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Excavator Parts San Diego - Excavators are important machines that are used in a variety of industries. These machines are capable of moving heavy dirt loads much faster in comparison to manual labor. Besides being utilized in construction, this equipment is popular in a variety of industries including bridge and road work, agriculture and landscaping. While tracked models are sometimes known as trackhoes, excavators go by many names including mechanical shovels, diggers and 360-degree excavators. There are many applications for excavators and their attachments including forestry, snow removal with snowplow attachments and a snowblower, material handling, river dredging, construction, brush cutting with a hydraulic saw and mower attachments, digging trenches, holes and foundations, mulching for forestry, working alongside a pile driver for driving piles, grading and landscaping, regular and open-pit mining, demolition work with hydraulic claw attachments and a breaker, drilling footings and for rock blasting with an auger attachment or hydraulic drill. An excavator is a popular kind of heavy construction equipment made up of particular parts. The dipper, boom, cab and bucket are situated on top of a rotating platform called the house. The house is located on top of an undercarriage that features either wheels or tracks. The steam shovels of yesterday have transformed into today’s excavators. Today’s hydraulic excavating models use hydraulic fluid to complete all functions and movement. The linear actuation on the hydraulic cylinders makes them differ from cable-operated excavators that rely on winches or steel ropes. 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. Modern hydraulic excavators rely on engine power to operate three hydraulic pumps as opposed to mechanical drivetrain operations. Two of the pumps supply high-pressure oil for the track motors, swing motor, arms and accessories. The third low-pressure pump supplies power for pilot control of the spool valves. This design offers less required physical effort for operating the controls. The three excavator pumps typically consist of a gear pump and two variable displacement piston pumps. 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 design allows the excavator to move freely in 360 degrees. The house is available in a variety of configurations and is attached to the main boom. The most common type of booms are the mono booms. This kind of boom offers zero movement other than up and down motions A knuckle boom is another option which allows it to move right and left in line with the machine. 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 arm creates the necessary digging force to drag the bucket through the ground. The stick length is optional depending on if reach or breakout power is needed. Shorter stick models are often utilized for breakout power jobs while longer stick models are used to complete extensive reach situations. A bucket is typically attached to the end of the stick. 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 buckets are usually stronger and smaller with hardened teeth and side cutters to break up rocks and difficult ground. There are many different buckets of varying sizes for different applications. Numerous attachments can be used for ripping, lifting, cutting, boring, crushing, and more. Before the 1990s, the excavating machines were outfitted with a conventional counterweight that was located at the back of the equipment. This was in place to add more lifting capacity and digging force. As one can imagine, this became cumbersome when working within confined spaces. Today’s machines have been designed with the counterweight to stay in the width of the tracks for a much more user-friendly design. In excavators, there are two main kinds of control configuration to operate the bucket and the boom called the ISO and the SAE. 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. Many attachments including an auger, a grapple or a breaker have become common hydraulic powered attachments. Some models come with a quick coupler feature to increase efficiency while simplifying the attachment mounting process. Excavators often work beside loaders and bulldozers. Most of the compact-sized excavator models have wheels and a backfill or dozer blade. This horizontal blade attaches to the undercarriage. It is used for pushing and leveling material back into a hole. 8 Main Excavator Types • Long Reach • Backhoe • Suction • Steam Shovel • Bucket Wheel • Skid Steer • Dragline • Crawler Steam Shovel One of the first kinds of excavators were steam shovels. They utilized steam energy back in the day, while current models rely on diesel or electric motors. Steam shovels are similar to backhoes with the bucket or shovel facing away from the machine instead of facing it. This enables the operator to shove dirt away from the machine instead of pulling earth towards it. Steam shovels are popular for digging around objects that might interfere with a regular backhoe. Backhoe Backhoes are one of the most popular kinds of excavators. Backhoes contain a large bucket that extends from a boom or an arm and a wheeled track base. The operator can scoop earth toward the machine as the design has the bucket facing the operator’s cab. There are many kinds of excavators and sizes including heavy-duty applications such as dredging water and bridge construction to compact residential models ideal for backyard landscaping. 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 Dragline excavators are designed similarly to a backhoe and include numerous lines and cables to support the bucket pulling motion. The dragline design enables operators to obtain a longer reach while digging deeper compared to a traditional backhoe. The boom and cables allow users to work over unstable or wet ground and where a traditional backhoe would not work. Skid Steer Excavators Skid steers have buckets and booms that face away from the operator. This design allows attachments to reach over the cab as opposed to around it. Skid steers are excellent in narrow areas and can easily negotiate tight turns thanks to this specific design. These machines often complete residential jobs such a digging pools, site cleaning and working in limited surroundings while removing debris. 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. This machine makes it safer to dig around underground pipes and equipment compared to regular backhoes. Crawler Excavators Crawlers run on two tracks and not wheels. These machines are used in construction and mining operations. Crawlers are also known as compact excavators. They lift heavy debris and soil by using hydraulic power components. The machine can travel down hills thanks to the chain wheel configuration that makes these machines excellent for difficult and hilly terrain. Crawlers are slower in speed compared to other models but offer superior balance, flexibility and stability. Long Reach Excavators The long reach model features longer arm and boom options. 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 Bucket-wheel excavators have a sizeable front wheel that has built-in shovels and buckets. Items such as dirt and rocks become scooped up in the bucket as the wheel rotates. The material is transferred to a conveyor belt that is part of the machine. The belt transfers the material into a bin that may be separate from the model or a part of the machine.