The Excavator Operators Guide To Attachments
The past couple of years have been difficult for many small businesses in the industry. Yes, many people and companies are struggling to make ends meet, but now is a great year to buy some new heavy equipment for your business.
If your company has weathered the storm and is in good position with money in the bank or you have access to reliable financing resources, you should think about improving the productivity of your excavator with attachments.
Buying attachments is a great way for you to expand the capabilities of your machinery without going to the huge expense of buying another full size piece of equipment. Another fantastic alternative is to buy a mini or compact dozer or excavator and add on attachments for it.
Types of Excavator Attachments
While it’s true that excavators come in a wide variety of sizes and configuration the main components of a excavator are basically the same. First starting from the ground up is the undercarriage frame which supports a bulldozer-like blade, if fitted, the tracks and the track frame.
Situated above is the undercarriage is the operator’s cab, the engine hydraulics pump, and counterweight. Also on top is the boom. This is the articulating arm that does the actual digging, lifting or picking operations.
Attached to the boom is dipper arm or “stick”. The arm is part of the boom that provides the power for the digging action. At the bottom of the arm are the attachments. Just about everyday someone learns a new way to use different attachments for excavators.
But there are several main types or styles of attachments and each has it own special function and place on the construction site.
The bucket is outside of the blade is one of most common excavator attachments. Buckets can come in a variety of shapes, sizes, etc. but the most common is the GP or general purpose. Other buckets are designed to work in mud or silt-filled water for civil engineering work.
Still other special purpose buckets work in rock, can pivot for trenching, have a multipurpose style for digging, clamping and lifting, or be clamshells for vertical digging in holes, wet, free flowing material, clamping, lifting.
A “Thumb” is one of many excavator attachments you get which is actually a manual or hydraulic device which is placed on a the front scoop of a bucket to increase its lifting, sorting and picking functions and is used widely in demolition and land clearing.
Grapples. These tilting forks are used to grab metals and materials for recycling, sort, and stack and load up logs and rock as well as lifting and clearing away brush and debris landscapes and urban construction areas.
Now that you know more about two of the most popular types of excavator attachments, you can begin your search among the hundreds more that are available depending on the function, size, brand and model of your excavator.
