Whether you’re just dipping your toes into the construction waters or you’re an old-timer, your equipment collection contributes largely to any task’s success. You should, however, know the equipment you’ll need for your construction business will depend majorly on the types of projects you take up.
Over the years, heavy machinery, each with its set of distinctive uses, has evolved to fit the needs of constructors. Some of these extraordinary machines serve one purpose, while others are multifunctional. In this article, we’ll be discussing 11 of the most common heavy construction equipment and detailed descriptions of their uses. The knowledge of each of these tools guides you on what to buy and what not. These massive machines include:
- Backhoes
- Excavators
- Bulldozers
- Compactors
- Articulated Trucks
- Paving Machines
- Tower cranes
- Graders
- Concrete Pumps
- Feller Bunchers
- Pile Driving Machines
Backhoes
The first is a popular, yet vital heavy construction equipment used for a wide range of digging activities on construction sites. As its name implies, the machinery features a hoe arrangement at the back and a bucket-like structure called “a loader” at the front. The most useful component of the machine is the hoe, which is used to dig up the hard parts of the earth.
While Backhoes prove to be handy in reaching the deep layers of the soil, that are also used for front bucket loading, deep excavation of trenches, and load transfer. With a backhoe, moving around on a site with rough terrain would be a lot easy. It features a 200-degree rotor system that allows users to navigate easily while using any of its functions. Also, you can great backhoe attachments at Skid Steers Direct, perfect if you’re wondering which one to use for renovation.
Excavators
Excavators are heavy construction equipment, also referred to as diggers. The machine is made up of a dipper, bucker, boom, and cup found on a rotating platform called the “house.” The excavator is designed for digging trenches, foundations or holes, river dredging, drilling shafts for footings, etc. Depending on the type of construction, there are different types of excavators: track and wheel excavators. Track excavators have mechanized steel tracks that make it easy for them to manipulate rough terrain. However, wheel excavators run on rubber wheels but move around faster.
The excavator is similar to Backhoe Loaders. The differences between both machines are that an excavator can rotate 360 degrees and are suitable for medium to large scale projects.
Bulldozers
Bulldozers are suitable for different projects, and you’ll find them at almost every construction site. They are large machines with powerful tracks that make them perfect for clearing the most hardened soil. The primary tools on the bulldozer are the ripper and blade. The equipment is capable of handling construction, road building, infrastructure development, land clearing, and any project that requires stable movement through the use of these tools.
Another type of bulldozer is the wheeled bulldozer. The vehicle is designed with a 4WD system and a hydraulic, articulated steering system. This machine has similar uses to the “track bulldozer,” but is less effective on rough terrain. Based on your needs, you can check for both types of bulldozers and an extensive list of heavy construction equipment at SourcePro Equipment.
Compactors
A compactor is comprised of three parts: rammer, road roller, and plate. There are different types of compactors, but they are all designed to reduce the size of the material. The kind of compactor for your project depends on the kind of material with which you work.
If the project deals with waste compaction, get a landfill compactor while soil compactor is best for large volumes of soil.
Articulated Trucks
Articulated trucks are useful for taking different products around a construction site. These utility vehicles are divided into two parts: the cab and the trailer. The cab comprises the engine and driver’s compartment, but the trailers have a peculiar design that enables them to carry heavy materials. As a result of modern technology, the machinery has an off-road wheel design, which makes it easy to steer and drive around. You can consider them as an improvement on dump trucks.
Paving Machines
A paving machine is also called a paver or paver finisher. There are different types and designs of pavers, but they are generally used to lay asphalt on roads, parking lots, bridges, and other locations. The machine lays the pavement with only minor compaction before a roller works on it.
The extensive freeways you drive across are paved with concrete using a slip form paver. The process involves transporting concrete in articulated trucks and dumping it in front of the paver. The paving machine spreads the concrete before levelling it with a screed.
Tower Cranes
Tower cranes are suitable for lifting heavy loads, and you’ll find them at ports and large construction sites. They’re powered by one or more simple machines to perform their functions. The crane is designed with hoist ropes, chains, sheaves, and wire ropes to move materials around horizontally. Cranes are capable of effectively lifting more than the human limit. Tower cranes are a modernized form of the balance crane, but with similar working principles.
Graders
A grader, also known as motor grader or road grader, is a machine that flattens surfaces with a long blade feature. In ancient times, this construction equipment was dragged by horses, but today they come with motor engines to move their huge blades. Graders have room for optional attachments such as blade, sacrificer, ripper, or compactor, depending on the needs of the project.
Concrete pumps
Concrete pumps are used to transfer liquid concrete via pumping. The pump is connected to the concrete mixer. The material is then transported via the hose to the point of delivery. There are two types of concrete pumps: Boom concrete pump and line pump.
The boom pump is attached to a truck, and functions to place concrete accurately. They are used in larger construction projects because they can pump high volumes in a short period. Line pumps consist of different hoses linked together that lead to the point of delivery. However, line pumps are only capable of moving lesser volumes of concrete during construction.
Feller Bunchers
A Feller Buncher is used at construction sites filled with trees that need clearing before starting a project. This machine can do the jobs of several lumberjacks at once, as it smoothly cuts through trees. During its operation, the device bunches the cut wood. The feller buncher cuts trees and simplifies the cleaning process.
Pile Driving Machines
Pile driving machines, also known as pile drivers, are used to drive piles into the soil. These piles are used to form an integral part of foundation support for building structures. Depending on the project’s needs and scale, the different types of pile driving machines are Hydraulic hammer, Diesel hammer, Piling rig, Vibratory pile driver/extractor, Hydraulic Press-in, and Vertical Travel Lead Systems.
Each type of pile driving machine is powered differently – diesel, steam, hydraulic and manual labor. Due to this difference, the results obtained from them vary.
Conclusion
There is a variety of heavy construction equipment from which you can choose. You must pick according to your needs for any future project. By doing so, you’ll maximize costs and improve productivity. Then, you can look forward to the benefits they would provide for your business. Click here if you need a construction company that has all this necessary machinery at their disposal.
References:
https://ehlinelaw.com/practice/machine-accident/harvest-combines
