Heavy equipment, heavy machinery, earthmovers, construction vehicles, or construction equipment, refers to heavy-duty vehicles specially designed to execute

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

tasks, most frequently involving earthwork operations or other large construction tasks. ''Heavy equipment'' usually comprises five

equipment Equipment most commonly refers to a set of tool A tool is an Physical object, object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many Tool use by ...

systems: the implement, traction, structure, power train, and control/information. Heavy equipment has been used since at least the 1st century BC, when the ancient Roman engineer

Vitruvius Vitruvius ( ; ; –70 BC – after ) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work titled . As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissan ...

described a crane powered by human or animal labor in ''

De architectura (''On architecture'', published as ''Ten Books on Architecture'') is a treatise on architecture written by the Ancient Rome, Roman architect and military engineer Vitruvius, Marcus Vitruvius Pollio and dedicated to his patron, the emperor Caesa ...

''. 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 ...

of a

simple machine A simple machine is a machine, mechanical device that changes the Direction (geometry) , direction or Magnitude_(mathematics) , magnitude of a force. In general, they can be defined as the simplest Mechanism (engineering) , mechanisms that use ...

that multiplies 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, easing and speeding tasks which often could otherwise take hundreds of people and many weeks' labor. Some such equipment uses hydraulic drives as a primary source of motion. The word plant, in this context, has come to mean any type of industrial equipment, including mobile equipment (e.g. in the same sense as powerplant). However, plant originally meant "structure" or "establishment" – usually in the sense of factory or warehouse premises; as such, it was used in contradistinction to movable machinery, often in the phrase "plant and equipment".

History

The use of heavy equipment has a long history; the ancient Roman engineer

(1st century BCE) gave descriptions of

heavy equipment Heavy equipment, heavy machinery, earthmovers, construction vehicles, or construction equipment, refers to heavy-duty vehicles specially designed to execute construction tasks, most frequently involving earthwork operations or other large con ...

and cranes in

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

in his

treatise A treatise is a Formality, formal and systematic written discourse on some subject concerned with investigating or exposing the main principles of the subject and its conclusions."mwod:treatise, Treatise." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Acc ...

''. The

pile driver A pile driver is a heavy-duty tool used to drive piles into soil to build piers, bridges, cofferdams, and other "pole" supported structures, and patterns of pilings as part of permanent deep foundations for buildings or other structures. Pili ...

was invented around 1500. The first tunnelling shield was patented by

Marc Isambard Brunel Sir Marc Isambard Brunel (, ; 25 April 1769 – 12 December 1849) was a French-American engineer active in the United States and Britain, most famous for the civil engineering work he did in the latter. He is known for having overseen the pr ...

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 a ...

steam-powered engines the drawn machine precursors were reconfigured with the new engines, such as the

combine harvester The modern combine harvester, also called a combine, is a machine designed to harvest a variety of cultivated seeds. Combine harvesters are one of the most economically important labour-saving inventions, significantly reducing the fraction of ...

. 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 ...

, that can be configured as the

steam tractor A steam tractor is a tractor powered by a steam engine which is used for pulling. In North America, the term ''steam tractor'' usually refers to a type of agriculture, agricultural tractor powered by a steam engine, used extensively in the l ...

and the

steamroller A steamroller (or steam roller) is a form of road roller – a type of heavy construction machinery used for leveling surfaces, such as roads or airfields – that is powered by a steam engine. The leveling/flattening action is achieved through ...

. During the 20th century, internal-combustion engines became the major power source of heavy equipment.

Kerosene Kerosene, or paraffin, is a combustibility, combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in Aviation fuel, aviation as well as households. Its name derives from the Greek (''kērós'') meaning " ...

and

ethanol Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with its formula also written as , or EtOH, where Et is the ps ...

engines were used, but today

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

s are dominant. Mechanical transmission 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 industrial truck, 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 c ...

. Caterpillar Inc. is a present-day brand from these days, starting out as the Holt Manufacturing Company. The first mass-produced heavy machine was the Fordson tractor in 1917. The first commercial

continuous track Continuous track or tracked treads are a system of vehicle propulsion used in tracked vehicles, running on a continuous band of treads or track plates driven by two or more wheels. The large surface area of the tracks distributes the w ...

vehicle was the 1901 Lombard Steam Log Hauler. 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 battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

s during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and later for civilian machinery like the bulldozer. The largest engineering vehicles and mobile land machines are bucket-wheel excavators, 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 load-bearing vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles at the rear. The term "wheelbarrow" is made of two words: "wheel" and "barrow." " Ba ...
, or a cart or wagon drawn by a draft animal. 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 Sheave without a rope A pulley is a wheel on an axle or shaft enabling a taut cable or belt passing over the wheel to move and change direction, or transfer power between itself and a shaft. A pulley may have a groove or grooves between flan ...
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 dock (maritime), dockside gantry crane found at container terminals for loading and unloading intermodal containers from container ships. Containe ...

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, or International Organization for Standardization, ISO containers). Containerization, also referred as container stuf ...

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 ...

and

Bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the wildcat, bay lynx, or red lynx, is one of the four extant species within the medium-sized wild cat genus '' Lynx''. Native to North America, it ranges from southern Canada through most of the c ...

) or have launched ( Built Robotics) commercial solutions to the market.

Types

These subdivisions, in this order, are the standard heavy equipment categorization. Tractor *

Bulldozer A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large tractor equipped with a metal #Blade, blade at the front for pushing material (soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock) during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous tracks, ...

(dozer, track dozer) *

Snowcat A snowcat (a portmanteau of snow and caterpillar) is an enclosed-cab, truck-sized, fully tracked vehicle designed to travel over snow. Major manufacturers are PistenBully (Germany), Prinoth (Italy), and Tucker (United States). Snow groomer ...

Snowplow A snowplow (also snow plow, snowplough or snow plough) is a device intended for mounting on a vehicle, used for removing snow and ice from outdoor surfaces, typically those serving transportation purposes. Although this term is often used to ref ...

Skidder A skidder is any type of heavy vehicle used in a logging operation for pulling cut timber, trees out of a forest in a process called "skidding", in which the logs are transported from the cutting site to a landing. There they are loaded onto t ...

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 (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...

(wheel tractor) * Track tractor *

Locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

Artillery tractor An artillery tractor, also referred to as a gun tractor, is a specialized heavy-duty form of tractor unit used to tow artillery pieces of varying weights and calibres. It may be wheeled, tracked, or half-tracked. Traction There are two m ...

* Crawler-transporter *

Military engineering vehicle A military engineering vehicle is a vehicle built for construction work or for the transportation of combat engineering, combat engineers on the battlefield. These vehicles may be modified civilian equipment (such as the Armored bulldozer, armo ...

s Grader *

Grader A grader, also commonly referred to as a road grader, motor grader, or simply blade, is a form of heavy equipment with a long blade used to create a flat surface during Grading (engineering), grading. Although the earliest models were towed b ...

Excavator * Amphibious excavator * Compact excavator * Dragline excavator * Dredger * Bucket-wheel excavator *

Excavator Excavators are heavy equipment (construction), heavy construction equipment primarily consisting of a backhoe, boom, dipper (or stick), Bucket (machine part), bucket, and cab on a rotating platform known as the "house". The modern excavator's ...

(digger) * Long reach excavator *

Power shovel A power shovel, also known as a motor shovel, stripping shovel, front shovel, mining shovel or rope shovel, is a bucket-equipped machine usually powered by steam, diesel fuel, gasoline or electricity and used for digging and loading earth or frag ...

* Reclaimer * Suction excavator *

Walking excavator The term walking excavator may apply to two different forms of heavy equipment, the historic walking power shovel or dragline excavator that began to appear already early in the 20th century, or the contemporary version of all-terrain excavator ...

* Trencher *

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 A backhoe is a type of excavating equipment, or excavator, consisting of a digging bucket on the end of a two-part articulated arm. It is typically mounted on the back of a tractor or loader (equipment), front loader, the latter forming a "backh ...

Backhoe loader A backhoe loader, also called a loader backhoe, loader excavator, tractor excavator, digger or colloquially shortened to backhoe within the industry, is a heavy equipment (construction), heavy equipment vehicle that consists of a tractor-like u ...

Timber * Feller buncher * Harvester *

Forwarder A forwarder is a forestry vehicle that carries big felling, felled Timber, logs cut by a Harvester (forestry), harvester from the stump to a roadside landing for later acquisition. Forwarders can use rubber tires or tracks. Unlike a skidder, a ...

* Power saw * Track harvester * Wheel forwarder * Wheel skidder Pipelayer * Pipelayer (sideboom) Scraper * Fresno scraper * Scraper *

Wheel tractor-scraper In civil engineering, a wheel tractor-scraper (also known as a land scraper, land leveler, tournapull or simply called a scraper) is a type of heavy equipment used for earthmoving. It has a pan/hopper for loading and carrying material. The pan ...

(belly scraper) Mining * Construction and mining tractor * Construction and mining truck * Dumper *

Dump truck A dump truck, known also as a dumping truck, 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 typical dump truck is equipped ...

Haul truck Haul trucks are off-road, heavy-duty dump trucks specifically engineered for use in high-production mining and exceptionally demanding construction environments. Most are dual axle; at least two examples of tri-axles were made in the 1970s. Hau ...

Mining equipment Mining is the extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agricultural processes, or feasibly created artificially in a la ...

Articulated * Articulated hauler Compactor * Wheel dozer (soil compactor) * Soil stabilizer Loader * Loader (payloader, front loader, wheel loader, integrated tool carrier) * Skip loader (skippy) Track loader * Track loader Skid-steer loader * Skid-steer loader Material handler * Aerial work platform, Lift table * Crane * Block-setting crane * Bulk-handling crane * Crane vessel * Aerial crane *

Gantry crane A gantry crane is a Crane (machine), crane built atop a wikt:gantry, gantry, which is a structure used to straddle an object or workspace. They can range from enormous "full" gantry cranes, capable of lifting some of the heaviest loads in the wor ...

* Overhead crane * Electric overhead traveling crane * Ring crane * Level luffing crane *

Mobile crane A mobile crane is a cable-controlled crane mounted on crawlers or rubber-tired carriers or a hydraulic-powered crane with a telescoping boom mounted on truck-type carriers or as self-propelled models. They are designed to easily transport t ...

Travel lift A travel lift or travelift (also called a boat hoist, boat gantry crane, or boat crane) is a specialised type of crane used for lifting boats out of the water and transporting them around Dock (maritime), docks or marina, marinas. These cranes al ...

Forklift A forklift (also called industrial truck, 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 c ...

Garbage truck A garbage truck is a truck specially designed to collect municipal solid waste and transport it to a list of solid waste treatment technologies, solid waste treatment facility, such as a landfill, materials recovery facility, recycling center ...

* Grapple truck, Knuckleboom loader (trailer mount) * Straddle carrier *

Sidelifter A sidelifter is a specialised vehicle or semi-trailer used to hoist and transport International Organization for Standardization, ISO standard intermodal containers over longer distances. Overview The sidelifter loads and unloads containers via a ...

* Reach stacker * Telescopic handlers *

Tow truck A tow truck (also called a wrecker, a breakdown truck, recovery vehicle or a breakdown lorry) is a truck used to move disabled, improperly parked, Vehicle impoundment, impounded, or otherwise indisposed motor vehicles. This may involve recoverin ...

Paving * Asphalt paver * Asphalt plant * Cold planer * 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 smoo ...

* Pneumatic tire compactor * Roller (road roller, roller compactor) * Slipform paver * Vibratory compactor, Compactor Underground * Roadheader *

Tunnel boring machine A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole" or a "worm", is a machine used to excavate tunnels. TBMs are an alternative to drilling and blasting methods and "hand mining", allowing more rapid excavation through hard rock, wet or dry so ...

* Underground mining equipment Hydromatic tool * Ballast tamper * Attachments *

Drilling rig A drilling rig is an integrated system that Drilling, drills wells, such as oil or water wells, or holes for piling and other construction purposes, into the earth's subsurface. Drilling rigs can be massive structures housing equipment used to ...

Horizontal directional drilling Directional boring, also referred to as horizontal directional drilling (HDD), is a minimal impact trenchless method of installing underground utilities such as pipe, Electrical conduit, conduit, or Telecommunications cable, cables in a relativel ...

* Earth auger *

Pile driver A pile driver is a heavy-duty tool used to drive piles into soil to build piers, bridges, cofferdams, and other "pole" supported structures, and patterns of pilings as part of permanent deep foundations for buildings or other structures. Pili ...

* Post pounder * Rotary tiller (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 a ...

Highway *

Tractor unit A tractor unit, also known as a truck unit, lorry unit, power unit, prime mover, ten-wheeler, semi-tractor, semi-truck, semi-lorry, tractor cab, truck cab, lorry cab, big rig tractor, big rig truck or big rig lorry or simply a tractor, truck, ...

Ballast tractor A ballast tractor is a specially weighted tractor unit of a heavy hauler combination. It is designed to utilize a drawbar to pull or push heavy or exceptionally large trailer loads which are loaded in a hydraulic modular trailer. When feasi ...

* Pushback tractor * Railcar mover * Highway 10 yard rear dump * Highway bottom dump (stiff), pup (belly train), triple * Highway end dump and side dump * Highway transfer, Transfer train * Concrete mixer * Concrete mix truck * Concrete mix dozer *

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 trailer (vehicle), gooseneck and one right before t ...

Street sweeper A street sweeper or street cleaner is a person or machine that cleans streets. People have worked in cities as "sanitation workers" since sanitation and Waste management, waste removal became a priority. A street-sweeping person would use a b ...

* Street sweep truck * Street sweep dozer

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 (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...

s and is characterized by a steel

blade A blade is the Sharpness (cutting), sharp, cutting portion of a tool, weapon, or machine, specifically designed to puncture, chop, slice, or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they a ...

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 Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

. File:Komatsu excavator PC210LC.JPG, The bucket

excavator Excavators are heavy equipment (construction), heavy construction equipment primarily consisting of a backhoe, boom, dipper (or stick), Bucket (machine part), bucket, and cab on a rotating platform known as the "house". The modern excavator's ...

Komatsu PC210-LC. File:SMC 200 R.jpg, The wheel trencher MARAIS 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 aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

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 D9L bulldozer, excavators and other heavy equipment vehicles parked near a

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

in Israel File:Garzweiler Tagebau-1230.jpg, Bucket wheel excavators in

Garzweiler surface mine The Tagebau Garzweiler () is a surface mine () in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is operated by RWE and used for mining lignite Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

File:Komatsu Wheel Loader WA600-6,Hitachinaka city,Japan.jpg, Wheel loader 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 (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

equipped with a large bucket elevated by hydraulic rams. File:Aa Truckconveyor brooklane Epart DSCF0461.JPG, Folded conveyor on a tracked grinder File:IDF-D9-ZE001.jpg, The militarized Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozer allows for earthmoving projects in a combat environment. In the picture: IDF Caterpillar D9R. File:HSW 9.50 PICT0141.jpg, The militarized Huta Stalowa Wola

backhoe loader A backhoe loader, also called a loader backhoe, loader excavator, tractor excavator, digger or colloquially shortened to backhoe within the industry, is a heavy equipment (construction), heavy equipment vehicle that consists of a tractor-like u ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

which is subsidiary of LiuGong

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Image:Img 613c.jpg, Military scraper Image:Pionierpanzer Dachs (2008).jpg, PiPz Dachs armoured engineering vehicle of the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

(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 *

backhoe A backhoe is a type of excavating equipment, or excavator, consisting of a digging bucket on the end of a two-part articulated arm. It is typically mounted on the back of a tractor or loader (equipment), front loader, the latter forming a "backh ...

*bale spear *

broom A broom (also known 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. It is thus a ...

* bulldozer blade *clam shell bucket *cold plane * demolition shears *equipment bucket * excavator bucket *

forks In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from 'pitchfork') is a Eating utensil, utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tine (structural), tines with whic ...

* 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 () 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 counterpart of pneumatics, which concer ...

*hydraulic tilting bucket (4-in-1) *landscape tiller * material handling arm *mechanical pulverizer, crusher *multi processor *pavement removal bucket *

power take-off A power take-off or power takeoff (PTO) is one of several methods for taking power from a power source, such as a running engine, and power transmission#Mechanical power, transmitting it to an application such as an attached implement or separate ...

(PTO) * quick coupler * rake * ripper *rotating grab * sheep's foot compactor *skeleton bucket * snow blower * stump grinder *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 * trencher * vibratory plate compactor *wheel saw

Traction: Off-the-road tires and tracks

Heavy equipment requires specialized

tire A tire (North American English) or tyre (Commonwealth 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 (engineeri ...

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

used in

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

and

projects. Typically only skilled workers 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 and Environmental Medicine (OEM), previously called industrial medicine, is a board certified medical specialty under the American Board of Preventative Medicine that specializes in the prevention and treatment of work-related ill ...

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.

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 * tax savings from depreciation *major repairs and overhauls *

property taxes A property tax (whose rate is expressed as a percentage or per mille, also called ''millage'') is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net we ...

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 protect ...

*storage

Depreciation In accountancy, depreciation refers to two aspects of the same concept: first, an actual reduction in the fair value of an asset, such as the decrease in value of factory equipment each year as it is used and wears, and second, the allocation i ...

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: 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, while a minor repair is normal

maintenance The technical meaning of maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure and supporting utilities in industrial, business, and residential installa ...

. 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 metal promotional

scale model A scale model is a physical model that 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 protot ...

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 heavy equipment manufacturers in 2022 Other manufacturers include: * Anhui Heli * Atlas Copco * BEML Limited * Bobcat Company *

Case Construction Equipment Case Construction Equipment (stylized as CASE Construction Equipment, commonly referred to as simply Case) is an Italian-American manufacturer of construction machinery. Along with CASE IH, Case Construction Equipment is a brand of CNH. Case pro ...

* Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant * CNH Global * Demag * Fiat-Allis * HEPCO * HIAB * Hidromek *

Hyundai Heavy Industries HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (HHI; ) is the world's largest shipbuilding company and a major heavy equipment manufacturer. Its headquarters are in Ulsan, South Korea. History HHI was founded in 1972 by Chung Ju-yung as a division ...

* Ingersoll Rand * Kubota * Kobelco * LiuGong * MARAIS * Navistar International Corporation * NCK * New Holland * Track Marshall * Orenstein and Koppel GmbH (O&K) *

Paccar Paccar Inc. (stylized as PACCAR) is an American company primarily focused on the design and manufacturing of large commercial trucks through its subsidiaries DAF, Kenworth and Peterbilt sold across markets worldwide. The company is headquartere ...

* Poclain * Rototilt * Shantui * ST Kinetics * Takeuchi Manufacturing * Wacker Neuson * Yanmar * Zoomlion

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heavy Equipment (Construction)