Hydraulic Hammer Types | Excavator Hammer

Keywords: excavator hammer, hydraulic breaker for excavator, excavator hydraulic hammer

excavator hydraulic hammer, hydraulic breaker for excavator

Excavator hammer

excavator hydraulic hammer

Understanding the three hydraulic hammer types is critical in selecting the right hammer for your specific demolition, mining or construction job. Hydraulic breakers are tools that are mounted on excavators, backhoes, skid steers, mini-excavators, and stationary plants. Driven by hydraulic power they break rocks into smaller sizes or demolish concrete structures into manageable pieces.

Commonly used for mining, demolition and construction applications, hydraulic hammers are most widely used as a mobile tool because of their versatility.

There are several types of hydraulic hammers that differ in terms of weight, size and usage depending on the specific application. It is critical to use the appropriate hydraulic breaker for each job. This maximizes the productivity of the tool while minimizing the potential for operator error, repair issues and job site accidents.

Side Mounted Hydraulic Breaker:

hydraulic breaker for excavator

Side and top type hydraulic breakers usually use two thick steel splints to protect both sides of the breaker core. This structural design does not protect the front and back of the hydraulic breaker. Therefore, operation noise and vibration can be issues and the plates may also come loose or break.

Main features:

  • Ideally suited for demolition or construction jobs
  • For demolition jobs, the side mounted hydraulic breaker has a lower installation point so the breaker could be lifted at higher angles for knocking down walls or other construction material.
  • Easy dismantlement and maintenance

Top Mounted Hydraulic Breaker:

Similar to the side mounted, a top mounted hydraulic hammer can suffer from more noise and vibration due to the design. However, a top mounted hammer does have an advantage for mining or quarry work since the straight design is optimal for maximum downforce.

Main features:

  • Easy to control and locate, more convenient to do breaking jobs
  • Vertical open-bracket design reduce the malfunction range of the chisel
  • Longer overall length and breaking distance
  • Upper transfer head is replaceable for better versatility


Top mounted hydraulic breaker directly works on the material so it has the vertical impact advantage, especially for breaking stone and quarry material.

Box or Silenced Hydraulic Breaker:

Main features:

  • Low noise and vibration levels
  • Full closed box design protects the main body from damage
  • Upper transfer head is replaceable for better versatility
  • Longer overall length and long breaking distance


The structure of the box silenced type breaker is a complete shell rather than having the front and back of the tool open. The hydraulic hammer shell can also be equipped with dampening material to minimize noise and vibration issues for the operator. Since the shell covers all sides, the plates should not come loose or break under normal conditions.

In the U.S., the box type is the most widely used whereas in Asia or other parts of the world, side and top mounted types are more prevalent.

Please contact us for any of your hydraulic hammer or breaker needs, whether it be to purchase a new hammer or to rebuild or repair your own hammer.