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In the latest in our product focus series, we take a look at a couple of the questions that we get asked about loaders and give you some straightforward answers.
Allways Hire have a range of loaders available to hire. We can deliver your equipment to you wherever you are in Hawke’s Bay, or you can drive into our Hastings hire centre and pick up your hire when it suits you. Our expert team are happy to help you choose the right equipment for your job. All of our equipment is fully serviced and ready to hire. Book your loader hire today.
What is a loader?
A loader is a piece of equipment used in construction and roading. It’s a type of tractor that usually runs on wheels but sometimes comes on tracks. The loader has a wide bucket mounted onto two arms on the front. The bucket is used to move material around at ground level and is good for scooping up loose debris like dirt, gravel or sand and moving it to another location – often a waiting truck or into the ground – like an open trench.

Hiring a loader for the first time?
Our loaders for hire cover pivot steer options from 1.2T Giant right up to a Hitachi ZW100, so you can match the bucket size to your job.
- Giant G1200 for tight yards and stockpile work
- Hitachi LX20 for mid sized loading
- ZW80 and ZW100 for heavy metal and feed handling
- Pivot steer for tight turning in the yard
What are the different types of loader?
If you’re wondering how many types of loader there are then the answer is quite a few. Loaders have evolved into many different models to be more effective at the different types of work they do.

Across the different models, there are four main types of loader that get referred to. That’s a backhoe loader, a skid loader, a crawler loader and a wheel loader. A backhoe loader is a machine that consists of a tractor-like unit fitted with a loader-style bucket on the front and a backhoe (a bucket on the end of a jointed two-part arm) on the back, using a bucket on the end of a jointed two-part arm. A skid loader, also known as a skid steer loader is basically a small loader on either wheels or tracks with arms that sit alongside the driver.

A crawler loader is another name for a tracked loader, which runs on tracks and has two rigid arms attached to a front bucket and is used for digging and loading material. A wheel loader, also known as a pivot steer loader, or a front end loader, is a piece of heavy machinery that has two rigid arms attached to a front bucket that can scoop and gather material at ground level and are mainly used for loading materials into trucks, laying pipe, and clearing rubble. A loader is not a very efficient machine for digging as it cannot dig very deep below the level of its wheels, like a backhoe or an excavator can.
Ready to hire a loader?
Our team is ready to help you with your loader hire. Visit our website and browse our range or give us a call on 06 872 6774 and we’ll be happy to match the right loader to your job.
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