Just wondering if anyone has tips for moving in tight spaces like expensive stuff everywhere and close to your counter weight/ blindside I’ve had a couple hours on dozer but usually when stuff goes crazy on site I have to jump into other equipment and this is one of my biggest concerns with excavators everyone on site is supposed to have training for working around equipment but the roofers don’t always pay attention to where the backhoe is going haha. Anyways I’m new here so correct me if I’m in the wrong spot but I don’t get enough machine time to learn and zero time for training so if there’s any excavator specific tricks for knowing where you are in relation to other things that you can’t see. Mirrors can only tell me so much if we still have them on our equipment and the older cameras are good for spotting other workers but hard to tell where the fence starts what’s ground where a building pillar and light pole are if we’re working within inches on 3 sides haha in general I have less then an hour in excavators so any pointers are helpful I know a lot of it comes with time and experience and being in a situation a couple times helps with coming into it again!
First off, less than an hour and you really should not be practicing anything in tight quarters around expensive things. That said if somebody in charge is OK with that, make sure it is on them. In your shoes I would have someone else do it. Now let's say you have to move an excavator for another job to get done. If you are not sure, GET OUT AND LOOK! (GOAL) Get lined up on the line you think you will travel, and then ground the bucket safety lever off, climb down and go look. There are no amount of "atta boys" that will cover an OH SH'''. Don't get so absorbed by where the arse is and tracks and forget about the overhead. The tendency is to get the bucket close and all tucked up, and now the tip of the boom is pretty darn high.
Yes, usually we try to keep a spotter with the equipment but we are short numbers and the problem is the spotter is usually me! Yes I like to be sure before I do things and these situations are usually me moving equipment out of the way to prevent a problem becoming a bigger one so yes it’s someone in charge asking me to move that digger cuz no one else can right now as they know I’m smarter then most people in my position and more cautious. I’m comfortable with the controls in just basic movement of the machine however I’d like to get more in to operating equipment and not just “using it” for right now I’m learning where I’m at so I’m happy helping out when I’m needed as long as I’m learning on the ground I’ll stay on the ground ( underground mostly) learning is earning. but ya depending on the situation I’d be forced to get outta the cab unless I had a guy to spot the far side however some maneuvers can’t be done with just one person thanks for input
I've been doing it a long time now and still get out of trucks and excavators and take a look when I am not sure and don't have a spotter. Spotters sure are handy!
Before going to work, swing around the entire arc you plan to be using, make sure you have clearance. THEN, as soon as you move the tracks, even a little, check it again. Lather, rinse, repeat. There is no surefire way except your own two eyes or a spotter. The new Cat machines with 2700 cameras just give an operator a false sense of security. They are going down the camera path to make up for the lack of experienced, veteran operators. JMHO.
Don't look at it that way, it is an opportunity to NOT screw something up.
Counter swing is not what gets people in trouble most of the time in tight spaces they get focused on counter weight and quit watching the boom and smack something Cameras can help but like shimmy mentioned false sense of security cause the depth perception is a little wacky and the young guys are lost when the camera breaks plus I have seen a fair bit of cameras smashed because of that false sense of security
In tight situations: Go slow. Figure out the points to watch ( tail swing, either front corners, dipper top ram, etc.) Get out and look all around; if real tight figure out the limits of movement possible where you're presently sat (by repeat parking up & getting out & look), then put a line of cones/stakes or something to represent the furthest line the bucket can move to. (The line should run straight to machine center, if tail swing is the limiting factor). Keep bucket within safe marked area. Go slow, especially when getting out of there tracking. Don't undo it all in the last few moments
This is true, or 16 ton isn’t too bad u can peek between boom at certain angles and it’s got a mirror to see tracks on far side but on the 30 ton if camera isn’t on you have nothing
It is a job site. You mean to tell us that there is no one that can move it or help spot for you? If it was me and I was positive that I couldn’t do it without a spotter. Then I wouldn’t do it. Ask for a spotter. Is this something that a experienced operator could do without a spotter? If the answer is no then you don’t have any business trying to go at it alone. If it’s just nerves then I say suck it up buttercup and get it done. It doesn’t matter if you have to get in and out of the machine a 100 times. The goal is to move the machine and not kill somebody, yourself, damage property, or the machine. This will not be the only time in your career that you will be asked to do something out of your comfort zone. The key is knowing if you will be in over your head and to say no.
Yes it’s always on a job site and it’s mostly our company’s fault trying to get stuff done, usually the foreman is the operator which brings its own issues but that’s when problems arise usually mean the most experienced person to do something on a machine is me and was just seeing if anyone has any tips for knowing where the stuff is that you can’t see. I’ll give an example: pulling down a large tall object between 4 houses ( sorry have to leave this vague)and a excavation in between. We started pulling as the base was dismantled slowly putting more tension on cable and the cable broke at the worst time and had to jump in another excavator to help pull it down because we quickly ran out of time and out of options. Doesn’t apply to tight spaces but it’s something I have trouble with and don’t get time on the machines so don’t want to need to do something and can’t. Correct way to deal with that situation would be to fill excavation to get excavator beside object or a large crane both would have cost thousands of dollars but better then making the news. might rent a excavator for property one weekend just so I can get time to practice in a low pressure environment