Heavy Equipment
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Heavy equipment or heavy machinery refers to heavy-duty vehicles specially designed to execute
construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...
tasks, most frequently involving earthwork operations or other large construction tasks. ''Heavy equipment'' usually comprises five equipment systems: the implement, traction, structure,
power train A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drivetrain is the components ...
, and control/information. Heavy equipment has been used since at least the 1st century BC when the ancient Roman engineer
Vitruvius Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled ''De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribute ...
described a crane in ''
De architectura (''On architecture'', published as ''Ten Books on Architecture'') is a treatise on architecture written by the Roman architect and military engineer Marcus Vitruvius Pollio and dedicated to his patron, the emperor Caesar Augustus, as a guide f ...
'' when it was powered via human or animal labor. Heavy equipment functions through the
mechanical advantage Mechanical advantage is a measure of the force amplification achieved by using a tool, mechanical device or machine system. The device trades off input forces against movement to obtain a desired amplification in the output force. The model for t ...
of a
simple machine A simple machine is a mechanical device that changes the direction or magnitude of a force. In general, they can be defined as the simplest mechanisms that use mechanical advantage (also called leverage) to multiply force. Usually the term refer ...
, the
ratio In mathematics, a ratio shows how many times one number contains another. For example, if there are eight oranges and six lemons in a bowl of fruit, then the ratio of oranges to lemons is eight to six (that is, 8:6, which is equivalent to the ...
between input force applied and force exerted is multiplied, making tasks which could take hundreds of people and weeks of labor without heavy equipment far less intensive in nature. Some equipment uses hydraulic drives as a primary source of motion. The term "plant" is used to refer to any mobile type of heavy machinery.


History

The use of heavy equipment has a long history; the ancient Roman engineer
Vitruvius Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled ''De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribute ...
(1st century BCE) gave descriptions of heavy equipment and cranes in
ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...
in his
treatise A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject and its conclusions."Treat ...
''
De architectura (''On architecture'', published as ''Ten Books on Architecture'') is a treatise on architecture written by the Roman architect and military engineer Marcus Vitruvius Pollio and dedicated to his patron, the emperor Caesar Augustus, as a guide f ...
''. The pile driver was invented around 1500. The first
tunnelling shield A tunnelling shield is a protective structure used during the excavation of large, man-made tunnels. When excavating through ground that is soft, liquid, or otherwise unstable, there is a potential health and safety hazard to workers and the pro ...
was patented by
Marc Isambard Brunel Sir Marc Isambard Brunel (, ; 25 April 1769 – 12 December 1849) was a French-British engineer who is most famous for the work he did in Britain. He constructed the Thames Tunnel and was the father of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Born in Franc ...
in 1818.


From horses, through steam and diesel, to electric and robotic

Until the 19th century and into the early 20th century heavy machines were drawn under human or animal power. With the advent of
portable Portable may refer to: General * Portable building, a manufactured structure that is built off site and moved in upon completion of site and utility work * Portable classroom, a temporary building installed on the grounds of a school to provide ...
steam-powered engines the drawn machine precursors were reconfigured with the new engines, such as the
combine harvester The modern combine harvester, or simply combine, is a versatile machine designed to efficiently harvest a variety of grain crops. The name derives from its combining four separate harvesting operations—reaping, threshing, gathering, and winnow ...
. The design of a core tractor evolved around the new steam power source into a new machine core
traction engine A traction engine is a steam engine, steam-powered tractor used to move heavy loads on roads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. The name derives from the Latin ''tractus'', meaning 'drawn', since the prime function of any t ...
, that can be configured as the
steam tractor :''This article refers to the steam-powered agricultural tractor; for other types of steam tractor, see: Traction engine'' A steam tractor is a vehicle powered by a steam engine which is used for pulling. In North America, the term ''steam ...
and the steamroller. During the 20th century,
internal-combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combust ...
s became the major power source of heavy equipment.
Kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...
and
ethanol Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl ...
engines were used, but today
diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...
s are dominant.
Mechanical transmission Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), differ ...
was in many cases replaced by hydraulic machinery. The early 20th century also saw new electric-powered machines such as the
forklift A forklift (also called lift truck, jitney, hi-lo, fork truck, fork hoist, and forklift truck) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and move materials over short distances. The forklift was developed in the early 20th century by various c ...
.
Caterpillar Inc. Caterpillar Inc. (stock symbol CAT) is an American ''Fortune'' 500 corporation and the world's largest construction-equipment manufacturer. In 2018, Caterpillar was ranked number 65 on the ''Fortune'' 500 list and number 238 on the Global ''Fo ...
is a present-day brand from these days, starting out as the
Holt Manufacturing Company The Holt Manufacturing Company began with the 1883 founding of Stockton Wheel Service in Stockton, California, United States. Benjamin Holt, later credited with patenting the first workable crawler ("caterpillar") tractor design, incorporated ...
. The first mass-produced heavy machine was the
Fordson tractor Fordson was a brand name of tractors and trucks. It was used on a range of mass-produced general-purpose tractors manufactured by Henry Ford & Son Inc from 1917 to 1920, by Ford Motor Company (U.S.) and Ford Motor Company Ltd (U.K.) from 1920 to ...
in 1917. The first commercial continuous track vehicle was the 1901
Lombard Steam Log Hauler The term Lombard refers to people or things related to Lombardy, a region in northern Italy. History and culture * Lombards, a Germanic tribe * Lombards of Sicily, a linguistic minority living in Sicily, southern Italy * Lombard League, a me ...
. The use of tracks became popular for
tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...
s during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and later for civilian machinery like the bulldozer. The largest engineering vehicles and mobile land machines are
bucket-wheel excavator A bucket-wheel excavator (BWE) is a large heavy equipment machine used in surface mining. The primary function of BWEs is ...
s, built since the 1920s. "Until almost the twentieth century, one simple tool constituted the primary earthmoving machine: the hand shovel – moved with animal and human powered, sleds, barges, and wagons. This tool was the principal method by which material was either sidecast or elevated to load a conveyance, usually a
wheelbarrow A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles at the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow by wind. The term "wheelbarrow" is mad ...
, or a cart or wagon drawn by a
draft animal A working animal is an animal, usually domesticated, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks instead of being slaughtered to harvest animal products. Some are used for their physical strength (e.g. oxen and draft horses) or for t ...
. In antiquity, an equivalent of the hand shovel or hoe and head basket—and masses of men—were used to move earth to build civil works. Builders have long used the
inclined plane An inclined plane, also known as a ramp, is a flat supporting surface tilted at an angle from the vertical direction, with one end higher than the other, used as an aid for raising or lowering a load. The inclined plane is one of the six clas ...
, levers, and
pulley A pulley is a wheel on an axle or shaft that is designed to support movement and change of direction of a taut cable or belt, or transfer of power between the shaft and cable or belt. In the case of a pulley supported by a frame or shell that ...
s to place solid building materials, but these labor-saving devices did not lend themselves to earthmoving, which required digging, raising, moving, and placing loose materials. The two elements required for mechanized earthmoving, then as now, were an independent power source and off-road mobility, neither of which could be provided by the technology of that time."
Container crane A container crane (also container handling gantry crane or ship-to-shore crane) is a type of large dockside gantry crane found at container terminals for loading and unloading intermodal containers from container ships. Container cranes consis ...
s were used from the 1950s and onwards, and made
containerization Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called shipping containers and ISO containers). Containerization is also referred as "Container Stuffing" or "Container Loading", which is the pro ...
possible. Nowadays such is the importance of this machinery, some transport companies have developed specific equipment to transport heavy construction equipment to and from sites. Most of the major equipment manufacturers such as Caterpillar, Volvo, Liebherr, and Bobcat have released or have been developing fully or partially electric-powered heavy equipment. Commercially-available models and R&D models were announced in 2019 and 2020. Robotics and autonomy has been a growing concern for heavy equipment manufacturers with manufacturers beginning research and technology acquisition. A number of companies are currently developing (
Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...
and
Bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUC ...
) or have launched ( Built Robotics) commercial solutions to the market.


Types

These subdivisions, in this order, are the standard heavy equipment categorization. Track-type * Agricultural tractors *
Bulldozer A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous track ...
* Snowcat * Skidder * Track-type tractors (
Bulldozer A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous track ...
) *
Tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...
*
Military engineering vehicle A military engineering vehicle is a vehicle built for construction work or for the transportation of combat engineers on the battlefield. These vehicles may be modified civilian equipment (such as the armoured bulldozers that many nations field) ...
s Grader *
Grader A grader, also commonly referred to as a road grader, motor grader, or simply a blade, is a form of heavy equipment with a long blade used to create a flat surface during grading. Although the earliest models were towed behind horses, and lat ...
SkidSteer *
Skid steer loader A skid loader, skid-steer loader, SSLs or skidsteer is a small, rigid-frame, engine-powered machine with lift arms that can attach to a wide variety of buckets and other labor-saving tools or attachments. Skid-steer loaders are typically four-whee ...
Excavator *
Amphibious excavator An amphibious excavator (or pontoon excavator or floating excavator) is a type of excavator that can perform dredging while afloat on soft terrain such as swamp, wet land, and shallow water. An amphibious excavator is better adapted for removing ...
*
Compact excavator A compact or mini excavator is a tracked or wheeled vehicle with an approximate operating weight from 0.7 to 8.5 tonnes. It generally includes a standard backfill blade and features independent boom swing. Hydraulic excavators are somewhat diff ...
*
Dragline excavator A dragline excavator is a piece of heavy equipment used in civil engineering and surface mining. Draglines fall into two broad categories: those that are based on standard, lifting cranes, and the heavy units which have to be built on-site. Mo ...
*
Dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...
*
Bucket-wheel excavator A bucket-wheel excavator (BWE) is a large heavy equipment machine used in surface mining. The primary function of BWEs is ...
*
Excavator Excavators are heavy construction equipment consisting of a boom, dipper (or stick), bucket and cab on a rotating platform known as the "house". The house sits atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. They are a natural progression fro ...
(digger) *
Long reach excavator A long reach excavator is a type of excavator where the arm has been extended to reach farther than a normal excavator would. It is often used in demolition of buildings, but it can also be used in other applications. History The term ''long reac ...
*
Power shovel A power shovel (also stripping shovel or front shovel or electric mining shovel or electric rope shovel) is a bucket-equipped machine, usually electrically powered, used for digging and loading earth or fragmented rock and for mineral extraction ...
*
Reclaimer A reclaimer is a large machine used in bulk material handling applications. A reclaimer's function is to recover bulk material such as ores and cereals from a stockpile. A stacker is used to stack the material. Reclaimers are volumetric mach ...
* Steam shovel * Suction excavator *
Walking Excavator A walking excavator or popularly spider excavator is a special type of all-terrain excavator. Like the regular excavator it consists of a boom, stick, bucket and cab on a rotating platform known as the "house". However, its house sits atop an u ...
*
Trencher (machine) A trencher is a piece of construction equipment used to dig trenches, especially for laying pipes or electrical cables, for installing drainage, or in preparation for trench warfare. Trenchers may range in size from walk-behind models, to attachm ...
*
Yarder A yarder is piece of logging equipment that uses a system of cables to pull or fly logs from the stump to a collection point. It generally consists of an engine, drums, and spar, but has a range of configurations and variations, such as the swing ...
Backhoe *
Backhoe loader A backhoe loader, also called a loader backhoe, loader excavator, digger in layman's terms, or colloquially shortened to backhoe within the industry, is a heavy equipment vehicle that consists of a tractor-like unit fitted with a loader-style s ...
, Backhoe Timber *
Feller buncher A feller buncher is a type of harvester used in logging. It is a motorized vehicle with an attachment that can rapidly gather and cut a tree before felling it. ''Feller'' is a traditional name for someone who cuts down trees, and ''bunching'' ...
* Harvester * Skidder * Track harvester * Wheel forwarder * Wheel skidder Pipelayer *
Pipelayer (sideboom) A pipelayer or sideboom is a type of a construction vehicle used to lay pipes. External linksCAT pipelayers Engineering vehicles {{vehicle-stub ...
Scraper * Fresno scraper *
Scraper Scrape, scraper or scraping may refer to: Biology and medicine * Abrasion (medical), a type of injury * Scraper (biology), grazer-scraper, a water animal that feeds on stones and other substrates by grazing algae, microorganism and other matter ...
*
Wheel tractor-scraper In civil engineering, a wheel tractor-scraper (also known as a Tournapull) is a type of heavy equipment used for earthmoving. It has a pan/hopper for loading and carrying material. The pan has a tapered horizontal front cutting edge that cuts in ...
(belly scraper) Mining * Construction & mining tractor * Construction & mining trucks Articulated *
Articulated hauler An articulated hauler, articulated dump truck (ADT), or sometimes a dump hauler, is a very large heavy-duty type of dump truck used to transport loads over rough terrain, and occasionally on public roads. The vehicle usually has all-wheel drive and ...
* Articulated truck Compactor * Wheel dozers – soil compactors * Soil stabilizer Loader *
Loader Loader can refer to: * Loader (equipment) * Loader (computing) ** LOADER.EXE, an auto-start program loader optionally used in the startup process of Microsoft Windows ME * Loader (surname) * Fast loader * Speedloader * Boot loader ** LOADER.COM ...
* Skip loader (skippy) *
Wheel loader A loader is a heavy equipment machine used in construction to move or load materials such as soil, rock, sand, demolition debris, etc. into or onto another type of machinery (such as a dump truck, conveyor belt, feed-hopper, or railroad car) ...
(front loader, integrated tool carrier) Track loader *
Track loader A tracked loader or crawler loader is an engineering vehicle consisting of a tracked chassis with a loader for digging and loading material. The history of tracked loaders can be defined by three evolutions of their design. Each of these evolu ...
Material handler *
Aerial work platform An aerial work platform (AWP), also known as an aerial device, elevating work platform (EWP), cherry picker, bucket truck or mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) is a mechanical device used to provide temporary access for people or equipment t ...
/
Lift table A lift table is a device that employs a scissors mechanism to raise or lower goods and/or persons. Typically lift tables are used to raise large, heavy loads through relatively small distances. Common applications include pallet handling, vehicle ...
*
Cherry picker An aerial work platform (AWP), also known as an aerial device, elevating work platform (EWP), cherry picker, bucket truck or mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) is a mechanical device used to provide temporary access for people or equipment t ...
* Crane *
Forklift A forklift (also called lift truck, jitney, hi-lo, fork truck, fork hoist, and forklift truck) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and move materials over short distances. The forklift was developed in the early 20th century by various c ...
* Knuckleboom loader (trailer mount) & Knuckleboom loader (trailer mount) *
Straddle carrier A straddle carrier or straddle truck is a freight-carrying vehicle that carries its load underneath by "straddling" it, rather than carrying it on top like a conventional truck. The advantage of the straddle carrier is its ability to load and unloa ...
* Reach stacker *
Telescopic handlers A telescopic handler, also called a lull, telehandler, teleporter, reach forklift, or zoom boom, is a machine widely used in agriculture and industry. It is somewhat like a forklift but has a boom (telescopic cylinder), making it more a c ...
Paving *
Asphalt paver A paver (road paver finisher, asphalt finisher, road paving machine) is a piece of Heavy equipment, construction equipment used to lay asphalt concrete or Road_surface#Concrete, Portland cement concrete on roads, bridges, parking lots and other su ...
* Asphalt plant *
Cold planer Pavement milling (cold planing, asphalt milling, or profiling) is the process of removing at least part of the surface of a paved area such as a road, bridge, or parking lot. Milling removes anywhere from just enough thickness to level and smoo ...
* Cure rig * Paver *
Pavement milling Pavement milling (cold planing, asphalt milling, or profiling) is the process of removing at least part of the surface of a paved area such as a road, bridge, or parking lot. Milling removes anywhere from just enough thickness to level and smoot ...
* Pneumatic tire compactor * Roller (road roller or roller compactor) * Slipform paver * Vibratory compactor,
Compactor A compactor is a machine or mechanism used to reduce the size of material such as waste material or bio mass through compaction. A trash compactor is often used by a home or business to reduce the volume of trash it produces. A baler-wrapper comp ...
Underground *
Roadheader A roadheader, also called a boom-type roadheader, road header machine, road header or just header machine, is a piece of excavating equipment consisting of a boom-mounted cutting head, a loading device usually involving a conveyor, and a crawler t ...
*
Tunnel boring machine A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They may also be used for microtunneling. They can be designed to bore thro ...
*
Underground mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
equipment Hydromatic tool *
Ballast tamper Ballast is material that is used to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within a boat, ship ...
* Attachments *
Drilling machine A drill is a tool used for making round holes or driving fasteners. It is fitted with a bit, either a drill or driverchuck. Hand-operated types are dramatically decreasing in popularity and cordless battery-powered ones proliferating due to ...
* Pile driver *
Rotary tiller A cultivator is a piece of agricultural equipment used for secondary tillage. One sense of the name refers to frames with ''teeth'' (also called ''shanks'') that pierce the soil as they are dragged through it linearly. It also refers to mac ...
(rototiller, rotovator)
Hydraulic machinery Hydraulic machines use liquid fluid power to perform work. Heavy construction vehicles are a common example. In this type of machine, hydraulic fluid is pumped to various hydraulic motors and hydraulic cylinders throughout the machine and ...
Highway *
Dump truck A dump truck, known also as a dumping truck, dump trailer, dumper trailer, dump lorry or dumper lorry or a dumper for short, is used for transporting materials (such as dirt, gravel, or demolition waste) for construction as well as coal. A typi ...
* Highway 10 yard rear dump * Highway bottom dump (stiff), pup (belly train),
triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...
* Highway end dump and side dump * Highway transfer, Transfer train * Highway transit-mixer *
Lowboy (trailer) A lowboy (low-loader in British English, low-bed in western Canada and South Africa or float in Australia and eastern Canada) is a semi-trailer with two drops in deck height: one right after the gooseneck and one right before the wheels. This al ...
*
Street sweeper A street sweeper or street cleaner may refer to a person's occupation or to a machine that cleans streets. Street sweepers have been employed in cities as "sanitation workers" since sanitation and waste removal became a priority. A stre ...


Images

File:CAT-D10N-pic001.jpg, The Caterpillar D10N bulldozer evolved from tracked-type
tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...
s and is characterized by a steel
blade A blade is the portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with an edge that is designed to puncture, chop, slice or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they are to be used on. Historic ...
attached to the front that is used to push other equipment and construction materials, such as,
earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
. File:Komatsu excavator PC210LC.JPG, The bucket
excavator Excavators are heavy construction equipment consisting of a boom, dipper (or stick), bucket and cab on a rotating platform known as the "house". The house sits atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. They are a natural progression fro ...
Komatsu PC210-LC. File:SMC 200 R.jpg, The wheel trencher
MARAIS Marais (, meaning "marsh") may refer to: People * Marais (given name) * Marais (surname) Other uses * Le Marais, historic district of Paris * Théâtre du Marais, the name of several theatres and theatrical troupes in Paris, France * Marais (c ...
SMC 200 R. File:DrillingMachine with ConcreteMixer and Pump02.jpg, Iron bar reinforced foundation piles are driven with a drilling machine,
concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...
pump, mixer-truck, and a specialized auger that allows pumping concrete through its axis while withdrawn. File:Dillingen Kran.jpg, Fixed crane in a coal mine in Germany File:TZAMA Panorama1m.jpg,
Caterpillar D9 The Caterpillar D9 is a large track-type tractor designed and manufactured by Caterpillar Inc. It is usually sold as a bulldozer equipped with a detachable large blade and a rear ripper attachment. The D9, with 354 kW (474 hp) of gross p ...
L bulldozer, excavators and other heavy equipment vehicles parked near a
quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...
in Israel File:Garzweiler Tagebau-1230.jpg,
Bucket wheel excavator A bucket-wheel excavator (BWE) is a large heavy equipment machine used in surface mining. The primary function of BWEs is ...
s in
Garzweiler surface mine The Tagebau Garzweiler is a surface mine (german: Tagebau) in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is operated by RWE and used for mining lignite. The mine currently has a size of 48 km² and got its name from the village of whi ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
File:Komatsu Wheel Loader WA600-6,Hitachinaka city,Japan.jpg, Wheel
loader Loader can refer to: * Loader (equipment) * Loader (computing) ** LOADER.EXE, an auto-start program loader optionally used in the startup process of Microsoft Windows ME * Loader (surname) * Fast loader * Speedloader * Boot loader ** LOADER.COM ...
File:Komatsu GD655 grader (11815425133).jpg, Grader cleaning and leveling File:Visible progress continues to show at the new Folsom Dam auxiliary spillway Sept. 23 as work on the approach channel and downstream chute take center stage. (21087516643).jpg, Heavy duty excavator with large bucket equipped. File:Landfill compactor.jpg, Landfill
compactor A compactor is a machine or mechanism used to reduce the size of material such as waste material or bio mass through compaction. A trash compactor is often used by a home or business to reduce the volume of trash it produces. A baler-wrapper comp ...
(tamping tip) File:Komatsu bulldozer pushing coal in Power plant Ljubljana (winter 2017).jpg, Komatsu Dozer pushing coal on the job site File:Frontloaderorange.jpg, A wheeled front loader
tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...
equipped with a large bucket elevated by hydraulic rams. File:Aa Truckconveyor brooklane Epart DSCF0461.JPG, Folded
conveyor A conveyor system is a common piece of mechanical handling equipment that moves materials from one location to another. Conveyors are especially useful in applications involving the transport of heavy or bulky materials. Conveyor systems allow ...
on a tracked grinder
File:IDF-D9-ZE001.jpg, The militarized
Caterpillar D9 The Caterpillar D9 is a large track-type tractor designed and manufactured by Caterpillar Inc. It is usually sold as a bulldozer equipped with a detachable large blade and a rear ripper attachment. The D9, with 354 kW (474 hp) of gross p ...
armored bulldozer allows for
earthmoving Earthworks are engineering works created through the processing of parts of the earth's surface involving quantities of soil or unformed rock. Shoring structures An incomplete list of possible temporary or permanent geotechnical shoring struct ...
projects in a combat environment. In the picture:
IDF Caterpillar D9 The IDF Caterpillar D9 —nicknamed ''Doobi'' ( he, דובי, for teddy bear) — is a Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozer used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The Israeli armored CAT D9 was heavily modified by the Israel Defense Forces, Isra ...
R. File:HSW 9.50 PICT0141.jpg, The militarized Huta Stalowa Wola
backhoe loader A backhoe loader, also called a loader backhoe, loader excavator, digger in layman's terms, or colloquially shortened to backhoe within the industry, is a heavy equipment vehicle that consists of a tractor-like unit fitted with a loader-style s ...
in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
which is subsidiary of LiuGong
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
Image:Img 613c.jpg, Military
scraper Scrape, scraper or scraping may refer to: Biology and medicine * Abrasion (medical), a type of injury * Scraper (biology), grazer-scraper, a water animal that feeds on stones and other substrates by grazing algae, microorganism and other matter ...
Image:Pionierpanzer Dachs (2008).jpg, PiPz Dachs armoured engineering vehicle of the German Army (2008) File:Temporary roads deployment complex KRVD during the "Armiya 2021" exhibition (side-rear view).jpg , Temporary roads deployment complex during the " Armiya 2021" exhibition


Implements and hydromechanical work tools

*
auger Auger may refer to: Engineering * Wood auger, a drill for making holes in wood (or in the ground) ** Auger bit, a drill bit * Auger conveyor, a device for moving material by means of a rotating helical flighting * Auger (platform), the world's f ...
* backhoe *bale spear *
broom A broom (also known in some forms as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. I ...
* bulldozer blade *clam shell bucket *cold plane * demolition shears *equipment bucket *
excavator bucket A bucket (also called a scoop to qualify shallower designs of tools) is a specialized container attached to a machine, as compared to a bucket adapted for manual use by a human being. It is a bulk material handling component. The bucket has an ...
*
forks In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods ei ...
* grapple * hydraulic hammer,
hoe ram A breaker is a powerful percussion hammer fitted to an excavator for demolishing hard (rock or concrete) structures. It is powered by an auxiliary hydraulic system from the excavator, which is fitted with a foot-operated valve for this purpose. A ...
*
hydraulics Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counte ...
*hydraulic tilting bucket (4-in-1) *landscape tiller * material handling arm *mechanical pulverizer, crusher *multi processor *pavement removal bucket * pile driver * power take-off (PTO) *
quick coupler Quick couplers (also called quick hitches) are used with construction machines to allow the rapid change of buckets and attachments on the machine. They remove the need to use hammers to manually drive out and insert the mounting pins for attach ...
* rake *
ripper Ripper or The Ripper may refer to: People * Ripper (surname) * Paul Burchill, ring name "The Ripper", a professional wrestler based on Jack the Ripper * Kirk Hammett, nicknamed "The Ripper", the lead guitarist in the heavy metal band Metallica ...
*rotating grab * sheep's foot compactor *skeleton bucket *
snow blower A snow blower or snow thrower is a machine for removing snow from an area where it is problematic, such as a driveway, sidewalk, roadway, railroad track, ice rink, or runway. The commonly used term "snow blower" is a misnomer, as the snow is ...
*
stump grinder Stump grinders can be the size of a lawn mower or as large as a truck. Most accomplish their task by means of a high-speed disk with teeth that grinds the stump and roots into small chips. A typical stump grinder incorporates a cutter wheel wi ...
*stump shear *
thumb The thumb is the first digit of the hand, next to the index finger. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position (where the palm is facing to the front), the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin English noun for thumb ...
*
tiltrotator A tiltrotator (known under a number of trade names) is a hydraulic attachment/tool used on most excavators, and backhoes between 1,5 and 40 tons in the Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland, and Norway). A tiltrotator is mounted on the excavator such ...
* trencher * vibratory plate compactor *wheel saw


Traction: Off-the-road tires and tracks

Heavy equipment requires specialized
tire A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...
s for various construction applications. While many types of equipment have continuous tracks applicable to more severe service requirements, tires are used where greater speed or mobility is required. An understanding of what equipment will be used for during the life of the tires is required for proper selection. Tire selection can have a significant impact on production and unit cost. There are three types of off-the-road tires, ''transport'' for earthmoving machines, ''work'' for slow moving earthmoving machines, and ''load and carry'' for transporting as well as digging. Off-highway tires have six categories of service C compactor, E earthmover, G grader, L loader, LS log-skidder and ML mining and logging. Within these service categories are various tread types designed for use on hard-packed surface, soft surface and rock. Tires are a large expense on any construction project, careful consideration should be given to prevent excessive wear or damage.


Heavy equipment operator

A heavy equipment operator drives and operates heavy equipment used in
engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
and
construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...
projects. Typically only
skilled workers A skilled worker is any worker who has special skill, training, knowledge which they can then apply to their work. A skilled worker may have attended a college, university or technical school. Alternatively, a skilled worker may have learned their ...
may operate heavy equipment, and there is specialized training for learning to use heavy equipment. Much publication about heavy equipment operators focuses on improving safety for such workers. The field of
occupational medicine Occupational medicine, until 1960 called industrial medicine, is the branch of medicine which is concerned with the maintenance of health in the workplace, including prevention and treatment of diseases and injuries, with secondary objectives ...
researches and makes recommendations about safety for these and other workers in safety-sensitive positions.


Equipment cost

Due to the small profit margins on construction projects it is important to maintain accurate records concerning equipment utilization, repairs and maintenance. The two main categories of equipment costs are ownership cost and
operating cost Operating costs or operational costs, are the expenses which are related to the operation of a business, or to the operation of a device, component, piece of equipment or facility. They are the cost of resources used by an organization just to main ...
.


Ownership cost

To classify as an ownership cost an expense must have been incurred regardless of if the equipment is used or not. These costs are as follows: * purchase expense *
salvage value ''Residual value'' is one of the constituents of a leasing calculus or operation. It describes the future value of a good in terms of absolute value in monetary terms and it is sometimes abbreviated into a percentage of the initial price when the i ...
* tax savings from depreciation *major repairs and
overhaul Overhaul may refer to: *The process of overhauling, see ** Maintenance, repair, and overhaul **Refueling and overhaul (eg. nuclear-powered ships) **Time between overhaul * Overhaul (firefighting), the process of searching for hidden fire extensio ...
s * property taxes *
insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
*storage
Depreciation In accountancy, depreciation is a term that refers to two aspects of the same concept: first, the actual decrease of fair value of an asset, such as the decrease in value of factory equipment each year as it is used and wear, and second, the a ...
can be calculated several ways, the simplest is the straight-line method. The annual depreciation is constant, reducing the equipment value annually. The following are simple equations paraphrased from the Peurifoy & Schexnayder text:


Operating cost

For an expense to be classified as an operating cost, it must be incurred through use of the equipment. These costs are as follows:Bartholomew, S.H. "Estimating and Bidding for Heavy Construction" CSU Chico, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, , 2000 The biggest distinction from a cost standpoint is if a repair is classified as a ''major repair'' or a ''minor repair''. A major repair can change the depreciable equipment value due to an extension in
service life A product's service life is its period of use in service. Several related terms describe more precisely a product's life, from the point of manufacture, storage, and distribution, and eventual use. Service life has been defined as "a product li ...
, while a minor repair is normal
maintenance Maintenance may refer to: Biological science * Maintenance of an organism * Maintenance respiration Non-technical maintenance * Alimony, also called ''maintenance'' in British English * Champerty and maintenance, two related legal doct ...
. How a firm chooses to cost major and minor repairs vary from firm to firm depending on the costing strategies being used. Some firms will charge only major repairs to the equipment while minor repairs are costed to a project. Another common costing strategy is to cost all repairs to the equipment and only frequently replaced wear items are excluded from the equipment cost. Many firms keep their costing structure closely guarded as it can impact the bidding strategies of their competition. In a company with multiple semi-independent divisions, the equipment department often wants to classify all repairs as "minor" and charge the work to a job – therefore improving their 'profit' from the equipment.


Models

Die-cast Die casting is a metal casting process that is characterized by forcing molten metal under high pressure into a mold cavity. The mold cavity is created using two hardened tool steel dies which have been machined into shape and work similarly t ...
metal promotional
scale model A scale model is a physical model which is geometrically similar to an object (known as the prototype). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small prototypes ...
s of heavy equipment are often produced for each vehicle to give to prospective customers. These are typically in 1:50 scale. The popular manufacturers of these models are Conrad and NZG in Germany, even for US vehicles.


Notable manufacturers

The largest 10 construction equipment manufacturers in 2020 based on revenue data of top 50 manufacturers published by KHL Group Other manufacturers include: *
Atlas Copco Atlas Copco (Copco from Compagnie Pneumatique Commerciale) is a Swedish multinational industrial company that was founded in 1873. It manufactures industrial tools and equipment. The Atlas Copco Group is a global industrial group of companies ...
*
BEML Limited BEML Limited, formerly Bharat Earth Movers Limited, is an Indian Public Sector Undertaking, headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. It manufactures a variety of heavy equipment, such as that used for earth moving, railways, transport and ...
*
Bobcat Company Bobcat Company is an American-based manufacturer of farm and construction equipment. Its American headquarters is in West Fargo, North Dakota, formerly in Gwinner, North Dakota. Its European headquarters moved in 2017 from Waterloo, Belgium, to ...
*
Case Construction Equipment Case Construction Equipment (stylized as CASE Construction Equipment, commonly referred to as simply Case) is an American manufacturer of construction machinery. Along with CASE IH, Case Construction Equipment is a brand of CNH. Case produces con ...
*
Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (russian: Челябинский тракторный завод, Chelyabinskiy traktornyy zavod, abbreviated , ) also known as CTZ-Uraltrak (''ЧТЗ-УРАЛТРАК'') is a tractor construction plant in the Russian ...
*
CNH Global CNH Industrial N.V. is an Italian-American multinational corporation with global headquarters in Basildon, United Kingdom, but controlled and mostly owned by the multinational investment company Exor, which in turn is controlled by the Agnelli ...
*
Demag Demag Cranes AG is a German heavy equipment manufacturer now controlled by Japan-based Tadano via a $215 million deal. The roots of Demag date back prior to its formation, but became Märkische Maschinenbau-Anstalt, Ludwig A.-G in 1906 as the ...
*
Fiat-Allis Fiatallis (1983 to early 2000s, Fiat-Allis 1974 to 1982), was a brand of heavy equipment (also called construction equipment, earthmoving equipment, or engineering vehicles), such as loaders, bulldozers, backhoes, scrapers, and graders. It beg ...
* HEPCO *
HIAB Hydrauliska Industri AB (HIAB) is a Swedish manufacturer of loader cranes, demountable container handlers, forestry cranes, truck-mounted forklifts and tail lifts. The company is owned by the Cargotec Corporation. History The name, Hiab, co ...
*
Hidromek Hidromek is a heavy equipment manufacturer founded in Ankara in 1978. History Hidromek was founded in 1978 by Hasan Basri Bozkurt in a small workshop in Ankara. In the first years, Hidromek produced parts such as pumps and torque converters for ...
* Hyundai Heavy Industries *
Ingersoll Rand Ingersoll Rand is an American multinational company that provides flow creation and industrial products. The company was formed in February 2020 through the spinoff of the industrial segment of Ingersoll-Randplc (now known as Trane Technologies) ...
* JCB *
Kubota Kubota machine is a Japanese multinational corporation based in Osaka. It was established in 1890. The corporation produces many products including tractors and other agricultural machinery, construction equipment, engines, vending machines, p ...
*
Kobelco Kobe Steel, Ltd. (株式会社神戸製鋼所, ''Kabushiki gaisha Kōbe Seikō-sho''), is a major Japanese steel manufacturer headquartered in Chūō-ku, Kobe. KOBELCO is the unified brand name of the Kobe Steel Group. Kobe Steel has the low ...
* LiuGong *
MARAIS Marais (, meaning "marsh") may refer to: People * Marais (given name) * Marais (surname) Other uses * Le Marais, historic district of Paris * Théâtre du Marais, the name of several theatres and theatrical troupes in Paris, France * Marais (c ...
*
Navistar International Corporation Navistar, Inc is an American holding company created in 1986 as the successor to International Harvester. Navistar operates as the owner of International-branded trucks and diesel engines. The company also produces buses under the IC Bus b ...
* NCK * New Holland * Track Marshall *
Orenstein and Koppel GmbH Orenstein & Koppel (normally abbreviated to "O&K") was a major German engineering company specialising in railway vehicles, escalators, and heavy equipment. It was founded on April 1, 1876 in Berlin by Benno Orenstein and Arthur Koppel. Orig ...
(O&K) *
Paccar Paccar Inc is an American ''Fortune'' 500 company and counts among the largest manufacturers of medium- and heavy-duty trucks in the world, and has substantial manufacturing in light and medium vehicles through its various subsidiaries. It was ...
*
Poclain ''Poclain'' is a family company founded by Georges Bataille in France in 1927, then developed by his sons Pierre and Claude Bataille, with help from Jacques and Bernard Bataille. Poclain produced excavators, and was a leader on the French and ...
* Rototilt *
Shantui Shantui Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. is a Chinese construction equipment maker, and a subsidiary of Shandong Heavy Industry. The core product line is bulldozers but in past years the company has expanded beyond reliance on a single product thr ...
*
ST Kinetics ST Engineering Land Systems Ltd (STELS), doing business as ST Kinetics, is a strategic business area of ST Engineering and handles land systems and specialty vehicles. In 2000, ST Engineering acquired the Chartered Industries of Singapore (CIS ...
*
Takeuchi Manufacturing is Japanese heavy-machinery company that produces mini excavators, hydraulic excavators, and crawler loaders. In 1971 Takeuchi introduced the first compact excavator A compact or mini excavator is a tracked or wheeled vehicle with an approxim ...
*
Wacker Neuson Wacker Neuson SE (formerly: Wacker Construction Equipment AG) with headquarters in Munich is a manufacturer of construction equipment and compact machines for concrete and construction site technology listed on the stock market. The group inclu ...
*
Yanmar is a Japanese diesel engine, heavy machinery and agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in Osaka, Japan in 1912. Yanmar manufactures and sells engines used in a wide range of applications, including seagoing vessels, pleasure boats, cons ...
*
Zoomlion Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Co., Ltd. is a Chinese construction machinery and agricultural machinery manufacturer. Road Machinery Zoomlion Official Site pile foundation rotary drilling rigs, road rollers, snowplows, street swee ...


See also

*
Construction equipment theft Construction equipment theft, is the criminal act of stealing or attempting to steal construction equipment, including all type of heavy equipments. Construction equipment theft has been recognized as a significant problem in the United States an ...
*
Non-road engine Non-road engines are engines that are used for other purposes than a motor vehicle that is used on a public roadway. The term is commonly used by regulators to classify the engines in order to control their emissions. Non-road engines are u ...
*
Associated Equipment Distributors Associated Equipment Distributors (AED) is an international trade association representing over 800 industrial equipment companies that rent and sell equipment used in construction, mining, energy, agriculture and other industrial applications. The ...
, the trade association for heavy equipment distributors


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heavy Equipment (Construction)