Excavators are heavy construction equipment consisting of a boom, arm, bucket, and cab on a rotating superstructure atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. These machines are used mainly for digging purposes as well as various lifting and carrying tasks in various applications.

Excavators are heavy construction equipment consisting of a boom, arm, bucket, and cab on a rotating superstructure atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. These machines are used mainly for digging purposes as well as various lifting and carrying tasks in various applications. Together with special tools such as hydraulic breakers, cutters, shears, grapples, couplers, etc. at the end of the various boom and arm configurations, excavators can complete a wider range of jobs. They vary in size depending on what you’re using them for and what you're aiming for, such as productivity, fuel efficiency, and multi-functional purposes. Each size has its own purpose, and some are highly specialized.

Types of excavator

1. Crawler excavators

Also known as general-purpose excavators, they have a bucket, boom, and arm to the front of the machine. This kind comes in a variety of sizes. It’s an all-around excavator which means it can be used to dig sites, demolish structures and surfaces, carry out trenching, and lift heavy objects.

2. Wheeled excavators

Wheeled excavators are general-purpose excavators. The main difference is that instead of running on tracks, they run on wheels. An advantage of a wheeled excavator is that it can be driven from one job site to another even on a road, while crawler excavators running on tracks are usually carried on a trailer for long-distance travel. This way is much more convenient, and it saves more time and cost for the company.

3. Short swing radius excavators

This is one more variation on a general-purpose excavator, with the same level of performance and usage but a short swing radius superstructure, which offers many benefits in urban and confined areas. Both crawler and wheeled types are available.

4. Long-reach excavators

Long reach excavators are the last general-purpose excavators in our series. These machines have an extended boom and arm which give a longer working range for tasks quite away from the machine that is hard to reach such as underwater digging, deep trenching, and the location of utility pipes at such a depth as to resist freezing temperatures.