An excavator is a heavy machine with a bucket for digging and moving earth. It is also called a digger or a 360-degree excavator. It has a cab on a rotating platform, an arm, a boom, and a bucket. The tracks or wheels allow it to move around the site. The operator sits in the cab and controls the arm and bucket with joysticks. The machine can dig, lift, swing, and dump. It is one of the most versatile machines on a construction site.

Excavators come in many sizes. A mini excavator weighs a few tons and can work in tight spaces. A standard excavator weighs 20 to 40 tons and is the most common. A large mining excavator can weigh hundreds of tons and fill a truck in a few scoops. The bucket can be swapped for other attachments. A breaker breaks concrete. A grapple picks up debris. A thumb grabs rocks and logs. A shear cuts steel. The excavator is a platform for many tools.

Excavators are used in every phase of construction. They dig foundations and trenches. They load trucks. They demolish buildings. They clear land. They move materials. They are also used in mining, forestry, and agriculture. The excavator is not a precision instrument, but a skilled operator can grade a slope, dig a trench, and set a pipe with accuracy. The machine is powerful and dangerous. Safety zones, spotters, and training are required. The excavator is the workhorse of earthmoving.