Excavator Parts in Texas - Excavators are instrumental for completing building projects on time and on budget. These machines are capable of moving heavy dirt loads much faster in comparison to manual labor. Besides being utilized in construction, this equipment is popular in a variety of industries including bridge and road work, agriculture and landscaping. 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 dipper, boom, cab and bucket are situated on top of a rotating platform called the house. The house is situated on top of an undercarriage that has tracks or wheels. Excavators have evolved from steam shovels of yesteryear. The hydraulic excavating models rely on hydraulic fluid to finish all movement and functions. The linear actuation on the hydraulic cylinders makes them differ from cable-operated excavators that rely on winches or steel ropes.
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.
Modern hydraulic excavators rely on engine power to operate three hydraulic pumps as opposed to mechanical drivetrain operations. Two of the pumps supply high-pressure oil for the track motors, swing motor, arms and accessories. 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 final drives with a hydraulic motor and subsequent gears to individual tracks the blade, track frame and tracks are considered undercarriage components. The house consists of the operator cab, the counterweight, hydraulic oil tanks, fuel and the engine. A center pin connects the undercarriage to the house. A hydraulic swivel located at the pin axis supplies high-pressure oils to the hydraulic motors’ tracks. This setup enables the machine to traverse 360 degrees freely.
The house is attached to the main boom and various configurations are available. Mono booms are among the most common. This kind of boom offers zero movement other than up and down motions 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.
A dipper arm is attached to the end of the boom. 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 describes a large, wide capacity bucket that has a straight cutting edge used for leveling and cleanup or wherever teeth are not needed. 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 many different buckets of varying sizes for different applications. There are many attachments used for crushing, boring, cutting, lifting, ripping and more.
Before the 1990s, the excavating machines were outfitted with a conventional counterweight that was located at the back of the equipment. This design enabled the machine to conquer more digging force and lifting capacity. This design was not ideal for working in confined locations. Today’s machines have been designed with the counterweight to stay in the width of the tracks for a much more user-friendly design.
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.
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. There are models that offer a quick coupler feature to simplify attachment mounting and increase efficiency. Excavators often work beside loaders and bulldozers. The majority of medium and compact sized wheeled models have a dozer blade or a backfill 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 relied on steam energy while today’s models use electric or diesel motors. Steam shovels are similar to backhoes with the bucket or shovel facing away from the machine instead of facing it. This design allows the operator to push dirt away from the unit instead of pulling the 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 cable and booms let users work over wet or unstable ground and in difficult locations unattainable by regular models.
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. This design makes skid steers useful for negotiating tight turns and narrow locations. They are commonly employed for residential projects like site cleaning, digging pools and removing debris within limited space.
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. 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
These machines consist of a large front wheel that has built-in buckets and shovels. As the wheel rotates, rocks and dirt are scooped up in the buckets. The material is transferred to a conveyor belt that is part of the machine. The belt carries the material into a bin that may be part of the model or separate.