Earth Moving Machinery
Earth moving equipment does what the name implies, they move earth; for clearing and levelling land for buildings and homes, roads and access ways, and they can create grazing land. They can bring their appropriate sized moving strength onto a property and do what the customer asks them to do. Earth Moving equipment can not only level ground for foundations, but they can be contracted out to gorse mulch, and grind stumps. They can also build dams and berms.
Types of Earth Moving Equipment
To do the job you want done Earth Moving Contractors may show up at your door with:
Agricultural Tractors
The word “tractor” was taken Latin world meaning “to pull,” was replacing the term “tractor engine” as early as 1901.
Tractors are for hauling and pushing and pulling other devices, or to plough, plant, or till your grounds. Tractors move very slowly, to do their job, and vary in size, from the smallest lawn tractor to the 2,250 ton Shuttle Crawler Transport, that takes the Space Shuttle from the assembly building to the launch tower, and moves about 1.2 miles per hour.
The Farm Tractor is just a simple open vehicle, two wheel and four wheel drive, with the engine placed in front of the driver. A variety of hitches and tow-bars make it possible to turn even the basic farm tractor in to earth moving machines.
The Engineering Tractor can be fitted with dozer blades, buckets, hoes, and rippers and other engineering tools. Read more about Agricultural Tractor Training here.
Agricultural tractor training
Rear Tipping Dumper Trucks
Used for transporting loose material like sand, gravel, and dirt, a typical dumper truck is equipped with an open-box bed, hinged at the rear and equipped with hydraulic pistons to lift the front of the bed so that material may be dumped on the ground behind it. It is also known as a tipper, tipper lorry, or a tip truck.
Conceived in the late 19th century in Western Europe, motorised dumping trucks hit the US market around 1910, were manufactured by companies such as Galion Buggy Co., and were fitted onto Model T chassis before 1920. They have been used in almost every type of hauling task, from collecting garbage to transporting materials both in and out of job sites. Read more about the Rear tipping dump truck training here.
- The Standard Dump Truck body is mounted on a frame, and the bed is raised by a vertical hydraulic ram, mounted under the front of the body, and the tailgate is often hinged so that it swings up or down when a dump has to be made.
- The Transfer Dump Truck can pull a separate trailer which can be loaded with aggregate and maybe powered by its own motor. Transfer dumps are frequently seen in the western United States, where there are strict highway weight restrictions.
- The Super Dump Truck is a straight dump truck equipped with a trailing axle able to bear the weight of 13,000 pounds or more. They are called Super Dumps because they far exceed the payload and capacity of a conventional dump truck. Some Super Dumps can carry as much as 80,000 pounds.
rear tipping dump truck training
Forward Tipping Dump Trucks
With a load skip in front of the driver, the forward tipping dump truck is usually a 4-wheeled truck used in special circumstances, and is usually steered by the back wheels. The skip is secured by a catch by the driver’s feet. When the catch is released the skip tips under the weight of its load and can be raised by hand. Some tippers are also fitted with swivelling skips so a load can be released to the side of the truck. Learn more about our forward tipping dump truck training here.
forward tipping dump truck training
The Excavator
An Excavator uses a boom, stick, bucket, and cab on a rotating platform, known as a “house.” The house sits atop the undercarriage that is moved by tracks or wheels.
Excavators are also commonly known as diggers, mechanical shovels, or “180s” or “360s” depending upon their swivelling capacity.
Excavator training
The Mobile Elevating Platform
Usually an aerial work platform, a MEWP is a mechanical device used to give temporary access to inaccessible areas, usually in a high space. Also known as a “Cherry Picker,” or “Scissor Lift,” there are several distinct types of the MEWP.
The Aerial Device, often lightweight and electrically powered, is popular for window-cleaning and high maintenance operations, especially indoors and in isolated areas where heavier hydraulic equipment cannot be used.
The Scissor Lift, can usually only be moved vertically, and is lifted by a series of folding supports in a criss-cross “X” pattern.
MEWPs can be unpowered, requiring external force for propulsion; self-propelled, using electric or gasoline power; and vehicle mounted, setting atop a railway car or a flat back pickup van, know as a self drive.
