Steel for the Heavy Equipment Industry

Heavy-duty cranes need to lift immense amounts of weight and require high levels of rigidity and strength in their booms. To accomplish this, cranes use steel to not only reduce their weight but also to balance rigidity with bendability for optimal boom design. The steel utilizes thinner pieces without sacrificing performance or safety to create a better crane.

Protecting the operator cabin of heavy equipment is an obvious and crucial part of working with this kind of machinery. Roll Over Protection Structures (ROPS) and Falling Object Protective Structures (FOPS) do exactly this to prevent damage or injury in the event of something falling, or the heavy equipment rolling over, onto the operator cabin. Steel helps manufacturers and users alike feel comfortable knowing that they’re protected by its strength while also reducing the weight of the cabin.

On an excavator, everything that makes up the bucket, from the teeth to the bucket sides are made of steel. Bucket teeth are often forged or cast steel, while the sides are made from steel plates. This makes it easier to maneuver because the arm is lighter than if it was made with other metals but still keeps its strength and durability. This is due to the fact that these attachments are often made of low alloy steel with nickel and molybdenum added for better abrasion and corrosion resistance to keep their edges and last longer.

Steel plates are also used in a variety of other heavy equipment machinery as well and are necessary for their structures and other applications such as outriggers for cranes. Arguably the most important criteria for plates in any of these applications is how much weight can be saved while maintaining the strength required. Because of its strength-to-weight ratio, steel is an ideal solution for these uses and is why it’s so widely employed by heavy equipment.