Construction Site Most Common Equipment – Part 1

Many different types of Australian construction equipment can be found at a construction site. Each machine has its own purpose and is used in order to complete different construction tasks faster, safer and easier. Depending on the applications, Australian construction equipment is classified in several categories like earth moving equipment, construction vehicles, material handling equipment, and construction equipment. The following article will focus on the earth moving equipment category. The earth moving equipment is used in construction mainly for shifting large amounts of earth or sand, to dig holes, foundations and landscape areas. Here, we’ll briefly give you the characteristics and applications of excavators, loaders and skid steer loaders will be described.

Excavators – These machines are very common at construction sites. This earth moving equipment or the so-called diggers, are one particular type of heavy construction machines that have a boom, stick, bucket and a cab. All these elements are placed on a platform that rotates in all directions. The 360 degree rotating platform is also known as the “house”. This house is placed on undercarriage with tracks or wheels. A hydraulic fluid enables all the movements of the excavator. The excavator is used for many purposes such as: digging holes, different types of trenches and foundations, handling different types of materials, mining, for completing a wide range of forest work, lifting heavy items like pipes, landscaping, cleaning and digging up the riverbed, demolition and deconstruction, etc. There is a wide variety of excavators depending on their size. The smallest one weights about 950 kg and the largest weights nearly 100,000 kg. The world most known excavator manufacturers are Caterpillar, John Deere, Komatsu, Hitachi, Hyndai and Mitsubishi.

Loaders – Loader is another common type of heavy Australian construction equipment on wheels (some models are on tracks). In the front end is a wide bucket, which is used to lift materials from the ground like dirt, asphalt, sand and to move them from one place to another, or to deposit into another vehicle like a dump truck. The loader bucket can be replaced with other attachments like forks that can be used to lift heavy items like pallets or containers. Other devices can be also attached, like bale grappler for handling large amounts of hay and straw. Loader with front bucket only, is called front loader, whereas other small models have additional small backhoe and these are called backhoe loaders. At construction site, loaders are also used to transport different kinds of materials from one place to another. A loader, however, is not considered to be the most efficient machine for digging because it cannot dig deeper than the level of its wheels. The LeTourneau L-2350 is the largest loader that exists today. It uses a diesel system similar to the one used in a locomotive.

Skid Steer Loaders – Like big loader, the skid steer loader has a front bucket which is used for digging holes and moving different kinds of materials from one place to another. There are many models and variants of this four wheel machine. The wheels on each side are mechanically synchronized, meaning that the wheels on the left side can be driven independently from the wheels on the right side. When driving with both pairs of wheels in different speeds, the steer loader moves and turns by what is known as skidding. These loaders can perform a pirouette turning, which makes them very easy to maneuver on the ground. The skid steer loaders have a closed cabins for a maximum protection. The front bucket of the skid steer loader can be replaced with other attachments so the loader can be used for other purposes. Some of the most common attachments used are: backhoe, pallet forks, angle broom, snow blade, tree spade and ripper.

Continue reading – part 2