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Construction Industry Poll

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Compact Focus: Excavators >1.5 to 2 metric tons

June 12, 2007 |

Question: What earth-moving system were compact excavators in the >1.5-to-2-metric-ton class designed to replace?

Answer: About six adult men with shovels and a wheelbarrow.

That tells you all you need to know about the appropriate applications for these small but powerful earthmovers. In some cases, notes Keith Rohrbacker, product specialist, Kubota Tractor, compact excavators in this class replace walk-behind trenchers, but the emphasis remains the same. “Most contractors want to own or rent the largest excavator they can tow and will fit on the jobsite,” Rohrbacker explains. “Typically, machines in this class are used in plumbing, sewer, utility or home repair applications.”

The advantages compact excavators offer over shovels and wheelbarrows are obvious: Not only can the machine work a lot faster and do a higher volume of work, but there are fewer payroll checks to write at the end of the week. That’s an attractive incentive for a small business. Compact excavators may not be able to compete with walk-behind trenchers on long excavation runs because even the longest-reach excavator eventually has to stop digging and reposition itself farther down the trench line. But they match the productivity of trenchers in short run applications.

The real advantage of compact excavators is their extreme versatility. Machines in this class typically have digging depths from 6 to 8 feet – and aren’t restricted to merely digging in a straight line. And then there’s the attachment angle: Thanks to their relatively powerful hydraulic systems, these machines can run a host of attachments, including hammers and breakers for light demolition work, thumbs for cleanup jobs and rollers for trench compaction. Retractable undercarriages allow them to contract to widths as small as 40 inches to get through tight areas. Once the machine is in position, the tracks are expanded out to their working width.

“If you need a piece of equipment that will mainly dig or reach with an attachment, then a compact excavator is a perfect match because these machines have such a long reach,” says Mike Lumbers, senior product manager, Ditch Witch. “If you need to haul a lot of loose materials or run what I call more powerful auxiliary attachments, then you need something besides a compact excavator – applications that require ground drive, for example. Compact excavators have a ground drive undercarriage, but it’s designed to get the machine from point A to point B and let it get to work.”

“Often, the versatility of a compact excavator allows it to be the only machine on a job,” adds Dan Bruch, product manager, Caterpillar. “Compact excavators, however, also often work in conjunction with other machines.” Excavators in this class are a natural fit with compact backhoes, wheel loaders and rubber track loaders, but Bruch says the most common pairing is with skid-steer loaders. The two machines work well together in a host of applications and are most effective at jobs such as digging a pool. The compact excavator can dig while the skid-steer loader removes the material and loads it in a dump truck.

“In many cases the use of compact excavators is changing the make up of fleets,” says Lance Mathern, product specialist, Bobcat. “We’re seeing more contractors fine tuning their operations, replacing under-utilized pieces with smaller, more efficient ‘job-matched’ machines.”