Construction projects involve a lot of heavy machinery. Some machines lift objects. Some machines cut trees. However, one of the most impressive heavy machinery used in construction is the excavator.
What are Excavators?
Excavators are one of the largest construction machines that you may use for an ongoing project. These machines are responsible for moving chunks of the earth during landscaping, road laying, mining, or trenching projects. An excavator may weigh from 3500 to 200,000 pounds and may also be used during the project’s demolition stage.
Excavators must not be mistaken for a backhoe since these two machines are significantly different. While both pieces of machinery have booms and buckets used for digging, excavators can rotate their booms to a full 360 degrees, while backhoes can only rotate up to 200 degrees. Likewise, backhoes can only dig light to medium work, while the heavy digging is reserved for the excavators.
The Top Largest Excavators in the World
Excavators vary in size and type. The different types of excavators include the crawlers, the draglines, the suction, the skid steer, and the long reach. Each type of excavator has its strength and application to specific jobs. For large construction projects, a large excavator is practical since it can do the work of numerous smaller excavators at once.
Here is a list of the largest excavators used across the world.
The Caterpillar 6090 FS can fill the largest dump truck in less than 5 passes
Caterpillar 6090 FS Excavator. When Caterpillar bought Bucyrus in 2011, they improved on the Bucyrus RH400 excavator, making it larger and more powerful. The resulting model is the Caterpillar 6090 FS, which weighs 1000 tons. Two Cummins QSK60 engines power this excavator with a maximum output of 4500 HP. The 6090 FS has a bucket capacity of 52 cubic meters and an almost 100-ton payload.
Bucyrus RH 400 Excavator. The RH 400 was the largest excavator until Caterpillar bought its manufacturer and improved its RH 400 model. However, during its fame, the RH 400 held the record for moving almost 10,000 tons of material within an hour. The RH 400 is only 20 tons lighter than the largest excavator in the world.
Hitachi EX8000-6 Excavator. Coming in at third place is the EX8000-6 from Hitachi. This excavator weighs around 840 tons and can be equipped with a 44 cubic meter bucket or a 40 cubic meter shovel. The twin Cumming engines of this excavator has a maximum output of 3900 HP.
Liebherr R9800 Excavator. Liebherr’s excavator comes in fourth place with a weight of 810 tons. This R9800 model has a 4000 HP Twin Cummings Diesel Engines that can move a 48 cubic meter bucket.
Komatsu PC8000-11 Excavator. In fifth place is Komatsu’s entry to the excavator heavyweight division. The PC8000-11 weight falls short of the 800 ton-mark. However, its shovel and backhoe capacity are comparable to that of the third and fourth largest excavators.
If you are a fan of construction heavy machinery, then seeing these machines in action will be amazing.
