During last year’s Utility Expo in Louisville, Ky., two machines were heavily featured. The first was the backhoe loader. The other was the wheeled excavator. Some of the benefits of wheeled excavators are like those of backhoes, including the ability to travel from site to site without needing a trailer.
The wheels are beneficial because they allow excavators to travel from jobsite to jobsite without requiring a separate vehicle for transportation.CASE Construction Equipment
The Main Benefits of Wheeled Excavators
The wheels, of course, are one of the first benefits. According to Diego Butzke, product manager, excavators, CASE Construction Equipment (CASE), they allow the excavator to be self-deployable.
“Contractors can move them around from jobsite to jobsite without the need for [a] … hauling truck,” said Butzke. “CASE wheeled excavators travel up to 25 miles per hour (mph) and come with a trailer hitch so that [contractors] can also pull along work tools or debris from a jobsite.”
The main disadvantage wheeled excavators have when compared to tracked excavators is that they aren’t optimized to operate on steeply angled slopes or in poor underfoot conditions.Caterpillar
“With a top speed of around 23 mph, you can avoid needing a lowboy and a commercial driver’s license (CDL) for around-town work. With a trailer that has overrun brakes, you can haul several tons of supporting tools and attachments, saving more time and labor, Waldron said. “Wheeled excavators also create less disturbance on asphalt, which means less cleanup.”
Butzke, Waldron and Rich Knudson, senior product consultant, Caterpillar, also agree that versatility is another major benefit of a wheeled excavator. According to Knudson this includes, “versatility [concerning] boom and undercarriage offerings and operating on finished surfaces with minimum risk of damage.”
Wheeled excavators operate in many applications and can use any attachment that a tracked machine can.Caterpillar
“Additionally, a two-piece boom will outlift a mono boom because … the center of gravity [can be put] back toward the center of the machine,” said Waldron.
Decreased maintenance needs are another pro when considering a wheeled excavator.
“Wheeled machines … provide a lower total cost of maintenance versus their steel-tracked counterparts [because] the tracks wear faster than the wheels and are more expensive to replace,” Butzke said.
Other benefits, according to Waldon, include:
- No decrease in performance. A common misconception is that wheel loaders lose the stability of a tracked machine, but that’s not the case. With outriggers, a wheeled excavator may be more stable because of its wider footprint. In addition, the power is the same, including breakout and tear-out forces, reach, and digging depth.
- Excellent maneuverability. A short-swing wheeled excavator can work in one lane of traffic, while a comparable conventional swing machine may require closing two lanes.
Wheeled Excavator Applications
Because of their versatility, wheeled excavators can be used in many of the same applications as traditional excavators. Some of these include:
- Roadbuilding
- Grading
- Utility and sewer construction
- The government space year-round applications, including material handling, junk removal and light demo
- Urban and rural civil construction
- Right-of-way maintenance
- Culvert, bridge and waterway maintenance
- Natural disaster cleanup
- Waste handling
A wheeled excavator is a better choice for long-distance travel across large jobsites that would require frequent movement/driving from one side to another.Liebherr USA
“Some uncommon applications of wheeled excavators are in transfer stations, waste and demolition,” Marcus Barnes, senior product manager, excavators, for Liebherr said. “In transfer stations, they are used because they are compatible with hydraulic tools like sorting grapples and can quickly move around large transfer stations. In demolition, they are used in large industrial buildings such as warehouses to tear down the inside of the structure for retooling or other projects.”
Limitations of Wheeled Excavators
One limitation of a wheeled excavator is the initial purchase price, Waldron indicated.
“[They] can be more expensive than some other types of equipment, especially when considering the initial purchase price—but the cost savings go beyond the initial purchase of the machine and continue throughout the excavator’s lifespan. No CDL is required, meaning the same person who operates the machine can drive it.”
Other savings involve decreased maintenance and no additional vehicles or drivers required to transport the equipment. Wheeled excavators take themselves from jobsite to jobsite.
Wheeled excavators aren’t as suitable for rough or muddy terrain as their tracked counterparts.Volvo Construction Equipment
Butzke addressed the issue of stability. According to him, “If doing heavy lifting or strenuous craning, operators will find that the stability of wheeled excavators isn’t on par with their tracked counterparts. For general lifting and craning work, wheeled excavators are strong enough to meet many jobsite demands and outpace tracked machines for getting work done because of their ability to move around the site faster.”
When traveling on uneven or sloped areas, “the main disadvantage wheeled excavators have when compared to tracked excavators is that they aren’t optimized to operate on steeply angled slopes or in extremely poor underfoot conditions,” Knudson said.
Other terrains that may cause problems for wheeled excavators are muddy or rough locations.
“Wheeled excavators aren’t as suitable for rough or muddy terrain as tracked machines because tracks provide better traction and stability on uneven surfaces, "Waldron said. “Wheeled excavators also have higher ground pressure than tracked excavators [because of] the weight distribution on their wheels. This can lead to soil compaction and surface damage in soft or sensitive areas.”
Technology Innovations
As previously mentioned, the two-piece boom is beneficial to wheeled excavator operations, but it is not heavily used in North America. It is more popular in the E.U. Other innovations include:
- Moving object detection
- Tiltrotators
- Auto axle and brake lock
- Swing and implement lock
- Grade control
- Geofencing
- Load-sensing hydraulic system
- In-cab attachment set up
With different attachments, excavators can be versatile in their operation and applications.CASE Construction Equipment
Barnes highlighted that Liebherr's “automatic digging brake automatically locks the axle when the operator depresses the brake.”
Knudson said that Caterpillar offers several technologies to assist wheeled excavators. “With Caterpillar Next Generation Wheeled Excavators, we offer … 2D and 3D grade control, e-fencing, and payload as optional attachments. We also have several standard features such as auto axle and brake lock, and swing and implement lock. All these features allow operators to safely maximize the machine’s safety, performance, and productivity.
“In addition, as standard equipment, operators can program and save machine controls, as well as performance settings to his or her preference. All Caterpillar Next Generation Wheeled Excavators come tilt-rotate-system (TRS) ready from the factory, which when coupled with a TRS, boosts the machine’s versatility and productivity,” Knudson added.
The two-piece boom is beneficial to wheeled excavator operations, but it is not heavily used in North America. It is more popular in the E.U.Volvo Construction Equipment
According to Waldron, “Wheeled excavators can be the Swiss Army knife of a fleet and prevent contractors from investing in multiple machines because they can [use] the same attachments as crawler excavators. One big differentiator is the hydraulic system. Wheeled excavators run a load-sensing hydraulic system, which is much better at handling a multitude of attachments, such as mowers, hammers and compactors.
“They also enable a tiltrotator, such as a Steelwrist. It allows an operator to spin the bucket 360 degrees and tilt [it plus or minus] degrees for greater flexibility. The Steelwrist can handle buckets, compactors, grapples, sweepers and more. The Steelwrist also has a claw on the back—essentially a two-finger grapple—that helps it excel at utility work.”
While many manufacturers allow operators to connect and set up attachments from the cab, Butzke points this out as a technology benefit of the CASE wheeled excavators.
“Another benefit of CASE wheeled excavators is the ability to set up work tools from the cab such as hydraulic flow and pressure and utilize configurable work mode settings for up to 20 different attachments,” Butzke said.
Who Should Consider a Wheeled Excavator?
Contractors using a backhoe loader should consider a wheeled excavator.Volvo Construction Equipment
If the backhoe loader is the jack-of-all-trades on a site, Knudson and Waldron consider wheeled excavators the Swiss Army knife. Waldron said that contractors using a backhoe loader should consider a wheeled excavator for the following reasons:
- Don’t be deceived by the higher horsepower (hp) on backhoes. The hp represents the bucket up front that requires horsepower and doesn’t reflect the digging power on the excavator end. Wheeled excavators typically offer the dig depth and reach needed to get the same types of jobs done.
- When working in tight spaces, it’s often more difficult to maneuver a backhoe because it only has a 180-degree working radius compared to 360 degrees on wheeled excavators. This added flexibility allows more options to dump material and load a truck, or when trenching, an operator needs to think about repositioning a backhoe. However, a wheeled excavator allows them to simply push the travel pedals and keep digging.
- A backhoe’s total cost of ownership is higher. Backhoe tires are more expensive, and the machines consume more fuel because of a larger engine and hydraulic system.
Butzke stressed that most contractors can benefit from adding these versatile machines to their fleets.
“Having wheeled excavators in your fleet is a great way to reduce … operational costs. These machines can do a variety of work all year long versus sitting in the yard. They provide a lower total cost of ownership [when compared with] tracked excavators, and because they’re self-deployable, they reduce your overall transportation costs,” Butzke said. “Contractors looking to grow their businesses, especially those who have government contracts, can expand the type of work they perform—from roadbuilding to vegetation management.”
The automatic digging brake automatically locks the axel when the operator depresses the brake.Liebherr USA
Final Thoughts
Industry experts think that the benefits of wheeled excavators far outweigh their limitations. Contractors who want versatility, simpler transportation and decreased maintenance may want to add one to their fleets.
“While popular in Europe for some time, the wheeled excavator market is now growing in North America,” Butzke said. “This is because jobsite conditions are changing—they’re more space-constrained, especially in urban environments—and because of mounting transportation regulations. With investments in infrastructure spending, we expect to see this market continue its upward trajectory.”
