New Zealand’s construction industry poses many hazards and risks if employers and operators aren’t careful with their machinery. The most common machinery-related injuries include amputation, crushing, electric shock, loss of hearing and ill health because of exposure to hazardous chemicals.
As an employer, you’re responsible for making sure your employees get proper training and supervision, and that they’re wearing protective clothing and equipment before they start excavating. You also have to make sure that you’re compliant with industry standards and that your equipment is up-to-date.
If you’ve been using your existing equipment for years, or if your business has expanded and is handling more projects, it might be time to replace them with new excavators and diggers.
Here’s an overview of the most useful excavators in any construction site.
Crawler Excavators
Crawlers don’t run on wheels like other large excavators do. Instead, they’re a dependable machine for mining purposes and landscape grading because they rely on a chain wheel system with two endless tracks. They can easily slide up and down elevated areas and uneven terrain. They also have no problem lifting and transferring large debris and huge amounts of soil.
Dragline Excavators
Whereas crawlers are ideal for mining and digging, dragline excavators are designed for road excavations and pile driving. These excavators have a dragline that pulls up a bucket that’s supposed to dig into the material along the ground surface. They are built for civil engineering projects and surface mining. Because of their sheer size and weight, they’re typically assembled on-site.
Long-Reach Excavators
As its name implies, a long-reach excavator is designed for deep or hard-to-reach locations. It has an extendable arm that is most useful for industrial demolition projects and deep-digging projects. This type of excavator is ideal if your construction business regularly works along deep holes, trenches, rivers and lakes. Otherwise, it might be more sensible to rent whenever you need one.
Vacuum Excavators
Long-reach excavators can dig deep, but its digging capacity is limited. If your project involves underground digging, or if you need to clean up debris or liquid waste, then a vacuum excavator is sure to do the job. This versatile piece of equipment is ideal for horizontal directional drilling, especially in sensitive infrastructure. This can also be used for irrigation system installation.
Skid Steer Loaders
Designed with a bucket that faces away from the operator, a skid steer loader does well in heavy-duty digging and lifting jobs. This versatile piece of equipment is often called the Swiss Army knife of excavators because you can simply replace the attachment and have a pallet mover, a compact backhoe or many other possible applications depending on your attachment.
Consider all your options before purchasing new construction equipment. Make sure it meets both New Zealand and international standards. But if your piece of equipment is still working well, consider expanding your usage with different attachments instead. You can maximise the use of your excavator by investing in different buckets or hydraulic hammers and breakers.
