You can go almost anywhere in the world and see Hitachi excavators. Travel by any construction site and that familiar orange paint will let you know that a Hitachi is hard at work. What make the Hitachi excavator line up today a proven superior excavator, is the fact that Hitachi originally built heavy mining machinery. This know how has been transformed into the rest of the excavator line up. Today Hitachi still builds some of the worlds largest excavators for the heavy mining industry but it also offers a full line of small excavators all the way from the mini to the full size machines. Also note that Hitachi builds some excavators that are country specific, meaning there are some models that are available only in some areas of the world.

In the North American mini line up of excavators, Hitachi has 13 models that range in size from the ZX17U-2 which weighs in at 4100 pounds. This small versatile machine is powered by a 14 horse power Yanmar diesel. Depending on arm or stick length, the depth of digging is between 7 feet and 8 feet. The largest machine of the Hitachi mini excavator is the ZX60USB-3. This is a 13000 pound excavator that is powered by a 54 hp Yanmar engine. It has a digging depth that runs from 12 feet to over 13 feet depending on which arm or stick you have. There are three additional excavators that in between these two models.

In the full size lie up of Hitachi excavators, there are 13 models rangin in weights from 18,000 pounds in the smallest to 190,000 pounds. The smallest of the full size excavators is the model 75US-3. It is powered with a 54 HP Yanmar. Depending on arm or stick length, it can dig from 13 feet to over 15 feet in depth. This excavator comes with iron or steel tracks but you can get rubber or pad inserts as an option. This would be a machine for a small utility or construction company that does light trenching especially in tight areas but also need to move the excavator often as you would not need real large equipment to move. A mid size tandem dual axle trailer being pulled by a light tandem dump truck would be just right. Add a thumb to this machine or even some other attachments and you could have yourself a real nice small business.

The largest of the Hitachi excavators is the model ZX870LC-5 which weighs over 190,000 pound. You can get digging buckets for this machine all the way from a 2 yards to over 5 yards. This hoe is big and is powered with a 534 hp Isuzu engine. Depending on boom and stick configurations, you can dig from 29 feet to 39 feet deep. This machine would be typical of those used in most heavy mining or ecavation projects like mountainous road building.

Hitachi also build wheeled versions of their excavators. They have 4 models to choose from. The smallest version is the ZX140W-3. This unit is powered by a 90 Hp engine and weighs around 15,000 KG or over 32,000 pounds. Because these units are on wheels and not tracks, they can be driven down roads like a normal truck would do. They have an all wheel drive system that is two speeds and can reach speeds of 35 Km per hour. A lot of local government service departments will own machines like this for their ability to move about city streets to do digging jobs. The largest of the wheel type Hitachi's is the ZX210W-3 which weighs in at 40,000 pounds and and is powered by a 122 Hp engine.

Hitachi builds excavators not only for themselves but also other manufactures. The John Deere line of excavators get built by Hitachi. I talked years ago to a fellow from New Zealand who had ordered a new Hitiachi EX200 from Cable Price and took a trip to Japan to see his excavator being built. He said when he got to the factory there were two doors at the back where the new excavators were coming off the assembly line. Out of one door came orange Hitachis and out the other door came yellow John Deeres. Hitachi does build quality excavators and have been building them or a long time now.