Excavators are among the most useful pieces of machinery at any construction site. Many excavators come equipped with a basic bucket that may or may not meet your needs. Replacing your excavator bucket could allow you to make the machine more productive in the future.
Here are three things you should take into consideration when determining which bucket is right for your excavator.
1. Material Density
It's essential that you identify the type of material you work with most often when investing in a new bucket for your excavator.
Denser materials tend to weigh a lot, and this added weight can significantly limit your excavator's cycle time. Smaller buckets tend to work better for dense materials because they prevent the gross weight of each load from being too high.
A smaller bucket will not only allow you to maintain a consistent cycle time, but it can also help you extend the life of your excavator's motor, transmission, and hydraulic systems as well.
2. Intended Applications
In addition to the density of the materials that you handle on a regular basis, you must take into consideration the routine applications for which your excavator is used before investing in a new bucket.
Excavators can be used to complete a wide range of tasks on a construction site. You may use your excavator to dig trenches, move rocks, or push heavy materials. The type of bucket that will work best for each of these applications will differ.
If trenching is your primary application, you will need a bucket that is not wider than the widest trench you dig on a routine basis. If you use your excavator to move a lot of rocks, a bucket with a V-shaped cutting edge can help you get the job done more efficiently. Buckets that are designed to push heavy materials need a broad, flat base.
By shopping with your desired applications in mind, you can easily pick out the excavator bucket that will best meet your needs.
3. Specialty Bucket Designs
While there are common excavator buckets that can fulfill a variety of purposes, there are also specialty buckets that are designed to fill a very specific need.
Some of the specialty buckets that you may want to consider include a riddle bucket for sorting coarse rock from fine soil, a V-bucket for digging angular trenches used when laying pipe, and a hard-pan bucket that can loosen compacted soil while digging.
For more information on heavy equipment parts, contact a supplier near you.
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