Crawler excavators and wheeled excavators each have distinctive features in engineering applications.
I. Advantages and disadvantages of crawler excavators
1. Advantages – Strong off-road performance: large grounding area, adapt to soft, muddy, swampy and other complex terrain, not easy to get stuck High stability: heavy body, good stability during operation, suitable for heavy excavation or mining and other harsh environments.
Strong load-bearing capacity: the use of steel or rubber tracks, can carry more weight, suitable for large-scale projects.
Outstanding climbing ability: it can climb steep slopes and even vertical right-angle slopes, suitable for mountainous areas, mines and other scenes.
Durability: metal tracks resist wear and tear, suitable for long-term harsh working conditions.
2. Disadvantages – Poor manoeuvrability: slow travelling speed (about 5km/hour), long-distance transit needs to rely on transporters.
High cost: high cost, high fuel consumption, high maintenance cost (e.g. track replacement) High damage to the ground surface: tracks are easy to crush the road surface or grass, need to be used with caution on hardened ground.
Complicated operation: high requirements on driver’s skills, rising labour costs
Applicable scenes: soft ground, mining, swampy areas, large infrastructure projects.
Advantages and disadvantages of wheeled excavators
1. Advantages – Flexible transit: fast travelling speed (40-50km/hour), can quickly cope with multi-site operations, saving transport costs.
Less damage to the ground surface: rubber tyres are shock absorbing and cushioning, suitable for hard surfaces such as concrete, roads and lawns.
Low cost: low cost, low fuel consumption, simple maintenance (no need to replace tracks).
Easy to operate: quick to start, lower technical requirements for drivers, lower labour costs
Versatility: quick change of working devices, adaptable to municipal, pipeline laying, landscaping and other light projects.
2. Disadvantages – Passage limitation: unable to enter muddy and soft ground, weak climbing ability.
Poor stability: high centre of gravity, need to be equipped with eight legs to improve the stability of stationary operation.
Low load capacity: lightweight, not suitable for heavy excavation or large material handling.
Narrow scope of application: mostly used in urban projects, difficult to cope with mining, swamps and other harsh environments.
Applicable scenarios: urban municipal, highway maintenance, hardened ground construction, small-scale projects.
Comprehensive comparison and selection suggestions 1. Selection according to engineering needs – Road conditions: hard surface priority wheeled, complex terrain selection of tracked
Transit frequency: wheeled for high-frequency transit, tracked for fixed sites.
Project volume: Crawler for large volume/tight time limit, wheeled for small volume/loose time.
2. Selection according to cost budget – wheeled type with low initial investment is suitable for small and medium-sized projects with limited capital; tracked type is suitable for long-term large-scale projects.
3. Market trend: wheeled excavators are more popular for urban projects because of their flexibility and low cost, but crawler is still the first choice for complex working conditions In short, there is no absolute advantage or disadvantage of the two, and you need to choose according to the specific working conditions, capital budget and use of scenarios.
