Compact Excavators – Most Versatile Heavy Equipment Lightweight

As I have mentioned in previous posts, excavators come in a range of shapes and sizes including the mini or compact excavators. Although a lot smaller than their bigger brothers, and often the subject of many construction site jokes, the compact excavator plays a very valuable role in our society.

Compact excavators have many advantages over other heavy equipment, such as being highly maneuverable and, of course, compact in size. Compact excavators only require a small trailer and truck to transport rather than the large flatbed. They have a much larger range of motion, attachment-carrying versatility, excellent visibility, and better fuel economy.

The range of tasks that a compact excavator can perform are broad and it can complete job in a fairly confined area where other heavy equipment can’t gain access. The machine can, for example, be used on a small construction area to break up the surface or an old concrete base using an attached hammer or breaker. It can then help to load a truck using a special ‘thumb’ attachment and bucket.

Once the debris has been removed, it can level site prior to spreading a base using a standard blade. With a compactor attachment, it can firm down the base ready for the concrete pour. Once the concrete has cured the compact excavator can be used to backfill around the concrete and generally tidy up the site. All of this in a fairly confined space. The job of several larger machines done by one machine. The labor of 10 men and several weeks reduced to one man, a machine, and a couple of days.

You can see why these little beasts are becoming popular. Why are they the butt of jokes? Probably because the larger machines feel threatened! Operating a compact excavator is similar to the large version. Training on heavy machinery will provide the set of skills required to operate machinery of all sizes and ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools specializes in training heavy equipment operators.