, crushing and shearing.
Bucket Wheel Excavator
Bucket-wheel excavators have a sizeable front wheel that has built-in shovels and buckets. Items such as dirt and rocks become scooped up in the bucket as the wheel rotates. Items are transferred onto a conveyor belt that functions as an important part of the machine. The belt transports the material into a bin that depending on the model, could be a part of the machine or separate.