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Specialised equipment: an up and coming trend

Written by Monica Gameng | Sep 20, 2015 2:00:00 PM

There are certain mining and construction projects that require a special type of equipment for the job, that's why niche or specialised equipment is #trending more than ever in the mining and construction industries.

What is specialised equipment?

Specialised equipment or machinery are machines that have the ability to do certain tasks that regular equipment are not capable of doing. These are the machines that have special features which are considered an upgrade from their regular equipment counterparts.

What are the advantages of specialised equipment compared to regular equipment?

Specialised equipment are made to cater to unconventional situations. Regular equipment is used for general construction tasks such as digging on a broad and flat surface, whereas specialised equipment like the Mini Excavator can dig up dirt and maneuver around in tight spaces. As the number of construction projects increase, construction sites tend to get smaller and smaller, and because of this, the need for specialised equipment increases.

Examples of specialised equipment and their advantages

Here we list just a few of the specialised equipments commonly used in the industry:

  • Hybrid excavators: Like hybrid cars, these machines consume less fuel which will save you money and, at the same time, lessen environmental impact
  • Mini and Micro excavators: Because they are compact, they can squeeze into tight spaces where a full-sized excavator will not fit and using these mini diggers have other advantages as well.
  • Long reach excavators: These types of excavators are perfect to use in dredging jobs where dirt or other materials need to be excavated from under water or deep ditches while the equipment itself stays above water.
  • Clamshell (telescopic) excavators: Perfect for digging deep ditches, these kinds of excavators have an extendable reach and has a clam-like bucket that is ideal for grabbing debris and dirt with ease.
  • Spider excavators: These excavators have extendable “legs” just like a spider which makes it the perfect digging equipment to use for different kinds of terrain.
  • Swamp (amphibious) excavators: Specialised to work on wet and swampy land, swamp excavators can be used to dig up in areas that are water-logged.
  • Zero swing excavators: Unlike conventional excavators, zero swing excavators can only swing within the width of its tracks and because of this limited movement, it makes the excavator perfect for tight, confines spaces.
  • Hi-rail equipment: These are machines or vehicles that have a special attachement that allows them to easily operate on train tracks.

As mining and construction activities increase year after year, different situations arise which calls for the use of specialised equipment that will be able to cater to special circumstances.

Plant & equipment hire companies have also been paying a lot of attention to specialised equipment as the need for these kinds of machinery continuously increase, and some companies have a lot to of good things to say about their specialised equipment.

Green Edge Contracting and their Spider Excavator

Our Menzi Muck A91 has the ability to work safely in 1.8M of water, climb walls up to 4.5M high and work on slopes up to 70 degrees! All this and the ability to lift over 6 ton!

We work completely outside the realm of conventional machines.

Leach Excavation & Construction and their Mini Excavator

"The machines that I have enable what clients thought was impossible, too energy and time consuming to become possible with the help from my mini excavator and bob cat. So long as the side access is no smaller than 900mm even down to 750mm the machine can fit in and get the job done within a couple of hours instead of a couple of weeks and blisters galore."

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