An excavator is a heavy machine used in construction. It consists of a boom, dipper, bucket, and cab. These are incorporated into a vehicle which increases the ease of moving the required tools. Depending on the type of work, excavators can be very different from each other. For example, the excavator may have tracks or wheels as undercarriage depending on the nature of the work surface. You can find undercarriage solutions at fortistracks.com and buy quality tyres and tracks for your excavator.
What are the Functions of an Excavator?
- Demolishing structures made of concrete and steel.
- Digging holes, ponds, ditches, and foundations for building structures.
- Digging drainage trenches
- Flattening landscapes and removing tree stumps and rocks
- Repairing sewer lines
- Landfilling and waste management
- Snow ploughing in places beyond the tropics.
While you may need an excavator for creating a beautiful garden, purchasing an excavator is not cost-effective if you need it rarely. Besides, accidents and other damages might put an undue financial burden on you. You’ll then have to start find your tracks or wheels for replacement. Therefore, hiring an excavator, instead of buying one is the more suitable option when the job is not recurring and will not last long. Moreover, it may be better to hire a mini excavator instead of a large one because of the convenience that mini excavators offer.
Besides lower cost, there are other factors to consider before you hire a mini excavator. This article reviews some of those factors and the benefits of hiring a mini excavator.
Less Damage
A mini excavator is lighter. Lighter equipment helps the operator to avoid scraping and grinding the surface being worked upon. Mini excavators have rubber tracks. The rubber tracks come in handy for minimizing damage. They enable the smooth loading and landing of the vehicle. The rubber track minimizes the risk of accidents such as slips that can happen while loading and unloading. Mini excavators are easy to move around in compact and limited spaces.
If the handling of the mini excavator is not good, or the surface worked on is bad, then the excavator may get damaged. However, due to their popularity, finding replacements for mini excavator parts is easy. To your advantage, the small size of the mini excavators only allows minimal damage to the vehicle. As for the movement space, there’s no need to tear down things to create space for the excavator.
Noise Pollution
Mini excavators produce less noise as compared to more heavy-duty equipment. This characteristic makes mini excavators useful if the operation is in a residential area with lots of neighbours.
Generally, the smaller the machine, the lesser the noise pollution. But the amount of noise also depends on the type of operation. The noise is loudest when the work involves crossing hard cement and surfaces. So, while mini excavators cause less noise pollution, the operator needs to be careful so that the overall noise level remains within limits.
Ease of Transportation.
The ease of moving mini excavators from place to place is an important factor to consider when hiring them. It’s easy to move mini excavators, be it to the working site or from the working stations. One may need more technical and mechanical knowledge and greater financial resources to move bigger and heavier machines. Smaller machines like mini excavators are much easier to transport. For example, moving one mini excavator will only need a pick-up trailer.
Unlimited Functionality
The working of mini excavators is the same as that of big-sized excavators. The functionality remains the same no matter the size of the excavator. So, you can get the same job done with a mini excavator. Of course, bigger excavators are more suitable for more heavy-duty jobs.
Simple to Use
Operating a mini excavator is easy. One can learn the required skill to operate a mini excavator within a short time. Besides, it’s not a must for one to have a commercial permit to move or operate a mini excavator. It’s, however, important that when operating, you get training from a professional before using the excavator. This applies to both manual and automated remote-controlled excavators. The training aims to eliminate hazards in the workplace.
Multifunctional and High Productivity
Mini excavators can rotate 360 degrees. That means that when working, you don’t have to reposition the dump trucks to set the location. It’ll load onto the dump truck in any position. Besides that, mini excavators can perform a range of tasks during one project. It’s because they’re versatile. By using different attachments, one mini excavator can provide several services.
There are two main types of attachments in a mini excavator, the digging and demolition attachments. But there are also other excavator attachments such as augers, compactor plates, buckets, and rippers. Each mini excavator design enables it to take on diverse functions. These are important points to consider while hiring a mini excavator. The trick is to hire only one excavator and use different kinds of attachments to perform more than one task.
Excavators Can Save You Money
Mini excavators are cheaper to hire as compared to the full-sized ones. Besides, moving a full-sized excavator requires special permits. Hauling larger machinery on the highway requires special permits, which costs extra money. Since mini excavators are small and compact, you can transport them on a pick-up truck trailer without needing a special hauling permit to transport them. Operators on a mini excavator don’t need a commercial driver’s license, unlike full-sized excavators. Saving money on special permits and licenses is a major bonus for any contractor.
In the case of damage to the excavator, repairing a mini excavator is cheaper. Because mini excavators are gaining popularity, the repair cost is less. Besides, their popularity makes finding spare parts easy.
Conclusion
An ideal excavator should be effective in every aspect. While the choice depends on the type of work, consider the factors discussed above. The bigger issue is the space available on site because most construction sites are in residential areas. A mini excavator is very efficient in such areas considering that its functionality matches that of the larger excavators. It’s cheaper to hire a mini excavator and easier to move it from one site to another. You can use different attachments to make the mini excavator more versatile.
