Just finished my first week operating full time, been in construction for 14 years though. Loving life, doing material processing in a Komatsu 360 on stockpiles. I have quite a bit of experience in smaller machines. I'm having a tougher time than I expected getting used to eyeballing grades below me on a bigger machine. I've tried to use reference points on the boom but we're doing production work so I can't make a science project out of it while benching down. What tips or tricks do you use to cut a level surface, especially when you're not sure if you're starting with the machine perfectly level? I'm here to learn!
In my experience it takes a fair bit of time to adjust depth perception on a bigger machine I also believe its fairly difficult to eyeball grade at 10 foot deep or deeper unless the ditch is 8 foot wide I always try to use the bucket for a reference especially when. Benching knowing the length of new teeth vs worn out teeth helps when your shaving grade
I was surprised to see built into the seat pedestal of an older John Deere backhoe, a simple level bubble. Start with your seat level. You are then better able to judge level 60 feet away.
I looked for a level on the machine and in the computer. I might keep a small magnetic one in the cab for reference.