A
Front loader is also
known as: bucket loader, loader, front end
loader, pay
loader, scoop loader, shovel, skip loader, and/or wheel
loader.
Front
Loader is a heavy equipment machine
often used in construction, primarily used to load material (such
as asphalt,
demolition
debris, dirt, snow, feed, gravel, logs,
raw minerals,
recycled material, rock, sand, and woodchips) into or onto
another type of machinery (such as a dump
truck, conveyor belt,
feed-hopper, or railcar).
In
construction areas loaders are also
used to
transport building materials - such as bricks, pipe, metal bars,
and digging
tools - over short distances.
A
loader is usually wheeled, sometimes
on
tracks, that has a front
mounted square wide bucket connected to the
end of two booms (arms) to scoop up loose material from the
ground, such as
dirt, sand or gravel, and move it from one place to another without
pushing the
material across the ground. A loader is commonly used to move a
stockpiled
material from ground level and deposit it into an awaiting dump truck
or into
an open trench excavation. (Photo above: Volvo
wheel loader; author MathKnight; available under
the terms of the GNU Free
Documentation License)
The
loader assembly may be a removable
attachment or permanently mounted. Often the bucket can be replaced with other
devices or tools—for example,
forks can be mounted to lift heavy pallets or
shipping containers, and a hydraulically-opening "clamshell" bucket
allows a loader to act as a light dozer or scraper. The bucket
can also be
augmented with devices like a bale grappler for handling large bales
of hay or straw. (Photo above: Caterpillar 988 adopted for
log handling: author Rvannatta ;available under
the terms of the GNU Free
Documentation License)
Large loaders,
such as the Kawasaki
95ZV-2, John Deere 844K, Caterpillar 950H, Volvo
L120E,Case 921E,
or Hitachi ZW310 usually have only a front bucket and are
called Front
Loaders, whereas small loader tractors are often also equipped with a
small backhoe and
are called backhoe loaders or loader backhoes or JCBs, after
the
company that first invented them.
A
loader is not the most efficient
machine
for digging as it cannot dig very deep below the level of its
wheels, like a backhoe can.
The capacity of a loader bucket can be anywhere from 0.5 to
36 m³ depending
upon the size of the machine and its application.
The L-2350 loader from LeTourneau
Inc. holds the Guinness
World Record for Biggest Earth
Mover. Designed to center-load haul trucks with capacities of up to 400 tons,
the L-2350 provides an operating payload of 160,000 pounds, a 24-foot
lift
height, and an 11.5-foot reach. The front loader's bucket capacity is
generally
much bigger than a bucket capacity of a backhoe loader.
L-2350 loader
Unlike
most bulldozers, most loaders
are wheeled and not tracked, although track
loaders are
common. They are successful where sharp edged materials in construction
debris
would damage rubber wheels, or where the ground is soft and muddy.
Wheels
provide better mobility and speed and do not
damage paved roads as
much as tracks, but provide less traction.
es
on
tracks
ssembly may be a removable
attachment or permanently mounted
