Construction projects, whether big or small, require the use of heavy equipment. To make sure your earthmoving activity is done properly, you need to choose the right type of equipment or machinery. With different earthmoving equipment available, deciding which one is suitable for your project can be a bit confusing, especially if you’re not familiar with construction equipment or hiring a third-party contractor for your construction project.
What are the Kinds of Earthmoving Equipment Available?
Below are the common earthmoving equipment and their respective uses.
Excavators
Excavators are one of the most versatile pieces of earthmoving equipment in construction. An excavator resembles a tank because it has a track frame that rolls as it moves on the ground. It is typically composed of a house or cabin where the operator controls the equipment and boom, arm and bucket attachments for digging up and moving soil. Besides soil excavation, excavators are also suitable for several other applications, such as materials handling, landscaping, mining, river dredging and demolition.
There are also several types of excavators besides the standard excavator. Some are:
- Wheeled excavators: Suitable for terrains like asphalt or concrete, not soft soil or hilly terrain
- Skid Steer excavators: Attachments face away from the operator; suitable for narrow areas
- Long-reach excavators: Built with longer boom and arm attachments than standards excavators
- Dragline excavators: Come with wire ropes and chains; ideal for strip-mining and canal dredging
- Suction excavators: Blasts water to loosen soil and other materials before shovelling them up through a suction pipe
Bulldozers
Just like excavators, bulldozers can perform different functions. Also called dozers, bulldozers are typically used for digging, pushing, or flattening uneven soil. Wheeled bulldozers are ideal for levelling soft surfaces like stadium grounds. Meanwhile, crawler type bulldozers are used to manoeuvre hard and irregular soil, like fields and plains. Some classify bulldozers based on the shape of their blade.
- Straight Blade: Short blade with no side wings is ideal for stripping and ditching fine or medium-density soil
- Universal Blade: Curved blade with large side wings is suitable for moving, pushing, ditching or crowning
- Semi-U Blade: Combination of the features of Straight and Universal blade bulldozers; this type of bulldozer has smaller side wings, and the blade is narrower
- Angle Blade: No wide wings; can move debris sideways up to 30 degrees
- Power Angle Tilt (PAT) Blade: Tilts and moves debris in almost every direction; suitable for backfilling, land clearing, scraping, and levelling
Dump Trucks
Dump trucks consist of a base frame with an open-box bed mounted on top. The mounted bed is used for removing, storing, and transporting materials and debris from one place to another. Other types of dump trucks are the articulated dump trucks that are ideal for rough terrain use and transfer dump trucks that come with either a pneumatic or an electric-powered separate trailer.
Compactors
Compactors are used in flattening and compacting soil, usually to prepare it for activities such as pouring concrete and stabilising the foundation. The metal plate at the bottom uses either vibration or static force to apply pressure on the ground and make the soil compact. Some compactors have flat plates suitable for road laying while others have rammers which are suitable for small areas. Meanwhile, roller compactors are ideal for road projects where there are large spaces for the equipment to move around.
Graders
Also called motor graders or road graders, this type of heavy machinery provides the “finishing touch” in grading a surface. Graders are effective in levelling soil to remove ruts, potholes, and depressions. They are also used in digging trenches and installing subsurface service lines like power cables and plumbing and drainage systems. Motor graders are also suitable for mixing materials, spreading topsoil and removing snow.
Call Dobson Excavations for Your Earthmoving Equipment Hire
At Dobson Excavations, we have a wide range of earthmoving and excavation equipment for hire. Choose our equipment and services and you’ll receive high-quality work for your construction project. We serve metro and rural areas in Western Australia, including Coogee, Byford, Mandurah and Perth.
For more information about our services or to request a no-obligation quote, contact us here.
Published on: https://www.dobsonexcavations.com.au/what-kind-of-earthmoving-equipment-is-available/