| Excavators are very often referred to as diggers or | | | | These diggers also come with attachments so the |
| simply by brand names such as John Deere's or JCBs. | | | | usual digging bucket can easily be removed once |
| Their primary uses are to transport mud or turf from | | | | inside the garden and replaced with a much larger or |
| one location to another and to dig large portions of | | | | wider one. Other such attachments are forks to |
| ground or tarmac up at one time. Smaller models have | | | | transform them into small forklifts and spikes for |
| been designed for use in tighter or more enclosed | | | | digging up hard groundwork such as concrete or |
| spaces and each model has been designed for a | | | | stone. Excavators in sizes smaller than the average |
| specific use, with the ability to adapt them for various | | | | will generally have a tracked base, rather than the |
| purposes, so that you will not require multiple pieces of | | | | wheeled options. This is because the tracks make |
| heavy machinery to complete a few small jobs. | | | | them very stable, which they would not naturally have |
| The mini excavator is a scaled-down version of what | | | | due to their short wheelbase, which is the |
| you would generally see building a new housing | | | | measurement between the front and the back of the |
| development and often can complete the same tasks | | | | vehicle. Larger models can have either tracked or |
| but with lesser power and space required. It is rare to | | | | wheeled, depending on which scenario they are |
| see the miniature versions working on a building site, as | | | | required. |
| it would take a lot longer to complete the same tasks, | | | | A license is usually required for the operator of large |
| due to their smaller buckets and lesser power available | | | | vehicle machinery but some hiring smaller mini |
| to operate them. These smaller models can weigh in | | | | excavators also take a few lessons, just to raise their |
| at as little as half a tonne and when comparing this to | | | | confidence; a lot of damage can be done even with a |
| the fifteen tonnes that an average digger might weigh | | | | very small piece of heavy-duty machinery. Safety is |
| in it, you can see the instant different. Mini diggers also | | | | extremely important and for machinery such as a |
| are available in sizes of seventy centimetres and | | | | telehandler, it is a legal requirement that the operator |
| upwards, making them narrow enough to be able to | | | | holds and full and valid licence before stepping into the |
| drive up a garden path or down the side of a house. If | | | | cab. Telehandlers are very like cherry pickers in the |
| these models were not available then the only other | | | | way that they work and can also be used in a similar |
| option to be would to have a larger digger lifted in over | | | | manner to a crane, which of course takes a lot more |
| the top of a building, which would be an extremely | | | | skill and experience to operate than a general digger |
| costly task. | | | | might. |