Excavator

Excavators (hydraulic) are heavy construction equipment consisting of a boom, dipper (or stick), bucket and cab on a rotating platform known as the 'house'. The house sits atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. They are a natural progression from the steam shovels and often mistakenly called power shovels. All movement and functions of a hydraulic excavator are accomplished through the use of hydraulic fluid, with hydraulic cylinders and hydraulic motors. Due to the linear actuation of hydraulic cylinders, their mode of operation is fundamentally different from cable-operated excavators which use winches and steel ropes to accomplish the movements.A cable-operated excavator under the Northwest (now Terex) name at the Pageant of Steam groundsLink-Belt excavator trenching.CAT 5230 in coal mining operation.A L&T Komatsu excavator seen in India.A New Holland E215 in Hamburg, Germany.HEPCO HEC240 LCCaterpillar 350L excavator in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, 2001. Note the hydraulic thumb. Excavators (hydraulic) are heavy construction equipment consisting of a boom, dipper (or stick), bucket and cab on a rotating platform known as the 'house'. The house sits atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. They are a natural progression from the steam shovels and often mistakenly called power shovels. All movement and functions of a hydraulic excavator are accomplished through the use of hydraulic fluid, with hydraulic cylinders and hydraulic motors. Due to the linear actuation of hydraulic cylinders, their mode of operation is fundamentally different from cable-operated excavators which use winches and steel ropes to accomplish the movements. Excavators are also called diggers, JCBs (a proprietary name, in an example of a generic trademark), mechanical shovels, or 360-degree excavators (sometimes abbreviated simply to '360'). Tracked excavators are sometimes called 'trackhoes' by analogy to the backhoe. In the UK, wheeled excavators are sometimes known as 'rubber ducks.'