Heavy Duty Equipment can take you from A to
Z of your project process: From Forestry, Mining and Construction the wide range of equipment and attachments
available today give owner / operators the power to match their production needs. Site conditions and strict
environmental requirements play an important role in deciding the type of equipment needed to complete the task.
The primary earth-moving machine
is the heavy-duty tractor,
which, when fitted with endless tracks to grip the ground and with a large, movable blade attached in front, is called a bulldozer.
Bulldozers are used to clear brush or debris, remove boulders, and level ground. A scraper is a machine that may be pulled
by a tractor or may be self-powered. It consists of a blade and a box or container. Dirt is scraped by the blade into the
container; the dirt may then be released so as to form an even layer of a predetermined thickness, or be carried off for disposal
elsewhere. Scrapers are used to level and contour land, as in road construction.
Somewhat similar to scrapers are graders, self-propelled, wheeled machines with a long, inclined,
vertically adjustable steel blade. Graders are primarily finishing equipment; they level earth already moved into position
by bulldozers and scrapers. Lightweight tractors fitted with wheels in place of tracks are used for comparatively light construction
jobs. Equipped with a backhoe, which is an open scoop attached rigidly to a hinged boom, such a vehicle can dig shallow trenches;
equipped with a front-end loader, a scoop shovel affixed to the front of the tractor, it can lift and carry gravel, stone,
sand, and other construction materials.
Draglines and power shovels are the primary forms of excavation equipment. A dragline is fitted
with an open scoop supported from the end of a long boom by a wire cable. The scoop is dragged along the ground by the cable
until it is filled with earth, which is then dumped elsewhere. Draglines are used primarily to excavate deep holes. Power
shovels are fitted with buckets called clamshells, which dig into the earth and shovel it up. The bottom of the clamshell
opens to dump the dirt into a truck for removal.
