How to Calculate Excavator Bucket Capacity
When working with an excavator, it helps to know the bucket capacity in order to estimate the time it takes to complete a project. The density of the material and the buckets fill factor determines the capacity of the bucket. The bucket capacity required for a specific job depends upon the hourly production rate you need.
Items Needed:
- Calculator
- Pencil
- Paper
- Stop watch
- Building Estimator’s Reference Book
Formula
Q= (60*q*z*n*KF) / KL.
- Q represents the productivity of the excavator
- q is the capacity of the bucket in cubic feet
- z is the number of buckets
- n is the speed of rotations per minute
- KF is the filling factor
- KL is the soil loosening factor
Method
- Gather all the necessary data and write it into a format that is accessible. Find out the material to be moved and get the estimated cubic weight and density by referring to the reference table in the reference book. Find out the fill factor that is recommended for the material.
- Start the stopwatch when the bucket begins the dig cycle and stop when the loading operation cycle ends. Write down the time and use this figure to calculate the number of cycles that can be completed in an hour.
- Calculate your requirement for hourly production. Use the calculator to divide the hourly production requirement. You can calculate the weight that can be moved per hour by finding out the amount moved per cycle.
- Divide the cycle load by the density of the material to determine the estimated bucket capacity.
- Use the formula precisely and accurately to calculate productivity.