Excavators or diggers are among the most widely used earth-moving equipment used globally,  mainly designed to perform small to heavy digging, trenching & excavation tasks with precision. 

When buying excavators, irrespective of whether they are new, refurbished or used, buying the right machine is critical, as choosing the wrong machine size can drain your budget. 

Compact excavators will cause delays in large projects, while large excavators will find it difficult to perform urban applications, especially in confined environments. These may cause more fuel usage, operator fatigue & project delays. Buying used excavators helps you avoid initial depreciation, get reliable and tested machinery specially if you buy from reputable dealers like JKIPL, at much lower costs. 

Below, we will discuss the types of excavator & exactly which type of excavator meets your specific requirements so that you stop guessing and start buying the right machine. 

Types Of Excavators: A Comprehensive Rundown

Compact Excavators

Compact excavators or mini excavators are scaled-down versions of traditional excavators. These machines generally have an operating weight range between 1 and 6 tons. Dimension-wise, they are significantly compact & less powerful than traditional excavators, making them perfect for urban sites, residential landscaping & utility works or in areas where space is limited. 

Mini excavators provide various advantages, including better manoeuvrability, lower fuel consumption, & their zero-tail swing design allows operators to rotate the cab completely without having to worry about the counterweight hitting nearby walls, fences or other obstacles. 

Most compact excavators run on rubber tracks, which are easy to maintain and make it easier for operators to cross roads, pavement & sensitive ground like farmlands without causing any damage. 

Small Excavators

Small excavators bridge the gap between mini & large excavators. This type of excavator generally has an operating weight range between 6 and 12 tons, making it the sweet spot for contractors who need better digging depth and dump height than smaller versions. 

Modern small excavators provide enough power for general digging and trenching while offering the flexibility of transporting the machine on a standard trailer. Small excavators excel in general residential work like installing septic tanks or digging swimming pools, or in areas where earth-moving tasks are essential. Additionally, their compatibility with optional attachments makes them highly versatile and preferred globally. 

Medium Excavators

If you want more excavating muscle for more serious excavation, trenching and digging tasks, medium excavators are the right tool. Falling In The operating weight range between 12 and 25 tons, medium excavators are often called standard excavators. They offer the perfect balance of power, reach & fuel efficiency, while ensuring higher productivity than smaller excavators. 

This type of excavators are highly useful in road construction, commercial site preparation and infrastructure building because of its performance and durability on various surfaces and regions. Just like smaller excavators, you can fit various attachments like augers, grapplers, shovels, etc to increase versatility. 

Heavy-Duty Or Large Excavators

Large excavators or heavy-duty excavators are considered when the job requires extreme muscle for serious earth-moving capabilities, deeper digging reach & immense lifting power. Unlike medium, compact and mini excavators, these machines are fitted with gigantic diesel engines that consume large quantities to produce immense power and performance.

Large and heavy-duty excavators are often considered in large-scale applications like mining, quarrying, dredging, & applications needing exceptional capabilities. They have an operating range north of 25 tons, making them sheer beasts among types of excavators.

Long Reach Excavators

Long Reach excavators are specialised diggers which are designed with extended booms and arms towards at significant distances and applications that require deeper reach. They are essential for projects where normal excavators cannot get close to the dig site due to unstable ground, obstacles or water.

Therefore, they are mainly used to dredge rivers, maintain levees, construct canals, deep foundation digging or demolition from safe distances.

Why Buy Used Excavators? 

  • Used excavators help you beat depreciation by absorbing the initial value drop and stabilising your asset’s resale price. 
  • Used excavators often let you buy a costlier model or larger excavators for the same price as new small excavators. 
  • Compared to new excavators, which often come with waiting periods, used excavators are immediately available, which is crucial to attract more profits and reduce downtime. 
  • Reliability and durability are two of the fortes of used & refurbished excavators. They are often tested, refurbished & carefully evaluated to maintain quality and offer long term durability.
  • The used excavator market offers you plenty of choices based on your requirements. Whether you buy compact excavators or large excavators, used excavators are available in various brands, sizes & operating weights.
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