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Excavator Parts in Seattle - Excavators are important machines that are used in a variety of industries. They are extremely efficient in moving and transporting heavy loads within minutes. Besides being utilized in construction, this equipment is popular in a variety of industries including bridge and road work, agriculture and landscaping. Also called diggers, 360-degree excavators and mechanical shovels, tracked models are sometimes referred to as trackhoes. 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 popular kind of heavy construction equipment made up of particular 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 situated on top of an undercarriage that has tracks or wheels. The steam shovels of yesterday have transformed into today’s excavators. The hydraulic excavating models rely on hydraulic fluid to finish all movement and functions. The linear actuation on the hydraulic cylinders makes them differ from cable-operated excavators that rely on winches or steel ropes. Excavator Models Hydraulic excavators come in a variety of different models and sizes. Compact and tiny models weigh in around two thousand pounds. The largest models conversely fall into the two million pound category. Three hydraulic pumps are utilized by modern hydraulic models instead of relying on mechanical drivetrain configurations. Two of the pumps supply high-pressure oil for the track motors, swing motor, arms and accessories. A low-pressure third pump delivers power to pilot the spool valves. This design offers less required physical effort for operating the controls. The three pumps that are in an excavator are often the two variable displacement piston pumps and the gear pump. These three pumps can be found in the excavator in numerous configurations depending on different manufacturer models. The House and the Undercarriage The two main aspects of the machine are made by the undercarriage and the house. The final drives with a hydraulic motor and subsequent gears to individual tracks the blade, track frame and tracks are considered undercarriage components. The house consists of the operator cab, the counterweight, hydraulic oil tanks, fuel and the engine. A center pin connects the undercarriage to the house. A hydraulic swivel located at the pin axis supplies high-pressure oils to the hydraulic motors’ tracks. This setup enables the machine to traverse 360 degrees freely. 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 type features zero movement besides straight up and down. A knuckle boom is another option which allows it to move right and left in line with the machine. There is a hinge option located at the booms’ base to let it pivot up to 180 degrees independently to the house, usually on available on compact excavators. There are triple articulated booms available on specific machines. A dipper arm is attached to the end of the boom. 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. Shorter stick models are often utilized for breakout power jobs while longer stick models are used to complete extensive reach 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 many different buckets of varying sizes for different applications. There are many attachments used for crushing, boring, cutting, lifting, ripping and more. Prior to the ‘90s, all excavating equipment came with a conventional counterweight that was suspended off of the back of the machine. 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. This configuration disperses the top four digging controls between two separate y-x joysticks, providing the operator with simultaneous control over all four movements. Some models have switches that enable the operator to choose which configuration they prefer. 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. Most of the compact-sized excavator models have wheels and a backfill or dozer blade. The horizontal dozer blade attaches to the machines’ undercarriage. It is commonly employed for leveling and pushing items 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 enables the operator to shove dirt away from the machine instead of pulling 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 smaller models enable operators to work in tiny spaces; however, this translates to approximately a 200-degree swiveling capacity 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 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 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 comparison to other models but offer better stability, flexibility and balance. 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. Various attachments can be fixed to the arm to complete jobs such as cutting, crushing and shearing. Bucket Wheel Excavator These machines consist of a large front wheel that has built-in buckets and shovels. As the wheel rotates, rocks and dirt are scooped up in the buckets. Materials are transferred onto a conveyor belt that makes up a portion of the machine. The belt transports the material into a bin that depending on the model, could be a part of the machine or separate.