5 Things You Must Know Before Buying an Excavator! (with 1 Bonus!)

14, Jul. 2025

 

5 Things You Must Know Before Buying an Excavator! (with 1 Bonus!)

What is an excavator?

Excavators are vital for projects across various industries, whether grading, laying pipes, demolitions, mass excavations, clearing or general contracting. With many diggers for sale in the market today, it may be difficult to determine which excavator meets your needs. This article takes you through factors that you should consider when shopping for excavation equipment for your next project. It also gives quick tips for landing a good deal.

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Determine the lifting capacity

The ideal excavator should have enough power to handle the tasks that you will be carrying out. When determining your power needs, check the kind of jobs that you may be performing over a long period and not just the job at hand. You may need a giant excavator for heavy earth-moving and mass demolition tasks. Look for a new mini excavator for sale if expecting to handle small tasks. Mini excavators have a capacity of up to 8 tonnes, standard excavators have capacities of up to 200 tonnes, while large ones may have capacities of over 500 tonnes

Determine how you will transport the excavator

You will be required to transport the excavator from one location to another to handle some projects. Therefore, you need to consider how the piece of equipment will be moving from one location to another. If you already have a trailer, ensure that the excavation equipment for sale you pick would fit your trailer. Otherwise, purchase a trailer according to the size of the earth-mover. In some places, you may need a permit to transport a giant excavator.

What are your required specifications?

Consider features like bucket capacity, engine power, storage capacity and engine power when making your consideration. Many excavators can support different types of buckets. Look at the maximum capacity that you can purchase. Engine make and power determines how long you can use the excavator continuously before doing repairs.

What is your budget?

Your budget is going to determine what kind of excavator for sale you can pick. However, it is recommended that you set a budget after determining the kind of excavators you need for your projects. You may consider looking for a new excavator for sale or buying a used one. The benefit of buying a used excavator is that you can buy a high capacity one at a lower price than you would if buying new. On the other hand, new excavators are less likely to give you problems for a longer period compared to used ones.

Shop around for excavators while comparing large and new mini excavator prices. Different brands come at different prices. It is good to compare features and capacities with the excavator price so that you end up with the best excavation equipment at your set budget. For used excavators, have them checked for quality and performance before making a purchase. You will find cheap excavators for sale.

Are excavator spare parts available?

You will eventually need spare parts especially if the excavator is doing hard work. If you are also in a remote region you should consider how easily you can access excavator spare parts.

Other considerations

You may check other excavator types and features. For example, you may consider an electric excavator rather than a gasoline one. You can also purchase a knuckle boom excavator that has an additional arm joint that gives it more flexibility when digging. There are also long reach excavators with arms that can reach up to 95 feet. Longer arms work well in dredging jobs and large building demolitions.

Excavator buying checklist

  • Excavator capacity, power and specifications
  • Size and transport needs
  • Source of power; gasoline or electric
  • Buy new or used excavators
  • Excavator prices
  • Availability of excavator spare parts

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Excavator Design: 5 Things to Check for When Judging Durability

We can talk about lift capacity, digging reach and smooth controls all day, but if your excavator isn’t running, then you’re not working. Heavy equipment durability is critical to maximize uptime. Excavator design factors that affect durability are often small and can be easy to overlook — until something breaks.

A big part of my job as a product manager is to ensure every new generation of Volvo equipment is better than the last, including Volvo excavators. After 23 years of working with heavy equipment, speaking with service techs and customers, and examining excavators from our competitors, I’ve formulated a list of five excavator design elements that can make big differences when it comes to durability.

When purchasing a new excavator, consider these areas to judge a machine’s durability:

1. Boom and Arm

Next to buckets, booms and arms take the brunt of the abuse from excavator work. However, the thickness of the steel used in them varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, as does their warranty protection. I’ve seen costly repairs to excavator booms and arms that aren’t covered under warranty and that could have been prevented by thicker steel. We’ve made a point to have our steel plates ¼-inch thicker than many competitors, and we also cover our boom and arm under a Lifetime Frame and Structure Warranty.

2. Upper and Lower Frame

A lot of our customers operate their excavators on rough terrain, which is why we emphasize strength in our designs. Whatever excavator you choose, be sure to request information about what protective measures are designed into the upper frame, and more importantly, the lower frame. Look for thick, protective belly guards to protect the driveline hoses and the hydraulic swivel. Check for one-piece deck plates as any splits in the plates at stress points, or insufficient welds, could be costly, especially if not covered under a lifetime guarantee. Reinforced idler frames, standard on Volvo excavators, help prevent the frame from spreading under heavy loads or when traveling downhill.

3. Wear Plate Between Arm and Bucket

Over time, the joint between the arm and the bucket will wear out. When this happens on a traditional excavator with heavy bosses at the end of the arm, it’s likely the bosses will have to be cut off, replaced and line-bored to refresh the arm end. To avoid that, look for arms with bolted-on, hardened wear plates instead of bosses. When these get old, the wear plates and the bushings can be replaced, and the arm can be returned to a factory fit in a matter of hours rather than a few days.

4. Slew Ring Grease Bath

This is what I mean when I said earlier that small design flaws can be easy to overlook. The seal cover on the slew ring grease bath should be raised above the deck, and tight enough to keep water out, but also easy enough to access on a regular basis to check if water got in. I’ve seen covers that are flush to the deck and make it easier for water to enter. You’ll save yourself headaches for years to come if you check for a strong and accessible seal before you buy. You’ll also save yourself lots of time by looking to see where the grease zerks for the slew ring are located. On Volvo excavators, they’re grouped at the front of the machine because we understand that nobody wants to crawl under the back of an excavator with a grease gun.

5. Electrical Harness

Seems obvious that an electrical area should be waterproof, right? You’d think so, but I’ve seen electrical harnesses on excavators that aren’t waterproof. I don’t think I need to explain why that can cause some issues. However, in case there are issues, check to also see if the excavator offers an electrical distribution box with spare fuses, relays and diodes. Volvo places ours where you can reach it from ground level rather than in that cramped area behind the seat.

Those are five often overlooked components that I highly recommend you check when judging one excavator’s durability versus another. It may not be a bad idea to print this out, stick it in your pocket and check through them when you’re at the dealership.

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