An excavator is an invaluable addition to a worksite; particularly mini excavators, which are able to get into sites that have tight quarters. If you’re working in a backyard, inside a building, or around a fence for example, you’re likely to need a mini excavator to get the job done.
The manufacturers of excavators and other construction machinery have really honed in on an excavator’s versatility as a key feature of the machines. They have developed a very wide range of accessories and enhancements to improve the functionality of the machines even further.
Some examples of these excavator attachments and why they are useful on a work site include:
Vacuworx Vacuum Lifting System
Typically, you would have a crane for lifting tasks, but – as we’ve just established – often a worksite won’t be compatible with a machine of that size. For smaller sites, an excavator can be turned into a machine for lifting quite easily with the Vacuworx Vacuum Lifting System, making it safe to lift heavy loads. In addition, the manoeuvrability of the machine also means that it can be used for precise placement.
Before you hire a vacuum attachment to go with your excavator, make sure you know what kinds of weights and quantities of materials you’ll be lifting (as these attachments can be quite varied in size and lifting capability).
Material handling
Another set of accessories are specifically designed to allow fine control of objects on the work site. We could term these attachments as being in the “material handling” category, and these include devices such as a rock grab, which allow the excavator to “pick up” objects such as rocks, tree trunks, and things alike.
Digging
Of course, excavators are really, really good at digging too, and there are a wide range of different attachments available to handle digging in each and every circumstance.
- The standard bucket is the ideal everyman attachment, being both versatile and manoeuvrable. Just choose the size that is appropriate to your worksite, and you’re ready to go.
- However, if the soil is too hard or rocky, or the weather so cold that the ground freezes up, then a bucket won’t be the most efficient way to move soil. That’s where the ripper comes in. The function of the ripper is to cut into difficult ground conditions, and loosen up the soil, making it then easier for the bucket to clear that soil away. It’s an attachment that really boosts the productivity on a lot of Australian worksites, as the Australian soil does tend to be rocky and/or hard to break down.
- For far more precise digging, excavator attachments still have you covered. Devices called auger drivers are designed to bore holes directly downward, like a screw down into the earth. These devices are generally used to create holes for planting shrubs or trees, to installing fence posts, and is a significant time saver when compared to doing the job manually.
Making the most of your excavator
There are other, even more specialised attachments available for excavators to further enhance their functionality. An excavator can be used as a bulldozer, for example, with specific attachments designed to flatten and smooth off land once a project has been completed. If you need to break down something as heavy as concrete, there are hammer-like attachments, called breakers which are available.
View the full range of Solution Plant Hire excavator attachments here.
Excavators are not only useful additions to a worksite, they can easily become the core machine used on-site. Being a “hub” for all work activity, an excavator can have a role on-site at each and every stage of the project. In that way, an excavator can make the entire site run more efficiently, and more safely, than if those those tasks were to be handled manually. And remember, being highly manoeuvrable, the existence of mini-excavators means that you can rely on this machinery helping out even in the tightest work conditions.
Understanding what attachments are ideal for your particular project can be difficult. However, hiring machines from Solution Plant Hire also means that you can rely on our expertise to provide you with guidance. Simply let us know the nature of your project, and we’ll be able to guide you to the right attachments for your excavator hire.