Introduction:
In case you have rented or purchased a mini excavator and you are about to get your commercial or residential mid-sized project started. It’s quite obvious that you don’t know that this heavy construction equipment can help you to complete a variety of tasks such as digging trenches and holes, demolishing structures, and many more. Whether you want to install a new pool or dig a utility trench or give your front yard a brand new landscape design, a mini excavator is one solution for all these. So let’s discuss these applications of mini excavators one by one.
Excavation:
A more obvious option, the mini excavator is perfect for small-scale projects, like excavation for trenching, digging pools, minor landscaping, and building pads and foundations. Its small size makes it suitable for navigating confined spaces in residential areas without causing too much damage or inconvenience. One incredible feature of the mini excavator is its ability to rotate 360 degrees, making the management of excavated soil or debris easy.
Underground pool and Spa installation:
A clear plan before starting the use of the pool is very important. It will help to determine what size mini excavator is used. The type of mini excavator depends on the depth of the pool.
If you want to install a pool that will have a maximum depth of 5 feet then a smaller excavator of about 2000 pounds or two tons would do the job. However, if the primary use of your swimming pool will be diving and the maximum depth will be 10 feet. Then for this job you need a mini excavator with 9500 pounds or 10-ton weight. If your target is just installing a spa attached to the pool then you can use a tiny mini excavator which is also called a Micro Machine.
These tiny ones weigh slightly more than a ton and ride on retractable undercarriages which allow them to fit through very narrow spaces. Although it claimed that mini excavators are as stable as the larger excavators but it’s not recommended to ride them up slopes with an angle of more than 20 degrees. Mini excavators weigh a maximum of 20,000-pound max, above that, they are no longer considered mini and are referred to as excavators.
Irrigation & Landscape Design:
Commercial building owners and homeowners need underground irrigation systems like sprinkler systems to deliver water consistently to their gardens or lawns.
You need to have PC pipes placed underneath the ground and the mini excavator can easily help you to dig the trenches and place the pipe. Typically an irrigation trench has a depth of 6-12 inches. Dirt falling back into the trenches is a major issue and to solve this it’s important to have an earthmoving machine like the mini excavator to scoop up the dirt and then move it away from the trench.
The mini excavator can help you to get the job done much faster than using a shovel or other handheld equipment. Use the hydraulic arm and bucket to backfill the trenches with dirt or you can also use its blade to push the dirt into the trench. With a mini excavator putting in an underground irrigation system is no longer a time-consuming project.
Digging Holes and Utility Trenches:
Almost everyone wants to plant trees in their front and backyards. Contractors are hired to plant these trees as well. Before the use of digging machines such as mini excavators, tree plantation was done by making holes with the help of a shovel. A mini excavator is an ideal machine for this purpose.
They can remove large amounts of dirt from these holes and backfill the holes when the trees have been planted. The depth of holes during the installation of trees depends on the root ball and trunk size of the tree. Large-size trees need to have the root ball at least two inches above the soil. That’s why it’s really important to measure correctly so that you don’t dig a hole that is too small, or too narrow, or plant the root ball too deep.
The compact size of these mini excavators allows them to work on the side of roads easily without disturbing the flow of traffic. So they can dig for street signs and road signs as well. While installing poles for road signs it’s recommended that the pole sits 1.5-3 feet below the surface. Hydraulic auger attachment allows the operator to drill deep holes into the soil or concrete. Most mini excavators have two types of mounting options. The first one is the quick attaching type which latches automatically and option two is one pin on the dipper stick.
Drilling:
There is no better alternative for drilling than a mini excavator. A wide range of specialized attachments enables mini excavators to drill deep into soil or concrete with equal ease. These attachments are augers equipped with teeth and a pilot or drive. Tree augers have a small diameter on the bottom mounted side and a larger diameter on the top which is ideal for planting trees and digging holes.
The toughest type of auger is rock bits which are made for digging solid rocks and concrete. There are many types of drilling attachments available that you can buy for your mini excavator. Drilling attachments have slightly different features and benefits. Here are projects which require the help of a mini excavator equipped with an auger for drilling.
- Fence posts
- Road Signage posts
- Tree planting
- Drainage
- Landscape
- Mining
- Rock blasting
Jobsite Preparation:
Jobsite preparation is always the first step in any construction project. If it’s a forestry project then the first step will be clearing the trees, vegetation, and surface or leveling the soil. Clearing the undergrowth creates a safer space to start.
While building a house or any other structure it’s important to use a mini excavator to surface the soil containing decaying materials and roots because these things make the surface unstable for building. The leftover soil can be graded by using the grading blade attachment of a mini excavator. That graded soil will be prepared to sue as a foundation for concrete to be applied. Site preparation also includes land drainage, blasting, landfills, leveling, and many other operations.
Demolishing Small Structures:
The versatility of mini excavators makes them a popular heavy construction machine on any construction site. Mini excavators with a long boom can also be used to demolish old buildings from the top of the roof down to the ground. Their high boom lift capacity allows them to easily dump the materials into the dump truck. Mini excavators with running rubber tracks will have enough traction for this unstable soil and with its puncture-resistant material. The rubber tracks will float over the rough soil and debris without damage to those rubber tracks. It is very common for property owners or contractors to need to remove small structures.
Property owners sometimes have old barns that have a foundation that is weak and no longer solid. Sometimes they hire contractors to tear down old buildings that contain dangerous materials such as asbestos. Homeowners have old sheds that are worn out to the point of no return and are not worth selling anymore. This small structure needs removal, and renting or owning a mini excavator can solve this problem. You can equip your mini excavator with an array of attachments or you can use it as is to tear down a barn or shed. Using a mini excavator to tear down your barn or shed saves you time and money.
Use a mini excavator with a longer boom when you must reach high structures. If you don’t use a mini excavator equipped with a longer boom, you risk getting too close to the project when reaching up high.
If you have a small crawler dump or even a small trailer, you can use your mini excavator to dump all the materials from the shed or barn into the trailer or crawler dump and off your land.
Utility work and maintenance:
Mini excavators are also useful for various types of utility and maintenance work. They cost less than the standard-sized piece of machinery for the same task. Apart from digging trenches for sewer lines and drilling holes, they are also useful for cleanup jobs such as plowing snow and sweeping large areas.
Farming:
Mini excavators do have a role in farming as well. Farmers can swap out attachments as needed and use them for any task according to their requirements such as tilling soil, lifting feed bags, digging ditches, and mowing grass.
Blazing trails:
Mini excavators can blaze a perfectly tailored hiking or off-roading trail. For this, you need a rake attachment, trenching, and grading bucket. Use the bucket excavator to remove stumps, pull out roots, and place barriers or trail markings with the thumb and auger.
Compaction:
Compaction can take a lot of time and require specialized equipment such as walk-behind compactors and skid steer loaders. However, with the proper attachments, you can get the job done with the mini excavator in much lesser time. For this first use a ripper attachment to loosen the hard-packed ground. Then use your grading or trenching bucket to grade the work area and tamp it down. A grading bucket will be used for back-filling and leveling.
Boundary installation:
The mini excavator can dig with exceptional precision, making it a great choice for creating walls and fences. They are also good for digging holes for fence posts.
Mining:
Mini excavators can also be used in mining coal, diamonds, and other minerals. It’s very efficient in the extraction of these minerals. These are a perfect choice for mining operations because they have a powerful engine that makes it possible to move a huge amount of the earth.
For drainage ditch:
A drainage ditch is very handy in any building, particularly in areas where there is rainfall is high. A drainage ditch is a pathway for water to move away from the property. The ditch will end at a logical downhill exit point. A mini excavator can easily help you to dig that drainage ditch and then fill the bottom of that with large pieces of crushed rock.
Building flagstone wall:
A mini excavator digs a trench to place the flagstone, picks up the flagstones and places them on the gravel, and then backfills the trenches with more gravel.
Ploughing Snow:
City workers often need to clear roads covered with snow during the colder months of the year. Mini excavators can clear snow effortlessly using a special blade attachment. The compact size and low weight help these machines to get around snow-covered roads quicker. The result of using mini excavators to plow snow is clear, safer roads.
Repairing Sewer Lines:
For basic sewer line repair jobs, a mini excavator often makes for a better option than a full-size machine, such as a trencher. The reason you can opt for a mini excavator for sewer repairs is that mini excavators do the same job at a lower price than larger machines. The only thing you need to assess is the required digging depth for the sewer line to make sure it’s within reach of a mini excavator. Once you gauge that you can use a mini excavator, it doesn’t make sense not to choose this tool for the job.
Conclusion:
Many time-consuming projects can easily be turned into DIY projects with the help of the mini excavator. This powerful machine can do multiple tasks at once making planting a tree, digging a trench, or putting in your very first pool or spa a breeze. The mini excavator can easily maneuver around obstacles in the yard or on the construction site and with its retractable undercarriage, you can get through narrow spaces without a problem.
A mini excavator is a versatile machine that has a wide variety of attachments available to allow it to perform almost any project you put in front of it. If you have plans to purchase a mini excavator, kindly please contact us for suggestions. We are one of the leading excavator manufacturers based in China. There are a lot of options here for your reference.
