Excavator Productivity & Truck Matching Calculator
Use expected bucket fill, cycle time, working efficiency, and material swell to estimate an excavator’s production rate. Add a truck capacity and haul time to see passes per truck, loading time, and a balanced fleet size.
Bank production per hour (BCY/hour)135
- Average loose volume per bucket (LCY)
- 1.35
- Effective cycles per hour
- 125
- Loose production per hour (LCY/hour)
- 168.75
- Bank volume per working day (BCY/day)
- 1,350
- Estimated excavation time (hours)
- 37.04
- Estimated working days
- 3.7
- Bucket passes per truck
- 9
- Truck loading time (minutes)
- 3.6
- Balanced truck count
- 7
All volumes are shown in cubic yards; bank volume is in-place and loose volume includes swell.
Truck matching uses average cycle timing and does not model queues or random delays.
The final bucket pass must be partial because a full bucket would exceed the truck capacity entered.
How to use this calculator
- Choose US customary or metric units, then keep all volume entries in that unit system.
- Enter the installed bucket’s heaped capacity and a realistic average fill factor.
- Time a complete dig, swing, dump, and return cycle, then allow for nonproductive minutes each hour.
- Enter the bank quantity and scheduled hours when you need a project-duration estimate.
- Enter practical truck capacity and time away from the excavator to estimate truck matching.
How excavator production is calculated
The calculation begins with the material that actually stays in the bucket, not just its published heaped rating. Average loose bucket volume is capacity times fill factor. A 1.5 cubic yard bucket filled to 90% carries 1.35 loose cubic yards on an average pass.
The hourly cycle count is reduced for normal interruptions. The core equations are:
B = C × f
N = (3,600 ÷ t) × (m ÷ 60)
QL = B × N and QB = QL ÷ (1 + s)
- B is average loose bucket volume.
- C is heaped bucket capacity and f is fill factor as a decimal.
- N is effective cycles per hour, using cycle time t in seconds and productive minutes m.
- QL is loose production and QB is bank production.
- s is material swell as a decimal.
Bank volume is the undisturbed in-place measure; loose volume is the excavated measure after swell. Dividing loose production by one plus swell converts it back to bank production. Multiply bank production by working hours for daily bank volume, or divide the target bank volume by the hourly rate for estimated excavation hours.
How truck matching is estimated
The tool rounds truck capacity divided by average bucket volume up to a whole number of passes. Loading time is those passes times cycle time. The balanced count is one truck at the excavator plus the truck-away time divided by loading time, rounded up. This is a timing balance: it estimates enough trucks to return a replacement while one is loading.
Cycle time, bucket fill, and productive minutes usually move the result more than the published bucket size alone. Measure cycles under representative digging depth, swing angle, and material. Use a practical truck volume that is also within the truck’s payload limit; a volumetric number can be misleading for dense material.
What this calculator leaves out
This is a planning estimate, not a production guarantee. It does not model changing cut geometry, operator skill, grade, weather, visibility, traffic queues, breakdowns, truck payload or axle limits, soil density, haul-road conditions, or safety requirements. It is not a basis for selecting slopes, protective systems, lifting limits, or other safety-critical operating controls.
Worked example
For a 1.5 BCY heaped bucket at 90% fill, the average loose bucket is 1.35 LCY. With a 24-second cycle and 50 productive minutes per hour, effective cycles are (3,600 ÷ 24) × (50 ÷ 60) = 125 per hour. Loose production is 168.75 LCY/hour.
At 25% swell, bank production is 168.75 ÷ 1.25 = 135 BCY/hour. A 5,000 BCY job with 10 working hours per day therefore takes about 37.04 excavation hours, or 3.70 working days. A 12 LCY truck takes nine bucket passes and 3.6 minutes to load; with 20 minutes away from the excavator, the balanced count is seven trucks.
Common questions
How is excavator production per hour calculated?
Average loose bucket volume is multiplied by the number of effective cycles per hour. Effective cycles start with 3,600 divided by cycle time in seconds, then are reduced by productive minutes per hour. Dividing loose production by one plus swell gives bank production per hour.
What bucket fill factor should I use?
Use an average from representative loading cycles rather than the best bucket you see. Material type, bucket shape, digging technique, and spillage all affect it. A factor above 100% can be reasonable when material is heaped above the rated bucket profile.
What is the difference between bank and loose cubic yards?
Bank cubic yards measure material in place before excavation. Loose cubic yards measure the same material after it has been excavated and expanded. Swell is the percentage increase, so 125 loose cubic yards at 25% swell represents 100 bank cubic yards.
How do I measure an excavator cycle time?
Time complete cycles from digging through swinging, dumping, and returning to dig. Observe enough cycles to average normal variation, and measure under the expected depth, swing angle, and truck position. Do not use an unusually fast clear cycle as the planning average.
How many trucks are needed to keep an excavator busy?
This tool adds one truck being loaded to the number that can be away during one truck-loading interval, rounded up. It is a starting fleet estimate based on average times. Add field judgment for queues, staging, traffic control, and uneven haul cycles.
Should truck capacity be limited by volume or payload?
Use the smaller practical capacity. A truck may have enough box volume but reach its legal or equipment payload limit first, especially in dense or wet material. This calculator does not calculate payload, density, axle limits, or haul-road suitability.