Backhoe Loaders

Introduction

A backhoe loader is a heavy equipment used in the construction industry and it is designed to to excavate soil and to load materials. Due to its versatility backhoe loaders are used to perform multiple additional tasks such as moving materials and equipment, demolishing small structures, and other numerous applications. Backhoe loaders combine the characteristics of an excavator and a loader in a smaller and less expensive equipment.

 

A backhoe loader, sometimes called rear actor or back actor, generally consist of both a digger and a loader component which are mounted on an tractor. The digger or backhoe has an excavating bucket at the end of and articulated arm that has two parts: the stick that supports the bucket and the boom that connects to the tractor chassis.

 

Applications

Backhoe loaders are general-purpose tools and are an alternative to specialist tools such as excavators, loaders, and skid-steers. The choice for selecting one or other equipment depends on the characteristics of each specific job.

 

The loader and backhoe components are a practical combination for several jobs because the material excavated with the backhoe component can be either moved out of the area or to filled back in once utilities such as pipes and power lines have been installed. The most common application for a backhoe loader is excavating a trench, filling it, and moving out remaining soil. They are usually combined with dump trucks for this last activity. Backhoes are often used in trenching tasks for installing water and sewerage pipes, electrical conducts, communication ducts, irrigation channels, and ditches.

Specifications

One of the most significant variables in backhoe performance is dig depth. This is simply a rating of how deep the backhoe arm can dig. Typically, dig depth is somewhere between 12 and 16 feet (3 to 5 m). Many backhoes have an extendible stick that lets them increase this dig depth a few feet when needed. Most backhoe jobs don't require operators to dig ditches and holes more than 10-feet deep, but the dig depth is still a useful measure because it also indicates how far out the backhoe can reach.

 

Another important rating is horsepower. If you've read How Horsepower Works, then you know that horsepower is a measure of how much work something can do in a certain amount of time. A backhoe horsepower rating tells you how much power the engine provides for all of the systems in the backhoe, which gives you an idea of what the backhoe is capable of.

 

Backhoe Loaders