Excavators are the stalwarts of the construction, mining, and engineering industry. Without them, we’d still be living in mud Brick houses and tents.
OK, maybe that’s a bit extreme. The point is that excavators are important to our modern way of life – whether it is installing a swimming pool, pipelines, sewerage systems, or building houses, schools and public buildings.
But not all excavators are made equal. Nor are the attachments used the same. In order to excavate, move, demolish, and construct the world we live in today – excavators like vacuum excavators, hydro excavators rely on a bunch of different attachments that serve different purposes. Here are 7 different types commonly used today:
1. The classic digger bucket
It doesn’t get more classic than the digger bucket. The bucket is the most popular and often the most useful attachment that you’ll see on any building site. It’s for that reason that when you purchase an excavator you’ll usually buy the machine with the bucket attached. Beckets themselves also have many different sub-categories that perform slightly different tasks depending on the job at hand. Depending also on the size of your excavator – there are different sizes available. Bucket attachments are used for classic digging and excavation – but can also be used for manoeuvring soil and rubble from A to B.
2 . The grappler
The grapple or grab attachment is an essential tool on the job site that allows the operator to pick up and move heavy and difficult to carry objects around the job site. They’re especially good at loading heavy machinery parts, logs, lumps of concrete, or rocks. Multiple different categories include various numbers of claws or teeth that will tackle different types of jobs.
3. Excavator auger
Sometimes drilling into tough surfaces is a necessary part of the building process. The auger is a common excavator attachment that allows operators to do exactly that: drill into the ground and dig a targeted hole with the aim to install a pole, pylon, or other pieces of equipment. Augers are extremely tough pieces of equipment that can drill into concrete, rock, shale, and tough ground conditions. Depending on the type of ground being drilled into, the material, size, and structure of the auger will differ. For example, the shape of the drill piece can be notched or ribboned depending on the sort of material being tackled.
4. Ripper attachment
You can think of the ripper attachment as a backup or reinforcement to the excavator bucket. When the going gets tough and you need to break up some rock, penetrate the shale or lift up a concrete slab from the ground – you’re going to want to call in the ripper. This claw or tooth-like attachment is designed to carry out more intense jobs that other attachments would struggle to achieve. Its goal is to leverage, push or claw at heavy and difficult-to-move objects in order to loosen, manoeuvre, or simply destroy.
5. Rock breaker
Rock breakers transform your excavator into a demolishing machine. It’s no longer a tame digger – it’s a hardcore machine that will break up any concrete slab, rock formation, or brick floor without hesitation. The attachment acts as a hammer but with a vibrating end that crumbles even the hardest concrete slabs. These are extremely effective at demolishing concrete floors, walls, and other structures where your bucket attachment isn’t going to cut it.
6. Concrete crushers
Concrete crushers, also known as pulverisers, are formidable excavator attachments that can effectively crush solid concrete into smaller pieces. If you’re tearing down a structure with reinforced concrete – this will be your go-to crusher as it separates the concrete from the steel thus making it easier to remove from the site and transport. Concrete pulverisers are also extremely effective at diminishing the size of larger concrete slabs which need to be removed from a site.
7. Trenchers
When digging trenchers – you might ask why not just use a normal bucket attachment? Trenching attachments are both faster and more effective at digging the desired depth and width. Trenchers are also extremely useful in performing other tasks related to trenching, such as refilling and other landscaping tasks. Whether it’s utilities, mining, construction, or landscaping, an excavator with an appropriate trenching attachment can fully eliminate the need for the hire or purchase of a trencher.
Invest in the right attachments today
When deciding which attachments to invest in – you should always let the job guide you. While you won’t need all attachments on the market, it’s helpful to plan in advance which ones will be most essential to getting your job done right. Get an idea about which attachments are right for your business as well as the types of excavators for sale and reach out to your local excavate supplier today.
