What Are the Best Brands of Excavators for Contractors?

When it comes time to buy an excavator, contractors face a critical choice—pick the right brand or pay through the nose in machine repairs, lost project time, and misery. There are tons of brands of excavators to choose from out there. Pick the wrong one and you’ll eat up a ton of extra profits in unnecessary repairs, downtime, and missed deadlines. To make it incredibly easy, we’ve put together the most comprehensive list of the best excavator brands on the planet. Now you can make an informed decision based on your own specific needs.

The best brands of excavators for contractors are CAT, Komatsu, and Hitachi. These brands are the most durable, require the fewest repairs, and perform the best on almost any type of work. This complete guide to the best brands of excavators for contractors will help you pick the best excavator brand tailored to your specific project needs and budget.

1,What Makes a Good Brands of Excavators for Contractors?

When a contractor invests in an excavator, they want a brand that provides the best performance, reliability, and ease of maintenance. Excavators are the lifeblood of a contractor’s construction jobs. Picking the right brand means less downtime, more days in the seat, and more work done at the end of the year.

The best brands of excavators combine the perfect blend of reliability and performance. Typically, these brands of excavators have a long history of withstanding some of the most extreme conditions on the planet. Combine that durability with a massive service network and replacement parts available almost anywhere you can drive a truck, and you have the winning combination for contractors that have tight project timelines.

2,Top Excavator Brands for Contractors: CAT, Komatsu, and Hitachi

CAT (Caterpillar), Komatsu, and Hitachi are three of the most popular and trusted brands of excavators in the excavator industry. Each brands of excavators makes several different models with features designed for various types of construction. Let’s take a closer look at each of them:

• CAT: CAT is known for the durability and longevity of the brand. CAT’s excavators are built to handle anything you can throw at them on a job site. Think of CAT as the go-to brand for big excavation jobs, especially when you need to pick up heavy loads, or you want the vehicle to last for years and years.
• Komatsu: Komatsu excavators are known for their fuel efficiency. This fuel savings can be a significant cost saver for contractors running these machines day in and day out. They’re also known for their superior operator comfort, which is important on jobs where you’re working multiple shifts and want your operators to keep going hour after hour.
• Hitachi: The hydraulics respond smoothly and are incredibly precise. If you need to dig around existing structures or dial in your cuts to the exact inch, a Hitachi might be right for you.

3,How to Choose the Right Brands of Excavators for Your Construction Projects?

Selecting the right brands of excavators for your job site depends heavily on your construction project’s requirements. The size of your project, the complexity of the work you’re doing, and the type of soil you’re working in all factor into the decision of which excavator to buy.

If you’re working on a big, nasty project, there is no better brand than CAT. The engine is big and the lifting capacity is huge. If your project involves a lot of heavy lifting or you’ll be running the machine for a long time, you can rely on any of CAT’s machines to take it. For medium and larger tasks, Komatsu has a wider range of models to fit the bill. This will allow you to finish the wide variety of projects a normal excavation contractor runs into over the course of the construction season. Hitachi shines in the precision work like trenching and digging with their advanced hydraulic systems.

4,Which Brands of Excavators Offers the Best Value for Money?

Most contractors have a budget in mind when they go to purchase an excavator. The best brands of excavators to buy is the one that meets your performance expectations and falls within your budget. If you’re wanting a great performance value for the lowest price possible, then you’re typically looking at Komatsu.

Most of the time, you’ll hear that Komatsu provides the best value for the money. They are reasonably priced and fuel-efficient, which can save you a bundle over thousands of hours of operation. They offer a good, reliable, cost-efficient machine that is perfect for a large construction company, earthwork contractor, local contractor, or anybody else that is running a machine for thousands of hours. If you’re looking for a quality machine that won’t break the bank, Komatsu is likely the brand for you. CAT, on the other hand, costs more upfront, but the resale value on those machines and the overall durability far exceeds anything else made.

Hitachi, even though they are more expensive to buy, maintain, and repair, are masters of hydraulic performance and a good value for precision work.

5,How Long Do Excavators Last, and Which Brand Offers the Longest Lifespan?

One of the most crucial factors for contractors is the longevity of their machines. This is where having a cheaper hourly rate can pay off in spades long-term. The longer the machine lasts, the more profitability gets baked in, and the fewer replacement costs you have over the next 20 years.

CAT excavators are known for lasting 20+ years without anything but fluids, filters, and buckets if you take care of them. This makes CAT excavators a more cost-effective deal over the lifespan of the machine for contractors that make long-term decisions. Komatsu and Hitachi should last 15-20 years. However, with the electronics and computer components, you might have a slightly different maintenance program to keep up with to ensure the machine remains reliable. Preventative maintenance is the key to getting the most life out of your machine, no matter what brands of excavators you have.

6,Is It Better to Buy New or Used Excavators for Contractors?

If they’re on a budget, they can stretch their money by buying a used machine instead of paying more money for a new machine. As always, if you decide used is the way to go, have a mechanic check it out before you buy it so you know what you’re getting.

When it comes to used equipment, people gravitate towards older CAT machines because they run forever. That’s why they’re sold used. Just make sure you have it checked out before you buy it. The other brands have fantastic used equipment as well. Just be careful. It is a little riskier to buy used Komatsu and Hitachi because they have a few electronic issues that can nickel and dime you, depending on how well they were maintained and operated.

7,What Brand of Excavator Has the Best After-Sales Service?

After-sales service is indeed critical for the long-term success of using the excavator. A good service network ensures contractors have access to quick repairs and quick parts replacement, limiting downtime.

CAT is the standout here in terms of after-sales support. The CAT brand has an extensive global service network and parts are readily available. Contractors can trust when they buy a CAT machine, they are going to get serviced quickly which reduces downtime and keeps the machine in optimal condition. Komatsu offers robust service in most regions worldwide, but their support network is not as global as that of CAT. Hitachi also offers good support, but its network is relatively limited.

8,Which Excavator Brand is Most Fuel-Efficient?

Profitability also has to do with fuel efficiency, as that is one of the most significant operational costs. You have to pay to power these excavators for five, 10, 12 hours per day. The only way to power them is to burn diesel fuel. So if you can find an excavator brand that is more fuel efficient, it will make a huge difference in your favor and in your pocketbook over time.

• CAT: CAT excavators are designed for big jobs and running all day long. They are heavy pieces of equipment, so they burn more fuel. But they shine in that kind of setting. Their machines are powerhouses, and while you will pay for that extra fuel, and you may have to spend a bit more, when you need that type of equipment they are perfect for these big jobs, and they will shine.
• Komatsu: This excavator brand is excellent in fuel efficiency. They shine for a lot of job-site applications used on projects where companies must pay for fuel and the ability to manage that pain with a Komatsu machine is a big bonus. They know their customers want to operate and burn less fuel.
• Hitachi: The next brand is Hitachi. Hitachi falls between CAT and Komatsu on fuel efficiency. And for a lot of contractors, they are the perfect solution. They can get the nice balance of performance and fuel consumption and don’t have to worry either way. For mid-to-large size contractors, Hitachi is an excellent solution.

9,How Does After-Sales Support Affect Your Excavator Choice?

A lot of times, contractors will look past the after-sales side of a company. They figure they will buy the excavator and figure it out. But if your equipment is not running, you are not making money. You want someone who can get you up and running quickly. Someone who has the parts to keep you up and running. With a tech to come to your job site. Or, at least a phone call to help walk you through fixing it. With CAT, they have almost nothing to worry about.

You can find a CAT dealer and service department just about anywhere in the world. And it doesn’t take long to get the parts in and get a tech on-site to help you. And that peace of mind is worth something. Because if your equipment is not running, you are not making money. Then you are just another talking head spender. Hitachi is not terrible either, but they don’t have the global presence like CAT’s. Hitachi is like Komatsu; they do pretty good but are a little more regionalized.

• CAT: CAT is by far the best at this. It all comes down to who can get the parts repaired and get you back up and running. With CAT, you can find dealers and service centers all around the globe. They can get parts in fast and have someone out to help you get the job done. Oftentimes they may have you up and running within 24 hours, if not sooner. They are amazing with this.
• Komatsu: Komatsu, the Japanese brand, does a good job too. You can usually find someone who services their equipment. They have a great machine, and they do an amazing job all over the world, but their network is often more region-specific than CAT’s. But Komatsu could be a front-runner for you if they offer that service in your area.
• Hitachi: What about Hitachi? Hitachi does fine also, but they are not as global as CAT’s dealer network. They could be a good fit for you too. Hitachi can get parts and techs out to you, but there are some places where they are not as aggressive or accessible as CAT. Depending on where you are, you may have to wait a day or two longer to get something fixed than if you were a CAT customer. And waiting a day or two can kill a small contractor.

Summary

You cannot outperform any of the majors building machines, but you can pick the best brand for your project, budget, and after-sales service. Do you need a workhorse? Can your project afford the fuel for a CAT? Are you running smaller-scale projects and need to save money on operation costs? Komatsu is for you where fuel savings are critical because you are running your excavator longer hours. Do you run in the middle ground, like the business steak dinner? Hitachi may be your choice because it is a little of both.

You cannot outdo any of the three primarily sold brands available worldwide which are CAT, Komatsu, and Hitachi building your machine, but you can decide which one works better for your particular project, your dollar, your gallons of fuel, and after sales service. Are you a new or used choice? Make sure you weigh these options before you decide because either decision could make or kill you. Make sure you are picking a winning brand for you, your equipment, your mix of jobs, locations, and ways to make a profit.

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