There are many types of excavators, including mini excavators, compact excavators, diggers, backhoe loaders, hydraulic excavators, cable-operated excavator, front-end loaders, wheel excavators, crawler excavators, amphibious excavators, walking excavators, power shovels, dragline excavators, harbour cranes and bucket-wheel excavators.
They are all equipped with at least one bucket.
The main function of the bucket is to transport bulk material from a pile, quarry or mine for further transportation or downstream operations.
Common materials include minerals, ores, stones, sand, gravel, clay, coal, cereals, woodchips, cement, ash, salt and chemicals.
Some buckets are filled by pushing the bucket through the bulk material (as face shovels and loader buckets), some are pulled towards the excavator (as backhoes and draglines).
Most of the buckets are emptied by tipping, but some by opening the rear door (as face shovels and dippers).
The most common buckets are hydraulic excavator backhoes and wheel loader buckets.