Equipment Focus: Excavators
Excavators come in various sizes, each of which is appropriate for many earth moving tasks. From the smallest 1.7T miniature model that can easily be towed on a trailer to the monster 14T + options, choosing the right one for the job is the key to efficient excavator use.
Size Matters… And Big isn’t Always the Best
Excavators come in four different categories:
Small (often called miniature or compact)
Midi
Standard/large
Oversized
Selecting the right size and capacity is key to efficiency. Too small and it’ll have to work harder and longer to get the job done. Too big and it will cost more, use more fuel and might not be agile enough to work in the allotted space.
Miniature Excavators: small, but perfectly formed
Excavators in this category range from about 1.5T to 6T.
These smaller units are easy to manoeuvre and can work in very tight areas. Many of the lighter ones can be easily moved from place to place using a trailer and tow truck. Typical uses for a miniature excavator include:
Interior digging.
Residential construction tasks, such as digging foundations and swimming pools.
Sewer line, electrics, plumbing and other light digging that doesn’t require higher earth moving capacities.
Landscaping and clearing vegetation.
Digging out tree stumps.
Digging holes for fence posts.
Moving hay bales on farms.
Moving equipment and materials, such as pallets, large boulders, etc.
There are also various attachments available, such as augers, rippers, plates and rollers.
Midi Excavators: for increased power in smaller spaces
These are excavators that fall in the 6-10T range. While they provide more power and have a longer reach, their relatively small size means they can still fit into restricted workspaces. A mid-sized machine crosses the range from a small project digger into one that’s capable of more serious construction work.
Typical use includes:
Installing underground tanks and digging trenches for pipelines.
Digging foundations for larger construction tasks, including car parks, houses and larger buildings with a larger footprint.
Road construction and digging roadside ditches and culverts.
The same as their miniature cousins, mid-sized excavators come with multiple attachments.
Standard Excavators: moving into the big time…
Standard excavators are anything from 10-45T and are commonly used on large commercial construction projects. These are the big boys of the excavator world, used when earth needs to be moved at a grand scale. They’ll typically be deployed for tasks, such as:
Bridge building.
Tunnel building.
Warehouse building.
Large-scale housing projects.
Large demolition projects.
Depending on the size and model, they have the highest lift, reach and digging capacities of all (except the giant size, which we’ll mention in a moment). Again, they come with a range of bucket sizes and attachments.
Over-Sized Excavators: 45T+
Suitable for the largest scale projects and require huge trucks to transport them to and from site. These monsters are brought into play for the toughest tasks, such as massive demolition and earth moving projects. It goes without saying that they are pretty unwieldy, so have a very particular role to play in the world of excavation.
At McMahon Hire Solutions we match your requirements with the optimal equipment from our wide range. As true specialists, we not only have an enormous range of excavators, access equipment, material handling equipment and everything else needed for small and large scale projects, but our customer service really is second to none.
Ready to find out why we’re the go-to equipment procurement provider in the industry? Contact us today and let us show you what we’re made of…