The definitive guide to earthmoving equipment

Determining which earthmover equipment to invest in for your earthmoving business is an essential part of succeeding as the owner of your own earthmoving business.

It requires considered thought, practical planning, and aligning your earthmoving equipment purchases with the specific types of earthmoving services your business will offer. After all, every project is different, and choosing the right combination of earthmoving equipment to deliver the work your business will do needs to take into account a wide variety of factors.

To help with the process of choosing your earthmoving equipment, we’ve compiled the following guide to earthmoving machinery to help you determine what you most useful for your earthmoving business.

A guide to earthmoving machines

1. The wheeled skid steer

The wheeled skid steer is squat but nonetheless a strong and sturdy piece of earthmoving equipment. The wheeled skid steer is the perfect and nimble choice for earth-moving tasks that involve tight-access points, because the wheeled skid steer offers maneuverability in spades thanks to its wheel-based movement, instead of the more traditional track-based movement.

All of this adds up to making the wheeled skid steer a truly versatile piece of earthmoving equipment and an all-rounder machine that all earthmoving businesses should consider having in their stable.

2. The posi track

Admittedly there can be some overlap between the wheeled skid steer and the posi track when it comes to the types of jobs each piece of earthmoving machinery can handle. But they do each have their individual capabilities as well, including some key differences.

For example, for earthmoving jobs where the posi track’s tracks would be an impediment, a wheeled skid steer can be a more practical alternative. If by contrast some earthmoving needs to be handled in muddy and damp earth, then the posi track would generally be the better machine for the job at hand.

3. The excavator

The excavator is usually the biggest brute in an earthmoving company’s arsenal of earthmoving equipment. It’s the Tyrannosaurus Rex of earthmoving industry.

On most earthmoving job sites the excavator will most commonly be found tackling the largest and most challenging jobs on site. It’s the earthmoving machine of choice for when you have a mammoth earthmoving task ahead of you. A large machine, such as a 48-tonne excavator, will often turn heads on job sites due to its sheer size and the amount of weight it can move.

With all of that said, it’s worth noting that excavators are available in various different sizes, including smaller excavators for smaller earthmoving jobs. Smaller excavators may be the perfectly versatile machine for jobs that require the length and reach only an excavator can provide where other equipment may struggle to operate struggle to operate due to the terrain or conditions.

4. The dump truck

Last, but certainly not least, no guide to earthmoving machinery would be complete without mentioning the trusty dump truck. Why? Well, the wheeled skid steer, the posi track, and the excavator will do the job of earth-moving on the ground level.

However they offer little practical use when it comes to moving tonne after tonne after tonne of dirt across large and small job sites. The dump truck is also essential for moving large quantities of soil and other material off site, or from a supplier’s yard to the site you are working on. As such, the humble dump truck may be one of the most important pieces of earthmoving equipment in the fleet for your earthmoving business.

As you sort through the earthmoving equipment for your earthmoving business, you may also be interested in reducing your businesses’ exposure to risk through business insurance. BizCover can help with that.

We offer business insurance* for earthmoving businesses, including Public Liability Insurance. Learn more about earthmovers insurance, or call 1300 920 864 to discover how we can help your business.