A loader is a type of tractor, usually wheeled, sometimes on tracks, that has a front-mounted square wide bucket connected to the end of two booms (arms) to scoop up loose material from the ground, such as dirt, sand or gravel, and move it from one place to another without pushing the material across the ground. A loader is commonly used to move a stockpiled material from ground level and deposit it into an awaiting dump truck or into an open trench excavation.
The loader assembly may be a removable attachment or permanently mounted. Often the bucket can be replaced with other devices or tools—for example, many can mount forks to lift heavy pallets or shipping containers, and a hydraulically opening "clamshell" bucket allows a loader to act as a light dozer or scraper. The bucket can also be augmented with devices like a bale grappler for handling large bales of hay or straw.
Large loaders, such as the Kawasaki 95ZV-2, John Deere 844K, Caterpillar 950H, Volvo L120E, Case 921E, or Hitachi ZW310 usually have only a front bucket and are called Front Loaders, whereas small loader tractors are often also equipped with a small backhoe and are called backhoe loaders or loader backhoes or JCBs, after the company that first claimed to have invented them. Other companies like CASE in America and Whitlock in the UK had been manufacturing Excavator Loaders well before JCB.
Loaders are used mainly for loading materials into trucks, laying pipe, clearing rubble, and digging. A loader is not the most efficient machine for digging as it cannot dig very deep below the level of its wheels, like a backhoe can. The capacity of a loader bucket can be anywhere from 0.5 to 36 m3[1] depending upon the size of the machine and its application. The front loader's bucket capacity is generally much bigger than a bucket capacity of a backhoe loader.
Bobcat
Case
Bull
Caterpillar
Doosan Infracore (formerly Daewoo Heavy Industries & Machinery)—including Solar brand
Hitachi
Hyundai
JCB
John Deere
Kawasaki
Komatsu
Kramer
Kubota
Larsen & Toubro
LeTourneau
Liebherr
LiuGong
Manitou
Navistar International
New Holland
Volvo Construction Equipment
Wacker Neuson
XCMG
