Earthmovers
on the Move
Lee Sullivan Hill
In memory of my
dear friend Izzy
-L. S. H.
Copyright 2011 by Lee Sullivan Hill
All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing
Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.
Lerner Publications Company
A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
241 First Avenue North
Minneapolis, MN 55401 U.S.A.
Website address: www.lernerbooks.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hill, Lee Sullivan, 1958
Earthmovers on the move / by Lee Sullivan Hill.
p. cm. (Lightning bolt booksTM Vroom-vroom)
Includes index.
ISBN 9780761339182 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper)
1. Earthmoving machineryJuvenile literature. I. Title.
TA725.H54 2011
621.865dc22 2009039739
Manufactured in the United States of America
1 BP 7/15/10
Contents
page
page
page
page
Backhoe
Diagram
page
page
page
page
page
Dirt
Diggers
Do you like to dig in the dirt?
Earthmovers dig tons of dirt. They dig sand too. Dirt and sand are kinds of earth. Earthmovers are made to move earth.
They push earth. They scoop earth.
This earthmover scoops and dumps out a large pile of earth.
Theypack
itdownhard.
How
They Work
An operator makes an earthmover go. An earthmovers operator sits in the cab.
An engine gives an earthmover power.
An earthmovers engine is underneath or behind the cab.
The engine makes an earthmovers tracks go around. Tracks keep an
earthmover from
sinking in
soft dirt.
Dirt covers this earthmovers tracks.
Some earthmovers have rubber
tires, not tracks. But tires can
sink in soft dirt. They work
best on hard
dirt and roads.
An earthmovers engine makes
its arm go up and down too.
What is at the end
of this earthmovers
arm? A bucket
is at the end
of the arm.
Buckets
and Blades
Front-end loaders have wide buckets. They are good for scooping earth.
This front-end loader has a full bucket.
Skid-steer loaders have
buckets with flat bottoms.
They can
scoop or
push earth.
Do you see the flat bottom on this skid-steer loaders bucket?
Excavators have big buckets called hoes. They can dig and dump piles of dirt.
Backhoes have two buckets. The wide one in front is good for scooping.
A backhoe can scoop a lot of dirt with its front bucket.
The bucket in back is a hoe.
That is why these earthmovers are called backhoes.
The backhoe
digs holes with its
back bucket.
Some earthmovers have flat blades instead of buckets.
Bulldozers have blades. They push big piles of earth.
This is the blade of a bulldozer.
Graders have blades too. The blade is behind the front tires.
It makes the earth smooth, like frosting on a cake.
Dirty
Jobs
Each earthmover has a job
to do. Look at the bucket.
Look at the tracks. Can
you guess what job this
earthmover is doing?
This excavator is digging a
hole for a new building.
The operator dumps earth in
a truck. The truck driver takes
it away.
This earthmover has a funny shape.
Whatjobisitdoing?
This scraper is working on a new road. A wide pan hangs down in the middle of the scraper. Dirt slides into the pan as the scraper rolls along.