Excavator vs Backhoe: What Is the Difference and Which Do You Need?

In this guide, a backhoe means a backhoe loader. It is a tractor-like machine with a loader bucket on the front and a digging arm on the back. An excavator is built around its digging arm. The boom, stick and bucket sit on a house that can turn a full 360 degrees.

So a backhoe is two tools on one machine, a loader up front and a digger out back. An excavator has no loader bucket, and it sits on tracks or wheels. Our excavation work is done with an excavator, which digs ponds and ditches and sets culverts at drives.

What is the difference between an excavator and a backhoe?

An excavator is heavy equipment made of a boom, a stick, a bucket and a cab. They sit on a turning platform called the house. The house holds the cab, the counterweight and the engine. It rides on an undercarriage with tracks or wheels, and it can turn a full 360 degrees.

The boom is the front part, attached to the house, and it holds the arm. The Army’s earthmoving manual, FM 5-434, calls the stick the arm. It says hydraulic excavators are designed to dig below the ground the machine sits on. Some people call an excavator a 360, after the way its house turns.

The manual also lists the jobs this setup handles. A variety of booms, sticks and buckets lets an excavator dig trenches, load trucks and clean ditches. Excavators dig holes and foundations, too.

A backhoe loader starts as a tractor-like machine. It carries a loader bucket on the front and a backhoe, the digging arm, on the back. Digging on tires makes the machine rock. So most backhoe loaders put down hydraulic stabilizers at the rear when they dig.

The big difference is where the digging arm sits. On an excavator, the arm is the main tool, and it turns with the house. On a backhoe, the arm shares the machine with a loader and works off the back.

What is a backhoe used for?

A backhoe loader digs with the arm on its back. It scoops and carries with the loader bucket on its front. The Army’s earthmoving manual says loaders are used to handle and carry material and to load haul trucks. Backhoe loaders are very common in town and city work.

The same manual says digging with a hoe is normally associated with trenching and basements. It shows its own small wheeled digger, which carries a hoe and a loader bucket, digging trenches. The Texas forest service lists backhoes among the heavy machines used to clear unwanted vegetation. Mulchers, bulldozers and excavators are on that list too.

A backhoe digs from one spot at a time. To change positions, the bucket must come up and the stabilizers come in. On the Army’s machine, the front loader bucket goes down flat and lifts the front wheels off the surface. Then the outriggers level the machine and raise the rear wheels slightly off the ground.

So a backhoe loader fits jobs that need a digger and a loader on one machine. Backhoe loaders also dig holes and do landscaping work. For clearing a whole lot or tract, our page on land clearing covers that work.

How do reach, depth and swing compare?

Reach and depth depend on the exact machine. Excavators come in many sizes, and the smaller ones are called mini or compact excavators. The Army’s earthmoving manual measures a hoe by its digging reach and its maximum digging depth. When depth matters, ask for those two numbers on the machine that will dig.

The manual’s diagram also shows dumping height. That is how high the bucket can be when it dumps its load. It also marks a maximum depth for a level bottom. That is the deepest the bucket can dig and still leave a flat floor.

Swing is the clearest difference. An excavator’s house can turn a full 360 degrees, and that turn gives the arm its left-and-right movement. A backhoe digs off the back with its stabilizers down. To dig a new spot, it raises the bucket, pulls in the stabilizers and moves.

Job size points the way too. Backhoe loaders are also common on small construction projects. For larger projects, a tracked excavator is generally used.

In tight spots, the Army’s manual says to plan on small machines that work in a small radius. It says its own small wheeled digger, with a hoe and a loader bucket, can work in tight places.

What about a mini excavator? Many companies offer miniature tracked excavators, which give up the loader function. A mini excavator keeps the turning house and the digging arm, with no loader bucket up front.

Which machine handles wet Southeast Texas ground better?

Here, start with the soil. The Evadale soil, first described in Jasper County, stays saturated through the cool season. The Beaumont clay, described from a site in Jefferson County, runs 42 to 60 percent clay.

The Beaumont clay is poorly drained, and water moves through it very slowly. A normal year at Port Arthur brings 62.13 inches of rain. August is the wettest month there, at 6.89 inches. February is the driest, at 3.09 inches.

The Texas forest service says heavy machinery can cause soil compaction from rutting. That holds for machines on tracks and on tires alike.

Tracks do spread the load. The Army’s earthmoving manual makes the point about crawler cranes. Because of the width and length of the tracks, it says, the machine’s weight spreads over a large area.

It adds that this low ground pressure lets crawler cranes travel over soft ground. An excavator can sit on tracks or wheels, while a backhoe loader digs on tires. When the ground is wet, ask how the machine will carry its weight and when the soil will firm up.

Which one does a pond, a ditch or a house pad need?

Ponds and ditches are digging jobs, and our excavator handles the digging. On a pond, the excavator digs the basin. The dirt that comes out is spread or shaped on site, sometimes into a building pad. Our page on pond construction shows how a pond job goes.

Retention and detention ponds are the same machine work. The size, depth and outlet come from your engineer, or from the drainage district review when rules require it. We dig to that plan, as our page on retention and detention ponds explains.

Ditches are excavator work too, and so are culverts at drives. The Army’s earthmoving manual says to begin ditch digging at the lower end and work toward the upgrade. For work in wet seasons or wet areas, it says to give prime consideration to drainage. Our page on ditches and driveway culverts covers that work.

Before any dig, the Army’s manual says to survey the area for underground hazards and surface obstacles. Under the Texas one-call law, notice is due no later than 48 hours before digging starts. Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays do not count toward those 48 hours.

A house pad takes our excavator and dozer together. The excavator handles any dig-out, and the dozer spreads and shapes the fill that is brought in. Our page on house pads and dirt work covers the build. Our bulldozer vs excavator guide shows how those two machines split the work.

Our excavator also helps on clearing jobs. Our tracked forestry mulcher handles the brush, as our page on forestry mulching explains.

You do not have to pick the machine yourself. When we come look at your ground, we tell you what the job needs. See our excavation services for the digging we do.

We dig ponds and ditches from our base in Buna out to Mauriceville, Jasper and Kountze. The best time to look at a water problem is right after a rain. Give us a call, or ask for a free on-site estimate and we will come look at your ground.