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The Art of
Mini Excavation Compact
T
he canvas of an excavator artist includes a
variety of landscapes. Pristine green grasses,
brown muddy jobsites, white broken concretes
— a mini ex digs and works in a rich
mixture of colorful ground conditions. Jump in the cab,
grab two joysticks and start digging just about anything
with a boom and bucket — utility trenches, pools, housing
foundations, drainage ditches, ponds and every other
thing that needs to go in or under the earth.
Excavators are the ultimate digging tools, and compact
excavators are the ultimate digging tools when it comes
to urban areas and confined jobsite applications. Compact
excavators (also called mini excavators) are defined as excavators
under 6 metric tons. These are small excavation
machines, engineered with an undercarriage and tracks, a
long digging arm and a cab or ROPS enclosure. Typically
with a dig depth between 5 and 20 ft and an operating
weight between 2,000 and 20,000 lbs, compact excavators
can fit into cramped worksites and still give big dig power.
These mini excavators began to catch the
attention of contractors and manufacturers in
the early 1990s. Soon major equipment companies
were invading the market with machines
— Bobcat, Caterpillar, Yanmar, Volvo,
John Deere, Komatsu, Kubota and more. As
urban areas grow and the housing industry
continues to recover, excavation work in tight
jobsites will continue to increase. With a small
size, long reach and light footprint, contractors
are turning more and more to mini excavators.
The 3.5- to 4-ton class will continue to drive
the compact hydraulic excavator market. Also,
conventional style compact excavators continue
to share market share with the minimum and
zero tail swing designs. Zero tail swing or ZTS
continues to be a hot feature (excavators that are
designed to keep their cabs within the width of
their tracks).
Helming the two joystick controls, construction
and utility contractors, landscapers and
homeowners can make quick work of large tasks
with these mighty minis. In addition to an excavator’s
many features (enclosed cabs, backfill
blades, extendable sticks, retractable undercarriages),
a plethora of attachments are readily
available to take on tasks beyond digging (hydraulic
thumbs, breakers, specialty buckets, au-
www.ceunbound.com
Excavators Can Make Big
Dig Projects into Masterpieces
By Keith Gribbins
gers, grapples, mowers and more).
Compact excavators can carve out trenches for irrigation,
water, sewer and natural gas lines. They can demolish structures
and clear vegetation at one stage of a project, then lift
and place construction materials during another. Overall, the
industry and its many applications are primed for growth.
More than 15 manufacturers are either making or branding
compact excavators today. With so many models and manufacturers,
contractors can often feel a little overwhelmed
when shopping around for a new machine. Knowledge is the
key when considering any big purchase, so CE decided to collect
as much information about each mini excavator product
line as it could. Specifications, prices, product summaries and
advice to buyers are all included for each manufacturer. We
suggest you get to know each of these companies and their
products before you put your crews in a new mini excavator.
Keith Gribbins is managing editor for Compact Equipment, based
in Peninsula, Ohio.
Many consider the bucket to be the vanilla in the 31 flavors of compact excavator
attachments. In actuality, this seemingly simple attachment has incredible depth and
variety — grading buckets, trench buckets, graveyard buckets, V-buckets and onward.
June 2012 Compact Equipment 49