Yes, "The Throwback" is the novel where the Bucket-Wheel Excavator gang appears. It was written by Tom Sharpe and published in 1978.

Starting in Texas: $15.00hr.

Experience of 5 years: $27.00hr.

Experience of 15 years or more: $43.37hr.

Well it depends on the excavator. John Deere makes mini's all the way up to large excavators.

The operating parts consist of a boom, hinged at its base end at the machine, and a stick, pivoting on the outer end of the boom. The stick extends above and below its pivot point, with the digging bucket on the lower end and the retracting cable at its upper end. A second cable, the digging cable, is attached to the lower end of the stick, near the bucket.

The digging and retraction actions of the cables is straightforward. To lift the boom/stick/bucket assembly, the digging cable is locked and the retraction cable is pulled in. With the digging cable locked, the boom and stick assembly becomes a ridged triangle and is forced to move up as the retracting cable is shortened.

After the bucket is raised, the boom is pivoted to the dump site, the retraction cable is locked and the digging cable is allowed to play out. The Retracting cable holds the boom and stick assembly in its elevated position and its weight forces the stick and bucket outward until the load is dumped.

Hitachi Power tools is part of Hitachi Koki U.S.A. This in turn is a division of Hitachi Industries in Japan

It makes the construction easier for the workers since it can dig, move, transport earth, gravel and etc. in a shorter period of time with less energy use.

Pilot controlled... but in the context of PC200, PC300 it means powered crawler