Compact Excavators and Trenchers - Differences Between Them

Both compact excavator equipment and trencher are popular, affordable and product. They can also do the heavy work load, however, there are differences as far as some aspects especially when performance, productivity and utility installations are concerned.


The average depth measurement for installations in residential application is somewhere between 40 and 50 inches. The ordinary trench equipment digging such depth boasts of 20-25 horsepower engine which costs 40,000 US dollars.

The compact excavator on the other hand is 2 metric ton size and utilizes a 30 horsepower engine at around the same cost. The glaring difference between these two is seen when there is a need to dig much deeper. The compact excavator easily digs deeper to 8 more feet and over, while with a trencher, an engine of 100 HP is need and will cost US$90,000.


Trenchers are between than compact excavator when it comes to straight trenching at average depths. On normal conditions, a trencher works up to four times faster than a compact excavator. Trenchers are also excellent in wooded locations, where logs and roots can cause buckets to perform slow digging.

However, when it comes to overall versatility, the compact excavator equipment can perform better than the trencher, especially with all the attachments on it. On the other hand, an excellent quality trencher digs much faster than the compact excavator.
Image credit: mini excavator by mwboechmann, trencher by straykat