What types of attachments can be used with hydraulic excavators?

Hydraulic excavators are versatile machines that can be equipped with a wide variety of attachments to enhance their functionality for different tasks. The correct answer highlights that hydraulic hammers, grapples, augers, and thumbs are all commonly used attachments.

Hydraulic hammers enable the excavator to break up concrete or rock, which is particularly useful in demolition and excavation work. Grapples are used for handling and sorting materials like debris, logs, or scrap metal. Augers are designed for drilling holes in the ground, making them ideal for tasks such as post-hole digging or foundation work. Thumbs can be added to buckets to improve material handling capabilities, allowing the operator to grasp and hold materials.

This versatility in attachments significantly expands the range of tasks that an excavator can perform beyond just digging, making it an invaluable tool on construction and demolition sites. Other options, such as suggesting that only buckets and shovels or just standard buckets are usable, do not reflect the full potential of hydraulic excavators and their operational flexibility. Similarly, identifying chains and cables as attachments misses the specific functional enhancements provided by hydraulic-powered tools that are central to modern excavation operations.