Backhoe loader in areas too small for larger equipment. Their versatility and compact size makes them one of the most popular urban construction vehicles. For larger projects, a tracked excavator is generally used. In recent years, small compact tractors have become very popular with private homeowners. Subcompact tractors, the size between a compact tractor and lawn tractor, are also often sold in backhoe loader setup, sometimes with a belly-mounted mower also included. These tractors offer private homeowners the ability to perform minor excavation projects. Backhoe loader A backhoe loader, also called a loader backhoe, digger in layman's terms, or colloquially shortened to
Backhoe may then be referred to as an excavator. Backhoe loaders can be designed and manufactured from the start as such, or can be the result of a farm tractor equipped with a front end loader (FEL) and rear backhoe. Though similar looking, the purpose-designed backhoe loaders are much stronger, with the farm variation unsuitable for heavy work. The farm variation also requires that the operator switch seats from sitting in front of the backhoe controls to the tractor seat in order to reposition the equipment while digging, and this often slows down the digging process. With the advent of hydraulic