Excavator Offset Boom – The Definitive FAQ Guide
Excavator offset boom FAQ Guide is the ultimate guide for excavator offset boom. It covers everything from essential aspects of boom construction to specifications.
This guide pertains to information on the material used in manufacturing, problems associated with excavator offset boom, maintenance requirements, and much more.
1. What is an excavator offset boom?
An excavator offset boom is a tool that attaches to the arm of an excavator machine.
This boom allows the operator more versatility in completing various tasks.
The offset boom provides optimal handling when working with trenching attachments and helps to increase the reach of the machine itself significantly.
These booms are also referred to as articulating booms due to their ability to bend and still have a rotation point.
The original offset boom design is widely used around the globe because it combines machine operator comfort, control, and safety at an affordable price.
Excavator offset booms move buckets off-center to allow them to reach over the top of a machine and into narrow spaces, such as tight corners or confined areas where the entire machine might not fit.
2. How does excavator offset boom work?
Excavator offset boom works on the principle of hydraulics. A boom cylinder is attached to your excavator offset boom.
The pressurized hydraulic fluid enters your excavator boom cylinder through the control valve and moves towards the piston.
The pressure of the fluid causes your hydraulic cylinder piston to move to and fro.
A piston is attached with a connecting rod that transfers the to and fro motion of the hydraulic cylinder piston to the excavator offset boom, which causes it to extend or retract.
Without missing any of the hydraulic components, your excavator offset boom will be unable to perform its intended function.
3. How much important is the bucket attached to the excavator offset boom attachment?
The bucket attached to the offset boom acts like any other bucket: it digs and lifts objects from the ground or inside a dump box.
It has a hydraulically activated working process for digging and lifting arms to move objects around once they are raised.
The bucket is mounted onto the offset boom attachment and is controlled by the excavator operator.
The standard size of the bucket varies from model to model but can be bought in any other size or shape to suit different applications.
The bucket cylinder is the main component that powers the bucket and helps excavate different materials by providing the necessary force.
4. Which material is used in the manufacturing of the excavator offset boom?
The Excavator Offset Boom is fabricated from high-strength steel, which has been treated through a proprietary grinding and painting process to enhance all-weather resistance.
Any welds are meticulously ground smooth to avoid any sharp edges.
The attachments are either aluminum or steel. The synthetic rubber hoses and wires used in the control system are also part of the offset boom.
The offset boom is made of advanced materials which can effectively resist abrasion, impact, and corrosion.
It features excellent strength, flexibility, wear resistance, and rust-proof performance under harsh working conditions.
It is not just the material itself but the construction of the offset boom that determines its durability.
It is vital to ensure that the quality of material used in making the offset boom and its manufacturing standards are up to par as it affects the strength and durability.
5. What attachments can be affixed to the excavator offset boom?
Many attachments can be affixed to the excavator offset boom. Specific extensions are available depending on your model and the brand of the excavator.
Some of the primary attachments are listed below:
- Excavator Arm cylinder
- Excavator Bucket cylinder
- Excavator Boom cylinder
- Excavator Bucket
- Excavator Offset Boom
- Excavator Arm
- Excavator Bucket teeth
- Excavator H Link
- Excavator Stick cylinder
These attachments help the excavator perform its intended function in excavation.
All of these attachments are necessary, and in case if a single of these attachments is out of order, then your excavator will be unable to perform its function successfully.
These attachments are operated by an excavator offset boom powered through an excavator hydraulic system.
6. What are the uses of the excavator offset boom?
The offset boom is a mechanical device that can be used to create change in an excavator’s boom direction.
It can often be used to tackle a job easier or more efficiently than would have been possible with only the standard boom, for instance, by extending its reach.
Therefore, the offset boom is generally used for tasks where operation convenience is more significant than maximum digging force.
It may be used to lift and carry odd-shaped objects or to assist with other earth-moving tasks.
This excavator offset boom employs heavy lifting and saves time when you have to dig or scoop something out of place.
It is primarily used for loading and unloading materials into trucks or similar vehicles.
7. What life is associated with excavator offset boom?
The life associated with the excavator offset boom depends on several factors.
These factors include frequency of usage, adoption of maintenance requirements, working conditions, loading criteria, and much more.
In general, the life associated with the excavator offset boom lies in 3 to 5 years.
This lifetime can be increased or decreased based on the followed maintenance requirements.
The lifetime dramatically affects the performance of your excavator offset boom.
Longer life helps you achieve continuous operation with efficiency and effectiveness by eliminating downtime associated.
Loading your excavator offset boom beyond its optimum limit will result in a lesser lifetime of your excavator offset boom.
8. What is the cost of the excavator offset boom?
Several factors affect the cost of your excavator offset boom.
The engine size, controls, boom length, bucket breakout size, type of material used in the construction of excavator offset boom, material characteristics, and many other factors can affect the cost of a machine.
It is challenging for you to find out an accurate price on a machine without all the details.
The cost of an excavator offset boom lies in the range of $3000 to $6000 per piece.
The price of an excavator high-quality offset boom lies in the range of $5000 to $8000 per piece.
The higher price reflects the higher quality associated as well as longer lifespan.
9. What are the maintenance requirements of the excavator offset boom?
The maintenance requirements vary depending on the machine brand and model as well as the specifications.
The maintenance requirements of the excavator offset boom are higher than that of a standard excavator boom due to the offset design of the crash.
Hydraulic hoses and hydraulic connections must be kept free from debris and foreign objects.
This is done to prevent damage to the hoses and prevent damage to other machines in the process of excavation.
Excavator offset boom maintenance requirements include oil changes, periodic checks, and modification of the cylinder hoses.
These maintenance tasks should be performed at the first sign of stress or wearing on either the hoses or cylinders.
The relationship between the final bucket position, boom length, working radius, and maximum digging depth must all be considered while making these adjustments because shifting one will immediately affect other parameters of the boom.
10. What are the common causes of excavator offset boom failure?
The number of hours of operation and the mix of digging, loading, and operating setup determine an excavator boom’s service life.
Contributing factors to offset boom failure may include improper operation, maintenance, and storage of the excavator.
Poor design and use of the equipment other than its intended purpose may also offset boom failures.
The most common causes of excavator offset boom failure are a bucket that is too small for the model of the machine, incorrect bucket connection to the boom, overloads in the digging mode, and inappropriate digging depth that several factors, including underpowered engines, can cause.
As an excavator continues to plunge a bucket into the ground, eventually, the bucket becomes weak from repeated strikes.
This results in the booms breaking free from the main boom and falling. In the most severe cases, operators have been injured when struck by the falling boom.
11. How to choose excavator offset boom?
There are several factors you need to consider while selecting excavator offset boom.
The first, to determine the needs of the machine.
The Excavator boom is a device that must meet two roles: operation and balance.
- Bucket breakout size (max)
- Digging mode options (standard vs. ball type)
- Standard model or basic configuration
- Boom length Operating conditions
- Whether a dynamic or static load balance bucket in natural conditions
When choosing an offset boom, you should also consider machine power capacity, scooping capacity.
The mass of the boom should be considered too. If the boom is too light, it will vibrate when performing mining work and cause damage to an adjacent structure. If it is too big, the transport capacity of the whole machine will reduce.
12. What type of oil is used in excavator offset boom?
The oil provides a 10% increase in digging efficiency and more efficient control over excavator bucket breakout forces.
The oil used is mineral oil with special additives and optimum viscosity to prevent corrosion and excess friction.
Firstly, oil is the machine’s lifeblood. Without it moving parts and engine would seize.
All hydraulic circuits are filled with the oil of varying viscosity depending on their operating pressures and temperatures.
If this oil leaks, the machine is rendered useless as the seals will fail, and metal-to-metal contact will cause wear.
If you accidentally use the incorrect Helix semi-synthetic hydraulic oil or high sulfur diesel oil in a hydraulic circuit (NOT recommended), then severe damage can occur.
13. Why do cracks occur in your excavator offset boom?
The ground forces can sometimes be so great that they create a tensile strength on the upper arm, and this is where cracks occur in your offset boom.
Due to heavy loading, improper operation, and challenging digging conditions, the offset boom can face cracks.
The metal bar on which it rotates can be damaged from overload and the long hours of intensive work, resulting in cracks in the areas repeatedly subjected to stress.
The more likely source of a crack is a combination of fatigue cracks and corrosion at one of the elliptical cylinder end fittings due to attachments such as a significant power train, boom or stick cylinder, or bucket hanging on the boom.
14. How to repair excavator offset boom cracks?
Excavator offset boom repair is one of the most important things to consider when excavator improvements are made.
This is not a difficult task and can be done by the company itself or by wheel loaders or other mechanical companies with the needed equipment.
The repair method includes gas welding or laser welding.
These methods also employ to cut or eliminate the cracked part from your excavator and, in place, weld a new position with higher strength.
The cracked part is cut out from the excavator offset boom to eliminate the risk for further cracks.
This repair method will save you money and get your excavator working like new in no time.
15. What are the measures to prevent weld corrosion of excavator offset boom?
The following measures to prevent weld corrosion of excavator offset boom are introduced:
- Using high-strength low-alloy steel with a specified tensile strength;
- Using suitable welder materials, good electrodes, and welding procedures;
- Not painting the bare part of the offset boom after welding, that is, paint the whole machine surface and then remove the paint from the bump and weld parts;
- When welding, do not allow water or other corrosive liquid, sand particles into the weld part;
- After welding, use anti-corrosive treatment on the welded part.
Weld corrosion damage to the excavator offset boom is often caused by water usage, welding oil and sludge produced in the mud, and the vibration of the loading shovel.
16. How to replace excavator offset boom pins?
Excavator offset boom pins are critical to the load-carrying capacity of the machine and are designed accordingly.
They are inspected regularly, and failure to adhere to the manufacturer-recommended replacement schedule will invalidate customers’ warranty.
If pins show any sign of cracking, fracturing, or pitting, they should be replaced immediately.
For this purpose, you need a suitable tool kit to unscrew the nuts and bolts to isolate offset boom pins and then replace them with a new one and mount the isolations on the excavator boom.
At the final stage, test your excavator offset boom installation to ensure everything is in operation and working fine.
17. What is the role of hydraulic lines in excavator offset boom?
The hydraulic lines play a significant role in the working of the excavator offset boom. The proper operation of excavator boom hydraulic lines enables the boom to move up and down as required by the operator during the digging process.
A hydraulic line is used to transmit operating fluid (oil) to or from an actuator.
Hydraulic lines connect an excavator hydraulic pump assembly through a drive mechanism and adaptors to an actuator assembly.
The hydraulic line length and diameter, number and types of fittings, and pressure rating will depend on the application. In general terms, the required flow rate of the system determines the needed diameter of the hydraulic line.
18. What are the dimensions of the excavator offset boom?
There are several dimensions associated with excavator offset boom. Some of the measurements are listed below:
| Sr. No. | Part | Parameter | Specifications |
| 1 | Excavator Offset Boom | Overall length | 12810 |
| 2 | Excavator Offset Boom | Overall width | 4210 |
| 3 | Excavator Offset Boom | Overall height | 4300 |
| 4 | Excavator Offset Boom | Ground clearance | 1365 |
| 5 | Excavator Offset Boom | Tail swing radius | 3800 |
| 6 | Excavator Offset Boom | Width of crawler | 3900 |
| 7 | Excavator Offset Boom | Track length on ground | 4600 |
Each component is affixed with its particular dimensions.
These dimensions vary and depend on the model of excavator you will employ for the specific application.
The type of application in which excavator offset boom is employed significantly impacts the dimensions selection.
19. How much force does the excavator offset boom exert?
Several factors affect how much force the offset boom exerts. For example, the bucket breakout size and weight will affect the boom’s capability to shift material.
The excavator’s engine power and attachment configuration can also impact how much force is exerted.
The hydraulic power of the excavator’s offset boom can be calculated from the force formula.
The force formula needs to know how much hydraulic fluid is in the offset boom cylinder and how much it is being forced per second.
The hydro-mechanical Excavator Offset Boom exerts a force of 231 kN throughout its range of travel.
When in the full digging mode, the load applied at the boom tip is 123 kN; when in lift mode, it is 108 kN.
20. What are the modifications of the excavator offset boom?
The main modification is to increase the length of the boom. To achieve stable operation of the machine, correction usually requires increasing the size of the bucket.
The bucket breakout increases, and so does the excavator’s digging capacity.
The forward offset boom modifies the reach of the machine and its stability.
This modification is intended to be more dominant in the combine or wheel loader variation of excavators
The offset boom also counterbalances the weight. This modification served two purposes:
- It creates a more balanced machine with the increased weight in the bucket of the loaders.
- It allowed for better balance in the machining process with more weight on the side while working on a slope.
21. How much can the excavator offset boom lift?
A machine can lift the actual capacity dependent upon several factors, including the model of the machine, engine power, boom length, bucket breakout force, and bucket size.
The excavator offset boom lift is designed to move large and heavy materials. The capacity of this machine is 6 tons which can lift 6,000 pounds.
This makes it excellent for lifting and dumping compacted materials like concrete. It can also handle some of the tougher digging applications at a 1-7/16 cubic foot per second flow rate.
22. What characteristics are embedded in excavator offset boom oil?
Excavator Offset Boom Oil is a unique oil that contains high-quality base oil and additives to provide the following performance characteristics:
This is a heavy-duty lubricant specially formulated for excavators.
It does excellent resistance to high temperature and water absorption. Meanwhile, it helps to prolong the services life of the excavator by increasing the reliability and efficiency of its parts.
Excavator Offset Boom can effectively reduce wear and tear factors, such as sintered particles for lubrication, which has an excellent anti-wear ability; there are extreme pressure additives to enhance fluidity; it minimizes sliding under the heavy burden so that your machine will operate more smoothly.
23. Why is your excavator offset boom slow?
There are several reasons why your excavator offset boom is slower.
The most popular reasons include blocked hydraulic lines and malfunctioned excavator hydraulic pump, which cannot create the required hydraulic pressure.
Too long excavator offset boom also leads to slow-moving and turning operations of your excavator boom.
The heavyweight associated with excavator offset boom also leads to slower operation to balance the excavator while performing more arduous operations on uneven grounds.
24. How can you solve the problem of a slow excavator offset boom?
The offset boom is one of the essential components of the operation of an excavator.
You can solve the problems associated with a slower excavator offset boom by following the given procedures.
Check the pressure build-up by the excavator hydraulic pump.
Shorter the length of your excavator offset boom to encourage speedy operations.
Remove the dirt, debris, sand, or stones incorporated during excavation operation from your excavator offset boom.
To increase the efficiency of your excavator offset boom, make sure to keep the oil level in your excavator hydraulic system up to an optimum point.