Is There a Depth on How Deep Can Mini Excavators Dig?

Is there a depth limit that prevents mini excavators from digging deep? Not surprisingly, this figure is usually printed high on a mini digger’s specs page. The parameter is called “Digging Depth.” On some long-limbed models, this feature can reach as high as 4.2-metres (14-feet), which should be enough to suit most excavating applications. After all, utility lines rarely sink deeper than 3-metres below ground.

Mini Excavator Digging Depth

More commonly, at least on smaller construction sites, excavators work at the edges of trenches that are 1.5-metres to 3.0-metres deep. Therefore, a mini digger that can reach down a 4.2-metre hole in the ground is going to serve most contractors very well indeed. However, a 2-metre depth is generally acceptable on an everyday compact digger. Even then, operators don’t believe in pushing their equipment to the limit. They know a safety factor is always a good asset to have in place. With that approach in mind, the digger operator will likely use 60% of the gear’s range and no more. By doing so, there’s no tipping risk and the scoop will reach all the way to the bottom of the site trench. There’s no point having 4-metres of rangy movement if the digging attachment only scratches the bottom of the hole, after all.

Don’t Sacrifice Dig Productivity

Famed for their ability to get around small building sites, that versatility factor takes a hit when the equipment is asked to dig too deep. The articulating steel arm extends deep, its knuckle opens wide, and the bucket’s underside has trouble reaching the bottom of a deep trench. That bucket underside should easily reach all the way down, and there should be a more acute angle on the arm knuckle so that it can deliver lifting or scraping power all the way down. If either of those requirements is violated, the lifting equipment needs to be repositioned. Again, even when a mini digger features an extended digging depth, consider the drawbacks. Power attenuated lifts and bucket underside reach/contact limits should never be ignored.

Digging depth parameters are marked high on a mini digger’s specs sheet. The specification is up there with the operating weight and engine size, so we can be sure it’s a critically important vehicle feature. Generally speaking, smaller excavators’ offer a 2-metre or more dig depth, but there are purpose-designed deep-dig models that double that figure. All the same, equipment operators are trained not to take that feature to the limit. They know lift power drops as this limit is neared, and they know a limit is useless if it means the digger bucket can’t carry out any work.

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