Equipment manufacturers have mostly moved past the challenges of developing engines to meet Tier 4 Final emissions standards and have turned their attention to making their excavators more productive, easier to operate and technologically advanced.
Examples of design improvements include such features as E-fencing to keep boom, bucket and arm within set parameters, loads of camera views, including at the bucket level, and people detectors.
Models are also being launched with various tailswings to match the working environment, hydraulic and in-cab touchscreen systems to make attachment changes faster and easier, and speeding up swing and other movements for greater efficiency and productivity.
In this report, we take a look at the latest models from 14 manufacturers: Caterpillar, Case, Bobcat, Develon, Hitachi, JCB, John Deere, Kobelco, Komatsu, Link-Belt, LiuGong, Mecalac, Takeuchi and Volvo.
Cat had a three- to four-year cycle of introducing new models, transitioning from the C Series to the D Series and then from E to F Series. Once the machines were fully evolved to meet Tier 4 Final emission standards, however, the company moved to the Next Gen Hex platform, which focused more on refining than redefining.
For example, the 336-08 and 340-08 have 6-inch wider stances than their predecessors – 3 inches of additional spacing on both sides. This small change yields greater stability, allowing the use of slightly larger buckets and providing greater lift-over-side capacities.
