Wheel loaders are everyday off-road machines heavily used worldwide for several different reasons.?? ??This thesis aims in the development of both a numerical and an analytical model for the digging system of a generic wheel loader. Knowing the geometric configuration (boom and bucket angles or lift and tilt cylinders extensions) at each instant, both the models are able to compute the location, in a two-dimensional plane, of a set of points belonging to the system. These points are then used to calculate the forces required at the hydraulic cylinders to balance the external forces which can be either, in the simplest case, just the component weights, or the forces exchanged at the bucket during a normal loading cycle.