5 Types of Heavy Equipment Used in Construction You Should Know About

The job site doesn’t have to be so mysterious. Each one of the types of heavy equipment has a job to do, and when used together, they accomplish amazing building and demolition feats.

If you’ve ever been curious about construction equipment and what the heavy machinery is for, look no further.

Here’s a closer look at the five common types of heavy equipment that you should know about and how they’re used!

  1. Bulldozers

One of the most popular with kids who are construction fanatics, bulldozers are all very recognizable on the building site. Bulldozers have a large, wide scoop on the front that moves huge amounts of dirt or debris. They’re adjustable, so they can do finer work like leveling and grading if necessary.

The soil the bulldozer works best with is loose, not hard or compact. Construction workers need another tool like a backhoe if they’re trying to dig in tough places (more on those below).

  1. Dump Trucks

These large trucks have huge wheels and a big receptacle in the back for carrying big loads. The back part lifts up to dump out the contents of the truck, giving the equipment its name and making it even more useful. Typical dump trucks are around 20 feet long, and they can carry about 15,000 pounds at a time. However, if you have a smaller amount of debris to dispose of, consider using a Dumpster Rental Ashburn  for a more cost-effective and efficient solution.

  1. Compactors

Compactors take soil or another material and smash it together to make it take up less room. Plate compactors are smaller types of heavy equipment that have a heavy metal plate on the end of a hydraulic arm. When shopping for a plate compactor, it is important to take several things into consideration when making the purchasing decision, such as how large the compactor’s plate is, its motor capacity, and any additional features it may have

They vibrate and ram the soil to compress it, and they can work for backyard projects, too, not only heavy construction. If you see a plate compactor for sale and you do a lot of work in landscaping, it makes for a handy tool to have at home.

  1. Planers

Milling machines, also known as cold planers, take up the old asphalt from a road to make way for the new asphalt. Besides its ability to mill the asphalt and remove it, the machine also grinds up the asphalt to make it easier to dispose of. Visit https://calalta.ca/ for more information

While the machine grinds the asphalt in a big drum in the belly of the machine, it uses water to wet it down and minimize any dust.

  1. Hardiest Types of Heavy Equipment: Backhoes

This family of equipment has a few cousins. Backhoes, compact track loader, and excavators are some of the most interesting big machines in heavy construction. All 3 big machines are for digging, usually combining a tractor with a scoop or a backhoe.

The scoop can dig earth that’s compact or very hard, as well as do the heavy lifting. Excavators can do the same type of tasks, but they’ll rotate all the way around.

You can find different types of moving styles on these machines: if you want continuous tracks (like the caterpillars on a tank), those are one option. Yet they also come with wheels, too.

Important Jobs to Do

All these types of heavy equipment have important jobs on the construction site. Workers use them all in tandem to make every site more efficient. From bulldozers and dump trucks to smaller machines like backhoes and plate compactors, every one of them serves its own purpose.

If you liked this article, explore some of our other posts!

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