Excavator

Like the front end loader, the front loader is a truck with an extremely large mounted rectangular scoop.

When I say large, I mean a scoop bucket that can accommodate upwards to 50 cubic yards in the large earth equipment. There are the giants of earth moving used in mining operations which are able to move upwards to 18 cubic tons of earth or ore.

Either variety is usually diesel powered wheeled rather than tracked. The research conducted indicated that the terms front loader and front end loader were interchangeable.

Therefore, the uses of the front loader would be also similar. They are used in the heavy earth moving activities of construction, landscaping, farming and mining. They are primarily used on foundation work and in carrying excavated ore to the belt system used to carry ore to the smelting operation.

This brings the discussion to the categorizing earth equipment by function. Front loader attachments allow fork lifts at inventory warehouses to double function as earth movers for small projects.

Inside the warehouse they are used to stack inventory and stock while outside they can also be used effectively for snow and ice removal. Other front loader attachments can be effectively mounted on dump trucks making them effective earth moving vehicles.

They can be used to remove the blight of winter snow and ice in small cities and boroughs at a fraction of the expense of one heavy front loader piece of equipment.

The cost of a used 2006 Mack articulated front loader starts at $209,000 while used 1995 models of Volvo cost only $35,500. An attachment to a truck is a fraction of the lesser cost.

Functionality as an equipment definition is shown in my personal favorite application, the industrial front loader tricycle!

One American fabricated model has the ability to transport a quarter of a ton or 500 pounds. It is used in large mail facilities to move letters and packages from the sorting tables to the conveyer belts and vice versa.

The industrial strength tricycle is used in other industries to move parts and supplies throughout the manufacturing plant. Their use has increased immensely due to the increase of fuel cost and desire to cut cost in the state of New York.

Many manufacturers in the Midwest have begun using the front loading tricycle to increase manufacturing savings. They are made with puncture proof tires, heavy duty steel gauge steel rims, Kelvar beds and a variety of options to make it a real savings where it counts.

Their cost is such that ten such tricycles could be purchased for the cost of a single gas driven vehicle. Applications have more popularly been found to use the front loader tricycle for frozen ice cream and hot dog vendors.

Forked front loading trucks are a familiar sight installed on garbage trucks. They are primarily used to pick up and empty garbage containers outside businesses, industrial parks and corporations.

They empty the containers into a compactor located in the middle of the garbage truck, crush the refuse and deliver it to a processing plant. Front loaders can be seen to involve function as well as specific earth movement equipment.

They can move mail, scrape snow and ice, move ore, assist landscape and construction. They can even assist in the sale of ice cream cones.

Excavator |