Everyone is probably familiar with excavators. The most common type of excavator is the backhoe, whether crawler or wheeled. Many people also know that mechanical front shovel excavator and hydraulic front shovel excavator are used in mines. So, why do front shovel excavator and backhoes exist, and which one is better?

Two Designs Meet Different Needs
Ultimately, excavators are designed to meet specific needs, and front shovel excavator and backhoes clearly address different needs. However, there is significant overlap between their application areas; in most situations, both can be used. However, their applications differ significantly.

A face shovel is suitable for excavating above the parking level, while a backhoe is suitable for excavating below the parking level.

For example, a typical foundation pit is very convenient to use with a backhoe. Excavation can be done from the ground level, and the excavated soil can be directly loaded and transported away from the ground level. The backhoe can also be used to adjust the slope. However, a face shovel requires digging a ramp to the bottom of the pit, then excavating horizontally. The excavated soil then needs to be transported away by a dump truck.

Different Construction Methods

Two figures illustrate the differences between a face shovel and a backhoe. A face shovel is suitable for excavating above the parking surface, moving forward as it digs. A backhoe, on the other hand, is suitable for excavating below the parking surface, moving backward as it digs. While a face shovel can also excavate below the parking surface, this prevents the machine from moving forward. Therefore, unless digging downhill, excavation is usually horizontal. A backhoe, like a face shovel, can also dig forward as it digs, but it's less efficient when excavating above the parking surface unless a platform is used, as mentioned above, which is somewhat troublesome.

In summary, backhoes are suitable for most situations, especially general infrastructure construction, where high steps are not available and backhoes are sufficient, making them widely used. Face shovels, on the other hand, are less convenient to use in general infrastructure construction and are therefore less common. However, face shovels are more common in quarries and large mines where blasting is required and steps must be high enough to improve blasting efficiency. In some mines where blasting is not required, such as coal mines and overburden stripping, lower steps can be designed to accommodate the use of backhoes, a practice popular in Australia.