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Excavator Parts New Hampshire - Excavators are instrumental for completing building projects on time and on budget. They are extremely efficient in moving and transporting heavy loads within minutes. This industrial equipment is used in many industries including road work, bridge building, landscaping, construction and architecture. Also called diggers, 360-degree excavators and mechanical shovels, tracked models are sometimes referred to as trackhoes. There are many ways to utilize excavators and their associated attachments including: • Material handling • Construction • Forestry • Digging foundations, holes and trenches • River dredging • Mulching for forestry • Brush cutting with a mower and hydraulic saw attachments • Open pit and regular mining • Snow removal with a snow blower and snowplow attachments • Working with a pile driver for driving piles • Landscaping and grading • Drilling for rock blasting and footings with hydraulic drill or auger attachment • Demolition with breaker, cutter and hydraulic claw attachments 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 situated on top of an undercarriage that has tracks or wheels. 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. Modern hydraulic excavators rely on engine power to operate three hydraulic pumps as opposed to mechanical drivetrain operations. Two pumps deliver high-pressure oil for the accessories, swing motor, track motors and arms. The third low-pressure pump supplies power for pilot control of 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 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. Mono booms are among the most common. This type features zero movement besides straight up and down. The knuckle boom enables the machine to move right and left in line. There is a hinge option located at the booms’ base to let it pivot up to 180 degrees independently to the house, usually on available on compact excavators. There are triple articulated booms available on specific machines. A dipper arm is attached to the end of the boom. This arm creates the necessary digging force to drag the bucket through the ground. The stick length is optional depending on if reach or breakout power is needed. Longer stick models are utilized for reach applications, while shorter sticks are used for breakout power situations. A bucket is typically attached to the end of the stick. 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 buckets are usually stronger and smaller with hardened teeth and side cutters to break up rocks and difficult ground. 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 was in place to add more lifting capacity and digging force. 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. 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. There are models that offer a quick coupler feature to simplify attachment mounting and increase efficiency. 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 One of the first kinds of excavators were steam shovels. 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 used for digging around objects that may interfere with a typical backhoe. Backhoe Backhoes are one of the most popular kinds of excavators. 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 Dragline excavators are designed similarly to a backhoe and include numerous lines and cables to support the bucket pulling motion. The dragline design enables operators to obtain a longer reach while digging deeper compared to a traditional 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. 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. This machine makes it safer to dig around underground pipes and equipment compared to regular 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 comparison to other models but offer better stability, flexibility and balance. Long Reach Excavators The long reach model features longer arm and boom options. Long reach excavators are excellent for hard-to-reach locations. The extendable arm offers more than 100 feet of horizontal reach. These machines are often used for demolition in applications 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 These excavators function with a large front wheel with built-in buckets and shovels. Dirt and rocks are scooped up within the buckets as the wheel rotates. Items are transferred onto a conveyor belt that functions as an important part of the machine. The belt transfers the material into a bin that may be separate from the model or a part of the machine.