What makes an excavator more desirable than a comparably sized backhoe/loader. It seems to me that a backhoe/loader would be better because it can do more than just dig but i'm sure I'm missing something. Thanks Steve.
working in tight spaces your better off with an excavator. But, sometimes you have to work with what you got. A backhoe is nice if your doing quick hit jobs around town.
The reason for using a excavator is because if you are diging a trench the excavator will way outdig the backhoe.
Each machine has its place. If excavation is the primary task, the excavator will do it faster for a number of reasons. When you need to move the machine, you simply push the pedals or levers on the excavator instead of raising the stabilizers, swinging the seat around, shifting into gear, move the tractor, shift to neutral, swing the seat back around, and drop the stabilizers and resume digging in the backhoe. The excavator is also more maneuverable and as such can be positioned quicker. With 360 degree rotation, you can place your spoils pile in more convenient locations than the backhoe. Where the backhoe excels is when you must transport materials or load a truck from a stockpile.
The biggest benefit of a excavator is anybody can run one with a little practice. It takes a few years of practice to run a backhoe properly. If your good at running a rubber tired hoe you can run any machine. Another benefit is a excavator can go pretty well anywhere.
You've got to use your head more when running a backhoe, positioning the machine so you can dig and load out your spoil, or stack it out of the way. Both machines are extremely versatile, and we run both of them, the biggest thing to me is the swing. Once you get used to an excavator, it takes a few minutes to get back into the groove on a backhoe.
An excavator will usually out dig a backhoe (very rarely does the backhoe win) also it fits in tighter areas and you don't have to spend lots of time positioning yourself to dig like you do in a backhoe. Like said above though they each have their place.
Thanks to all for replying. Steve
They both have their place. That said, I own excavators and tracked loaders, I own no backhoes. Excavator is a better well excavator, and a 8klb tracked loader will out perform a 16klb backhoe in nearly all circumstances. I wouldn't want to try climbing a 1.5:1 slope in a backhoe, almost any excavator will scale that without even trying.
Really dumb question about excavators/ No such thing as Dumb Questions on HEF (the occaisional Dumb answer ) See signature
Sageair- try to do some surfing around HEF as i seem to recall a couple of discussions regarding the skid steer/mini x combo versus backhoe loader. I've got more seat time on a 310G TBL, but my brother owns a takeuchi 125 mini (only 25hp?). I must say that i'm totally blown away. The additional features of backfill blade and side arm pivot make me wish we'd used one on a narrow alley wastewater reconstruction project a while back. I'm lusting after a larger sized machine. I agree with all the above posts. My limited experience on my brother's mini x gives me the following positive features over the tbl: 1. lighter weight on the mini for transport 2. ability to get the excavated material further away from the trench or even behind the machine for haul off (pretty big deal IMO where spoils need to be away from the hole for safety concerns.) 3. seems like i can do a better job grading with the mini x than the tbl-maybe i'm just a lame operator on the tbl! plus all the many, many other positives mentioned by others... All that said in favor of the x, i still hope that we always have a tbl on our larger jobsites.
excavator vs. backhoe the ability to swing 360 degrees eleminates handling dirt multiple times to get it where you need it 4 the jobs i do this is very very important i know i use to use a backhoe 4 this now i can do lots more jobs in a day !!! i can manuver the excavator in much less space without moving the machine all over the place !