A backhoe loader is a piece of heavy construction equipment which actually marries two separate devices: a backhoe and a loader. Many contracting companies use backhoe loaders because they are powerful, efficient, fairly compact, and easier to maintain than two separate devices. Some consumers may be familiar with the sight of a backhoe loader, since the machines are frequently used for roadwork and major construction projects. Several companies dominate the market for backhoe loaders, including Case Equipment, Volvo Equipment, Caterpillar Equipment, and John Deere Equipment.

The core of a backhoe loader is a tractor base. The tractor has wide, rugged wheels and a strong engine, allowing it to muscle its way over a variety of terrain. The tractor also has a cab or covered area for the operator, allowing him or her to work through inclement weather. Inside the cab, two separate sets of controls are used to manipulate the elements of the backhoe loader.

The backhoe portion of the equipment is actually located on the rear end. A backhoe is a type of excavator at the end of a long arm. When the operator manipulates the controls, the backhoe can be used to dig high volumes of material very quickly. Other tools can be attached to this flexible arm, such as tools used to break up concrete. While the backhoe is in use, the backhoe loader is parked and anchored with stabilizer legs, which pull the wheels off the ground and stop the backhoe loader from moving.

The loader section of the equipment is a giant scoop. It can be filled with material for transport elsewhere, or it can be used to smooth and plow roadways. Since transport of materials is often required after their excavation, the backhoe loader conveniently bundles both tasks into one machine. Specialized training is required before someone can run a backhoe loader safely, and a supervisor on site usually ensures that the equipment is being used safely and appropriately.

In the 1940s and 1950s, Case was one of the first companies to realize the potential applications for a backhoe loader, A construction boom after the Second World War led to a rising demand for construction equipment which could do jobs quickly and efficiently. Case backhoes started to come with a loader option as well, and other companies picked up the trend. In many cases, a backhoe loader is the only piece of heavy equipment owned by a small construction company, since it has many uses, especially if different attachments can be used on the backhoe arm.

There is a rapid advancement in the field of heavy equipment technology. Unlike the earlier days now, using global positioning satellite technology, heavy equipment placed anywhere in the world can be checked or diagnosed. Finding the right new equipment suitable is also getting to be a big challenge. With lot of options and features to consider, it will be an overwhelming chore.

Among the used heavy equipment, backhoe-loaders are used in small demolitions, breaking asphalt, construction, digging holes excavating, light transportation of building materials, powering building equipment, and paving roads. To smash concrete and rock, tools such as breakers can be used instead of the backhoe bucket. To empty its load more quickly and efficiently, some loader buckets have a retractable bottom. Grading and scratching off sand is executed with retractable-bottom loader buckets. The front assembly may be permanently mounted or have a removable attachment. Often other devices and tools replace the bucket. In order to mount different attachments to the loader, the backhoe loader must be equipped with a tool coupler.

Bulldozers equipment are heavy equipment but they are also large and tracked engineering vehicles. With the mobility and ground hold given by the tracks they can move through very rough terrain. Swamp tracks in bulldozers are merely extra wide tracks.

The three distinct assemblies of compact hydraulic excavators are workgroup, undercarriage and house. The boom, arm or dipper and attachments such as bucket and breaker are parts of the workgroup of a compact hydraulic excavator. They are connected to the front of the house structure of the excavator via a swing frame that allows the workgroup to be hydraulically pivoted right or left to achieve offset digging for trenching.

Harvesters today do practically all of the commercial felling in Sweden and Finland and they were developed in these countries. Harvesters work best in less difficult terrain while clear cutting areas of forest. Small and very agile harvesters are used in the Nordic countries for thinning operations.

An iron or a cylinder placed between two metal rods so that it is able to freely slide down and up are included in the pile drivers. A pulley system is used to raise the cylinder which may involve the use of manual labor, steam or hydraulics. Small explosions in the chamber are used in modern pile drivers to raise the cylinder.

A piece of heavy equipment used for earthmoving in civil engineering, is a wheel tractor-scraper. A vertically moveable hopper in the rear part with a sharp horizontal front edge does the scraping. Raising and lowering of the hopper is done hydraulically. The front edge cuts into the soil like a cheese-cutter when the hopper is lowered.