Excavator Parts Los Angeles - Excavators are instrumental for completing building projects on time and on budget. They are far more efficient compared to manual labor and can move heavy loads of dirt in mere minutes. This industrial equipment is used in many industries including road work, bridge building, landscaping, construction and architecture. While tracked models are sometimes known as trackhoes, excavators go by many names including mechanical shovels, diggers and 360-degree excavators. 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 stick or the dipper, cab, boom and bucket are located on top of the house which is a rotating platform. The house is located on top of an undercarriage that features either wheels or tracks. Excavators have evolved from steam shovels of yesteryear. The hydraulic excavating models rely on hydraulic fluid to finish all movement and functions. The hydraulic cylinders feature linear actuation making them different from excavators that are cable-operated, relying on steel ropes and winches instead.
Excavator Models
There are numerous sizes and models when it comes to hydraulic excavators. Tiny and compact models weigh approximately 2k lbs. while the largest models weigh in around 2m lbs.
Three hydraulic pumps are utilized by modern hydraulic models instead of relying on mechanical drivetrain configurations. Two pumps deliver high-pressure oil for the accessories, swing motor, track motors and arms. A low-pressure third pump delivers power to pilot the spool valves. This setup enables less physical effort required for the operating controls. The three pumps that are in an excavator are often the two variable displacement piston pumps and the gear pump. These pumps are arranged in the excavator in a variety of formats 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 features the engine, hydraulic oil tanks fuel, counterweight and the operator cab. A center pin connects the undercarriage to the house. High-pressure oils are supplied to the tracks on the hydraulic motor via a pin axis found on the hydraulic swivel. This setup enables the machine to traverse 360 degrees freely.
The house is attached to the main boom and various configurations are available. The most common type of booms are the mono booms. This kind of boom offers zero movement other than up and down motions The knuckle boom enables the machine to move right and left in line. 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. There are triple articulated booms available on specific machines.
At the end of the boom, the stick or dipper arm is located. 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 different buckets available in numerous sizes for a variety of 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. As one can imagine, this became cumbersome when working within confined spaces. The counterweight of modern machines today is designed to stay in the width of the tracks making it much safer and more user-friendly within confined spaces.
The SAE and the ISO are the two types of control configuration used to operate the boom and the bucket. 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. Certain excavators have switches to allow the operator to decide on which configuration they want to use during operation.
Regular excavation and bucket jobs have been surpassed by hydraulic excavators. There are many hydraulic-powered excavator attachments including a breaker, a grapple and an auger. 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 resemble backhoes with the shovel or bucket facing away from the machine as opposed to towards the unit. 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
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 bucket faces the operator cab and enables the operator to scoop earth toward the equipment. These machines come in multiple sizes including compact residential models suitable for backyard applications up to heavy-duty versions used in bridge building and dredging waterways. 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 don’t rely on wheels, they run on two tracks. They are popular in the mining and construction industries. Also called compact excavators, these machines rely on hydraulic power components to lift heavy soil and debris. 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 excavator showcases lengthier boom and arm components. Long reach excavators are excellent for hard-to-reach locations. The extendable arm offers more than 100 feet of horizontal reach. These excavators are used in demolition applications and 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. Items such as dirt and rocks become scooped up in the bucket as the wheel rotates. Materials are transferred onto a conveyor belt that makes up a portion of the machine. The belt transfers the material into a bin that may be separate from the model or a part of the machine.