Excavator

For grown-ups to read aloud. Tap the picture above and Pipi reads it too.

This is an excavator. It walks on two tracks and digs with a big bucket on a long arm. Tap it and see how the arm bends!

Parts

Body

The body sits on top of the tracks, and the engine is inside it. When the body turns, the cab and the arm turn with it.

Tracks

Two wide tracks sit under the excavator. They are wide and flat, so the machine does not sink into soft dirt.

One track

Each track is a rubber belt with little bumps on the outside. The bumps grip the ground, so the track does not slip.

Little wheels

A row of little wheels hides inside the tracks. When the wheels turn, the track rolls around and around.

Cab

The cab is where the driver sits, with big windows in front. From there the driver can see where the bucket is digging.

Arm

The arm is like our own arm, but it is made of two parts joined in the middle. When the parts move, the bucket reaches far away.

Boom

The boom is the first part of the arm, joining the body to the stick. When the boom lifts, the bucket goes up with it.

Stick

The stick is the second part of the arm. It bends at the joint, and the bucket comes back close to the body.

Bucket

The bucket is a big metal scoop with an open mouth. The dirt it digs up sits inside.

Bucket teeth

A row of hard metal teeth sits on the front of the bucket. They bite into the dirt first, so the bucket can dig.

See how it works