Excavator

An excavator in Ourense, Spain
Hydraulic excavator in action

Excavators are heavy construction equipment primarily consisting of a boom, dipper (or stick), bucket, and cab on a rotating platform known as the "house"[1] - although the largest form ever, the dragline excavator, eliminated the dipper in favor of a line and winch.

The modern excavator's house sits atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels, being an evolution of the steam shovel (which itself evolved into the power shovel when steam was replaced by diesel and electric power). All excavation-related movement and functions of a hydraulic excavator are accomplished through the use of hydraulic fluid, with hydraulic cylinders and hydraulic motors,[2] which replaced winches, chains, and steel ropes.[3] Another principle change was the direction of the digging action, with modern excavators pulling their buckets toward them like a dragline rather than pushing them away to fill them the way the first powered shovels did.

  1. ^ "Yandram.com - What is an excavator? What is it made of?". Yandram Blog. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  2. ^ "Industrial Expe ..Lasso Gives More Power To The Hy-Mac Elbow". The Glasgow Herald. June 9, 1962. Archived from the original on 4 March 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  3. ^ "First Wind Farm In Nh To Begin Operation". Bangor Daily News. Jan 9, 2006. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2013.