Excavator Parts Arkansas - Excavators are important machines that are used in a variety of industries. These machines are capable of moving heavy dirt loads much faster in comparison to manual labor. This industrial equipment is used in many industries including road work, bridge building, landscaping, construction and architecture. Excavators go by many names including diggers, mechanical shovels, 360-degree excavators and tracked models are often called 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 type of heavy construction equipment that is comprised of specific parts. The stick or the dipper, cab, boom and bucket are located on top of the house which is a rotating platform. The house is situated on top of an undercarriage that has tracks or wheels. The steam shovels of yesterday have transformed into today’s excavators. 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 design offers less required physical effort for operating the controls. The three excavator pumps typically consist of a gear pump and two variable displacement piston pumps. These pumps are arranged in the excavator in a variety of formats depending on different manufacturer models.
The House and the Undercarriage
The two main aspects of the machine are made by the undercarriage and the house. 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. High-pressure oils are supplied to the tracks on the hydraulic motor via a pin axis found on the hydraulic swivel. This setup enables the machine to traverse 360 degrees freely.
The house is available in a variety of configurations and is attached to the main boom. The most common type of booms are the mono booms. This type features zero movement besides straight up and down. The knuckle boom enables the machine to move right and left in line. 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 arm creates the necessary 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. There are many attachments used for crushing, boring, cutting, lifting, ripping and more.
Prior to the ‘90s, all excavating equipment came with a conventional counterweight that was suspended off of the back of the machine. This was in place to add more lifting capacity and digging force. As one can imagine, this became cumbersome when working within confined spaces. The counterweight of modern machines today is designed to stay in the width of the tracks making it much safer and more user-friendly within confined spaces.
In excavators, there are two main kinds of control configuration to operate the bucket and the boom called the ISO and the SAE. These types of control configuration disperse the four top digging controls between two different x-y joysticks, enabling an experienced operator to have simultaneous control of all four functions. Some models have switches that enable the operator to choose which configuration they prefer.
Regular excavation and bucket jobs have been surpassed by hydraulic excavators. 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 often work beside loaders and bulldozers. Most of the compact-sized excavator models have wheels and a backfill or dozer blade. The horizontal dozer blade attaches to the machines’ undercarriage. It is commonly employed for leveling and pushing items into a hole.
8 Main Excavator Types
• Long Reach
• Backhoe
• Suction
• Steam Shovel
• Bucket Wheel
• Skid Steer
• Dragline
• Crawler
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 popular for digging around objects that might interfere with a regular backhoe.
Backhoe
One of the most well-known types of excavators is backhoes. Backhoes contain a large bucket that extends from a boom or an arm and a wheeled track base. 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 engineering enables attachments to reach over the cab instead of around the cab. 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 transferred 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. Also called compact excavators, these machines rely on hydraulic power components to lift heavy soil and debris. The machine can travel down hills thanks to the chain wheel configuration that makes these machines excellent for difficult and hilly terrain. Crawlers are slower in speed compared to other models but offer superior balance, flexibility and stability.
Long Reach Excavators
The long reach excavator showcases lengthier boom and arm components. They are ideal for hard-to-reach areas. This machine offers over one hundred feet of horizontal reach. These machines are often used for demolition in applications working over a body of water. Numerous attachments can be attached to the arm to complete jobs including shearing, crushing and cutting.
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. Materials are transferred onto a conveyor belt that makes up a portion of the machine. The belt carries the material into a bin that may be part of the model or separate.