Archive for the ‘Construction Equipment’ Category
Tuesday, December 30th, 2008 |
Construction machinery performs multi various tasks mostly using hydraulic power. Some of the recent innovations in the construction machinery industry carry fully computerized hydraulic control systems, energy-saving measures and features needed for comfortable and efficient operation. With the current focus on environment, most of the construction machinery is geared to perform with less noise, less vibration and low emissions.
Mini excavators for sale are meant for use in urban areas with a dense population. They are designed for efficient functioning in narrow jobsites with safety features such as tip-over protection, falling object protection to avoid the dangers involved in urban construction.
Large Excavators are mostly used in mining. In the mining industry, heavy construction machinery for sale loads are carried continuously, the large excavators are geared for non-stop performance with durability.
Cost-efficiency is one important factor in the mining industry, hence only an excavator that provides lowest cost per ton for material movement is ideal. To get significant savings, these large excavators need very low maintenance cost and a longer life.
Where mobility of operation is the important factor, wheeled excavators are the ideal construction equipment. They can work on any terrain and can be easily controlled in different terrains.
Wheel loaders for sale come with various options which are designed for operational ease. The levers and pedals can be operated with minimum force to achieve better control. Visibility is the important factor for wheel loaders for comfortable operations. In construction sites, the hydraulic pump motor in the wheel loaders provides easy mobility.
Articulated dump trucks are mostly used in construction sites located in hilly terrains. Because of the sloping terrain, the operator in the cabin is provided with more visibility of the surrounding area. The truck comes with diagnostic display controls and warnings for malfunctions to provide safety.
Rubber crawler carriers are good for uneven and muddy construction locations. Even when carrying heavy loads, on soft ground conditions, these carriers should run smoothly to prevent accidents. At the same time when used on a paved road, they should not damage the surface of the road. Another factor to be noted is that the rubber crawler carrier should be able to pull out of hindrances and ditches in the construction site.
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Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 |
Construction equipment is much like any other equipment in one sense; if you take care of it, it performs better than if it is abused. However, construction equipment typically tends to be used harder than similar equipment would be used if not on a construction site.
Another generality which can be made regarding construction equipment is its size. When we think of construction, we think of the giant earth moving machines, the oversize cranes, the trucks which haul materials and supplies to and from the construction location.
Construction equipment tends to be specialized for one purpose only. Although dump trucks collect and transport dirt and rocks, there is a great deal of difference between hauling a huge load of boulders to be used as road bed base for a interstate highway and hauling a load of paving stones from the local Home Depot outlet to the patio behind one’s home.
Important features to consider when viewing the subject of construction equipment repairs are the cost, accessibility, speed and useful life of the equipment.
The cost of the repair can vary based on who is doing the repair. Some companies find it more cost effective to hire and train their own mechanics to deal with construction equipment repairs and maintenance. Others will pay the cost of a factory trained mechanic or a qualified service provider.
Depending on where the construction equipment is sited, getting the equipment to the repair facility, or bringing repair personnel to the equipment can be a major undertaking.
The length of time required to complete the repair can be a crucial factor when down time on a job can have a snowball effect on the capability of completing an entire project on time and on budget. Sometimes even minutes of downtime because of needed construction equipment repairs can jeopardize the financial success of the project.
One final factor which is important to consider regarding repairs of construction equipment is the useful life of the equipment. Ordinarily, from an accounting standpoint, equipment is depreciated over some period of time and then discarded, either through sales or junking of the item. Putting repair money into equipment which has already reached the end of its useful life may not be cost effective.
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Monday, October 27th, 2008 |
There are several types of forklift accessories that make it possible to use the new or used forklift equipment in a variety of different situations. Add-ons make it possible to carry metal drums filled with liquid, large rolls of carpet, or even people.
Drum handlers make it possible to safely transport liquid filled drums on a forklift. Most drum handlers slide onto the forks of the lift, allowing the operator to lift the drum handler by raising the forks off of the ground. Drum handlers hold the drums in one of two ways. The most common method is for the drum handler to clamp onto the rim of the drum in one or two places. This is perfect for keeping the drum upright and stable during transportation. Another way is to attach the drum by chaining the drum to a drum faucet from the cab of the forklift. This way, the forklift operator has the option to control the speed at which the drum contents are dumped by operating a chain pulley.
Carpet poles are long, sturdy poles that are used to carry roles of material such as carpet. They can be mounted to the carriage or to the forks. Carpet poles are useful because they allow forklift operators to safely transport carpet rolls by putting a pole through the hollow center of the roll. The carpet is not able to roll around during movement as it would if it were merely sitting on the forks.
A man basket is perfect when a person needs to be lifted off of the ground in order to perform some type of maintenance or repair. The forks of the lift slide into slots on the bottom of the man basket to provide stability. The forklift operator can then use the forks to lift the person in the man basket as high as the forks can rise. Most man baskets have a swing door and a safety chain to insure that the person doesn’t fall out. Man baskets are often safer than ladders or scaffolding.
Forklift accessories make forklifts even more versatile. It is very important to use the forklift accessories in the manner for which they are intended to avoid costly heavy equipment repairs or serious bodily injury.
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Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 |
At the time of purchasing an excavator it is extremely important to check it thoroughly. You are required to shoulder this responsibility. The reasons behind this inspection are that if you do not check you may get into trouble and unnecessarily get a damaged piece of no use. The whole intention of saving your money would not materialize in reality. And at the end of the day it won’t be an investment but a huge expenditure. This is because you would be spending a lot of money on the maintenance of the parts.
This inspection process of a used excavator can be performed within two stages. First stage would involve a visual examination. The examination on the second stage would be based on performance. At the time of the second stage of examination that is the performance inspection the excavator would be required to get started in order to perform certain functions for its proper assessment. However, during the first stage of inspection which is visual examination you are required to take care of certain important aspects. The lists of primary mechanism that you are required to check are as follows:
Under carriage and track– This kind of inspection usually involves inspecting the amount of wear and tear in the mechanism and also the condition of some of the links that are supporting the metal plates separately. The metal plates constitute an important part of the tracks. This type of inspection will tell you the need of replacing the tracks in the due course of time. Few other things that are required to be inspected are the sprockets and the rollers.
The Stick, Cab, bucket and Boom- at the time of verification of these items you should watch carefully for the welds. However, they should not be factory made as this would indicate the already repaired parts. At the time of inspecting the stick and the boom you will have to ensure whether they are twisted or bended. Verification of the pivot points is mandatory in order to replace them. Do remember to check the condition of the bucket.
Engines- At the time of assessing the engines the most important thing is the soot or the leakage. If you find anything like this then the engine is of no use. However, at the presence of this kind of leakage you can always go for servicing to see how things are working.
The bearings and the swing gears are also require to be checked. It is also important to check the condition of the hydraulic system through moving of the bucket, dipper and the boom. At the end you are required to check the excavator drive system. You have to test drive the excavator for a short distance. If the excavators are running the way you want them to then in all probability they should run without stopping.
The heavy equipment dealers can offer you a range of mini excavators. The difficult task is to select the best out of the whole. You have to decide whether the new or used heavy construction equipment you are selecting would serve your purpose or not. An ideal mini excavator dealer would be one who has the knowledge about the business you are dealing with before taking anything from you. The responsibility of the dealer would be to find out where and how you are deciding to implement the mini excavator. You should make sure that the dealer is aware of your budget and the purpose behind your implementation of the machine.
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Thursday, September 25th, 2008 |
A new or used bulldozer for sale is a crawler (caterpillar tracked tractor), equipped with a substantial metal plate (known as a blade), used to push large quantities of soil, sand, rubble, etc, during construction work. The term “bulldozer” is often used to mean any heavy engineering vehicle (frequently loaders and in particular track loaders), but precisely, the term refers only to a tractor (usually tracked) fitted with a dozer blade. That is the meaning used here.
The first bulldozers were adapted from Holt farm tractors that were used to plough fields. Their versatility in soft ground for logging and road building led directly to their becoming the armoured tank in World War I.
In 1923, a young farmer named James Cummings and a draftsman named J. Earl McLeod made the first designs for a bulldozer. A replica is on display at the city park in Morrowville, Kansas where the two built the first bulldozer.
By the 1920s, tracked vehicles became common, particularly the Caterpillar (60). To dig canals, raise earth dams, and do other earthmoving jobs, these tractors were equipped with a large thick metal plate in front. This metal plate (it got its curved shape later) is called a “blade”. The blade peels layers of soil and pushes it forward as the tractor advances. Several specialized blades have been developed for high volume loads such as coal, rakes to remove only larger boulders, or blades with razor sharp edges to cut tree stumps. In some early models the driver sat on top in the open without a cabin. These attachments, home built or by small equipment manufacturers of attachments for wheeled and crawler tractors and trucks, appeared by 1929, widespread acceptance of the bull-grader does not seem to appear before the mid-1930s, and the addition of powered down force made them the preferred new and used excavators for large and small contractors alike by the 1940s, by which time the term “bulldozer” referred to the entire machine and not just the attachment.
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Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 |
When in the warehouse or shipment business, there will always be the need to move large, heavy amounts of goods or supplies. The forklift can be one of the most basic and invaluable pieces of equipment you can have in the shipping industry.
When it’s time to buy or replace the forklifts in your warehouse, it’s important to shop around to get the best deals. The Internet can be invaluable by helping you to find used forklifts. Here, you will not only have access to a great selection of dealers, but a large variety of forklift types as well.
Just as you would with a used car, buying used forklifts is a great way to save money on such an essential item. The Internet has many online dealers to cater to your shipping needs. From used Hyster Forklifts to Nissan Forklifts, there is sure to be someone online who will be able to get you the best deals on high quality heavy equipment.
Selection is another valuable aspect of shopping around for used forklifts online. Whether you are looking for something from Caterpillar, Mitsubishi, or Komatsu, you will find the major manufacturers you are looking for online. For that matter, why stop at forklifts? Cherry pickers and other useful gear are available as well, if you know where to look.
Another important aspect of choosing the right online used forklifts dealer for you is to take a look at the variety of forklifts they have for sale. If you need pneumatic, cushion, scissor lift, or shooting boom forklifts, you should be able to get it all at one stop. Being able to satisfy the varying needs of each individual material handling situation is an essential component of any good used forklift dealer.
Of course, the most essential component is quality. Obviously, you can’t kick the tires on a forklift that is being sold online. How can you be certain you are getting the best product for your money? How do you know you are dealing with a reputable company who will stand behind the used products they sell?
The best way to know if you are buying from the right online used forklifts dealer is to do a little homework. How long has a company been in business? Can you contact them to ask questions? Are they recommended by other websites?
Once you buy from someone you know you can rely upon, the process of purchasing or replacing a forklift by shopping from an online dealer will simplify things immensely. The equipment you need can be shipped directly to you, freeing your time to do more important things than having to go pick out and haul a forklift from a dealer yourself. You will also have the peace of mind of knowing you are getting high quality equipment that you don’t have to worry about.
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Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 |
Caterpillar’s D7E crawler dozer is the first electrically driven dozer using modern alternating-current (AC) technology, and Cat claims it will move up to 25 percent more material per gallon of fuel than the D7R Series II. The drive system takes advantage of today’s small, less-costly semiconductors that can rectify heavy-duty-drive voltage to AC, eliminating brushes. The drive is developed by Caterpillar specifically for crawler loaders.
A 235-horsepower Cat C9.3 diesel drives a generator to produce electricity that runs to a power module where it is inverted to AC current. The current powers two AC drive motors arranged in series, which drives a differential steering system much like that used on other Caterpillar equipments.
The electric drive train has 60 percent fewer moving parts than the drive in previous D7s. And because power flows from the generator to the electric drives through cables, rather than a hard drive shaft, the tractor’s heaviest components can be positioned optimally in the frame for ideal machine balance.
The C9.3 engine is smaller and achieves rated power at 1,700 rpm, compared to the D7R’s 240-horsepower Cat 3176. Smaller displacement is responsible for some of the up-to-20-percent fuel savings, but the biggest efficiency gains come from eliminating the torque converter and keeping the engine running in a much more narrow range of speeds.
The 3176 diesel coupled to a powershift transmission in the D7R normally operates in a speed range from 1,200 to 2,100 rpm, whereas the C9 and electric drive operates more efficiently near peak torque, staying between 1,450 and 1,700 rpm, according to Mike Betz, Caterpillar engineering manager for track-type tractors.
Electric drive eliminates gear shifting, and is said to perform much like a hydrostatic drive, albeit with a much faster response to load demands. Electric-over-hydraulic joysticks control propulsion and blade. Steering performance is improved 50 percent, partly due to use of a dedicated steering pump equal to that used in the D8’s differential steering system. With no mechanical link between the D10-sized final drives and the electric motors’ refined power, the D7E can lock one track for pivot turns, and even counter-rotate to turn within a diameter no greater than the machine’s overall length.
Efficiency is also gained by eliminating parasitic engine load. There are no belts on the D7E’s engine. The cooling fan is powered by a thermostatically controlled hydraulic motor. (The generator, inverter, and electric motors are liquid cooled.) Twenty-four-volt current is drawn from the generator and diverted to run the water pump, charge the batteries, and power the self-contained air conditioning unit mounted on the cab roof.
The D7E is expected to be commercially available in 2009. Caterpillar intends to replace the R model in North America with the electric-drive innovation.Cat believes the greatest opportunities for spreading its newly developed electric-drive technology are on hard-pulling machines that currently use a torque converter. The minds behind the technology hint that there is enormous potential to add batteries (as they improve) and energy regeneration systems to an electric drive train and create ultra-low-emissions hybrid earthmovers in the future.
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Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008 |
The bulldozer is a very powerful crawler that is equipped with a blade. The term bulldozer is often used to mean any type of heavy machinery, although the term actually refers to a tractor that is fitted with a dozer blade. Often times, bulldozers are large and extremely powerful tracked vehicles. The tracks give them amazing ground mobility and hold through very rough terrain. Wide tracks on the other hand, help to distribute the weight of the dozer over large areas, therefore preventing it from sinking into sandy or muddy ground.
Bulldozers have great ground hold and a torque divider that’s designed to convert the power of the engine into dragging ability, which allows it to use its own weight to push heavy objects and even remove things from the ground. Take the Caterpillar D9 for example, it can easily tow tanks that weight more than 70 tons. Due to these attributes, bulldozers are used to clear obstacles, shrubbery, and remains of structures and buildings.
The blade on a bulldozer is the heavy piece of metal plate that is installed on the front. The blade pushes things around. Normally, the blade comes in 3 varieties:
1. A straight blade that is short and has no lateral curve, no side wings, and can be used only for fine grading.
2. A universal blade, or U blade, which is tall and very curved, and features large side wings to carry more material around.
3. A combination blade that is shorter, offers less curvature, and smaller side wings.
Over time, bulldozers have been modified to evolve into new machines that are capable of things the original bulldozers weren’t. A good example is that loader tractors were created by removing the blade and substituting a large volume bucket and hydraulic arms which will raise and lower the bucket, therefore making it useful for scooping up the earth and loading it into trucks. Other modifications to the original bulldozer include making it smaller to where it can operate in small working areas where movement is very limited, such as mining caves and tunnels. Very small bulldozers are known as calfdozers.
The first types of bulldozers were adapted from farm tractors that were used to plough fields. In order to dig canals, raise earth dams, and partake in earthmoving jobs, the tractors were equipped with a thick metal plate in the front. Later on, this thick metal plate earned the name blade. The blade of the bulldozer peels layers of soil and pushes it forward as the tractor advances. The blade is the heart and soul of the bulldozer, as it was the first accessory to make full use for excavation type jobs.
As the years went by, when engineers needed equipment to complete larger jobs, companies such as CAT, Komatsu, John Deere, Case, and JCB started to manufacture large tracked earthmoving equipment. They were very loud, very large, and very powerful and therefore earned the nickname “bulldozer”. Over the years, the bulldozers got bigger, more powerful, and even more sophisticated. The important improvements include better engines, more reliable drive trains, better tracks, and even hydraulic arms that will enable more precise manipulation of the blade and automated controls. As an added option, bulldozers can come equipped with a rear ripping claw to break up pavement or loosen rocky soil. The best known manufacturer of bulldozer is CAT, which has earned a vast reputation for making tough and durable, yet reliable machines. Even though the bulldozer started off a modified farm tractor, it rapidly became one of the most useful pieces of equipment with excavating and construction.
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Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008 |
A backhoe, also called a rear actor or back actor, is a piece of excavating equipment consisting of a digging bucket on the end of a two-part articulated arm. They are typically mounted on the back of a tractor or front loader. The section of the arm closest to the vehicle is known as the boom, and the section which carries the bucket is known as the dipper. The boom is attached to the vehicle through a pivot known as the kingpost, which allows the arm to slew left and right, usually through a total of around 200 degrees. Modern backhoes are powered by hydraulics.
Similar attachments for skid steer loaders are still called backhoes even though they are mounted on the front. This is because the name refers to the action of the shovel, not its location on the vehicle a backhoe digs by drawing earth backwards, rather than lifting it with a forward motion like a bulldozer.
A backhoe loader is a tractor-like vehicle with an arm and bucket mounted on the back and a front loader mounted on the front. This type of vehicle is often known colloquially as a JCB in Europe.
With the advent of hydraulic powered attachments such as a tiltrotator, breaker, a grapple or an auger, the backhoe is frequently used in many applications other than excavation and with the tiltrotator attachment, actually serves as an effective tool carrier. Many backhoes feature quick-attach mounting systems for simplified attachment mounting, dramatically increasing the machine’s utilization on the jobsite. Backhoes are usually employed together with loaders and bulldozers. Excavators that use a backhoe are sometimes called “trackhoes” by people who do not realize the name is due to the action of the bucket, not its location on a backhoe loader.
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Friday, August 29th, 2008 |
There is a vast variety in the kind of equipment used in construction depending on the type of construction. Both light and heavy construction tools are used for different types of jobs. Similarly, there is a difference in the equipment used in road construction, building construction, industrial construction, forest construction or underwater construction.
Cranes, forklifts, bulldozers and tractors are the most needed equipment in almost all kinds of construction. Both cranes and forklifts are used to lift loads and transfer them from one point to another. The difference is that cranes are generally used to move rubble, while forklifts can lift crates or delicate but heavy materials. Bulldozer equipment used for ramming into structures and mowing them down. Tractors are heavy motorized vehicles that can be used to tug along trailers or wagons carrying loads. There are different kinds of tractors depending on whether they are used for road construction, farm work or industrial construction.
Besides these, construction requires hundreds of different kinds of equipment. Scrapers, plows, excavators, drills, are all different components of the construction equipment. Use of such heavy equipment requires a license from the municipal authorities. Licenses are not given to construction companies if they do not provide safety standards to the operators of their equipment.
Construction equipment is costly. Most companies have their own equipment; however, some companies hire equipment or buy used equipment at lower rates.
Since the 1970s, Bobcat has been a pioneer in manufacturing construction equipment. Bobcat is a brand of the Melroe Manufacturing Company, which was established in 1947. This company invented the skid-steer loader, which was also termed as Bobcat. The skid-steer loader is a vehicle moving on four wheels and two levers that allow it to steer in a full circle. It is a perfect solution to manage heavy loads in compact spaces. Apart from the skid-steer loader, other Bobcat equipment includes mini-space excavators, compact track loaders and backhoes.
Popular heavy equipment brands include Volvo, Hitachi, Caterpillar, Komatsu, Terex, etc. Each of them has their unique quality equipments, which they continually keep on perfecting.
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