Hello all, I have been loving this site! I can't belive how much I have already learned just in the short time I've known about it. Finally got around to signing up and looking forward to being able to "pick your brains". I am the equipment manager for a mid size commercial concrete contractor. I have only been in this position for 7 months now. I was an operator/truck driver for the company and did a lot of mechanic work as well. The owner decided to put me in charge of all trucks and equipment, this is a new thing for him. Before me it was just freelance guys doing triage when something wouldn't operate at all. Upkeep has been costly due to no real mantince. Now I have to get everything up to snuff and then keep it there. We have 40 machines and about 25 trucks and steadily buying more all the time. most of our stuff is cat but we have bobcat,takaechi,and John deer as well. There are ssl's, ctls, telehandlers, and excavators. Our biggest problem is lack of real operators. most time it's just the guy closest to it when they need it. This leaves everyone to say " it was like that when I got on it" and no one knows how it got that way. This is also how they get out of being responsible for checks and grease. So I spend a lot of time with wore out pins and bushings, tore up undercarriages, and broken hydraulic hoses. I have been working with equipment for 17 years now and still enjoy it. These days I like wrenching more then operating, but still do both. I am by no means an expert mechanic but I hold my own. As an operator I do consider myself to be an expert and back up that claim regularly. I really can't wait to soak up all your wisdom and advance my skills. You guys blow me away with imformation you have here. Tom V. Is my new hero, your truck and the work you do is unlike anything I've seen. I hope one day to have a rig like that but for now my f250 service body will have to do.:Banghead well I guess that's plenty about me, if your still reading. Thanks for having me Here!
welcome to hef
Welcome rustyratchet. Where I work we have VCR books so every time some gets in a machine they have to do the checks and they have to record there start and finish hours. And any complaints have to be recorded
Go easy on the "Picking of brains" some of us need what little we have left after too many years in the business. Years ago there was a guy who worked at our quarry that would call in sick then when someone tried to run his truck would have the clutch fail. And when he came back would bitch about someone ruining his clutch This happened a couple times so next time he called in sick boss said "No one touch that truck!" guy comes in next morning and starts bitching about someone tearing out his clutch. They informed him he was the last person to touch the truck. Problem solved! Point being if there are too many people running a machine it is always someone else's fault. So if you can work towards reducing the number of operators per machine your problems should go down. We do have operators, and I use that term loosely, who have an extreme allergy to grease but can run a machine with joint screaming for hours.
Thanks guys. You are right about to many people working the machines, I would love to change that. The problem we have with checklists is that they just fill them out once a week without ever looking at anything. Since I can't be at every job every day problems can go for days and days before I find them.I'm not sure how to get this to change, if I could people would be fired. Unfortunately we have a huge help shortage like everyone and I can't get rid of them. The grease problem is so bad I just bought a line boring set up because we have so many to do. I will never understand how guys can be so lazy and uncaring. we buy brand new machines and within 700 hours they will be breaking pins and bushings. I guess I will always have a job. Sad really.
I'm no business owner but from my point of view is if you have a shortage of help and it's costing you big money it sounds like someone needs to re-tune the business model. If one was to take even half the money you are spending on repairing damaged, from neglect, equipment and line bore tools and the guy who you will need to do the work. Then you put this into improving your pay and benefit package you might find you will have a surplus of help and be able to weed out the crop and keep the good people. I don't know where you are located but around here there are people looking for work. Yes many are just looking for a pay check to get them to the bar for the weekend, but with some work one can find good people.
Don't take this the wrong way Rustyratchet, but most company's that are paying decent wages and benefits and are treating their help decently won't have any problems getting and keeping help. Please enlighten me if your perspective is different from mine. In regards to the check lists and lack of maintenance (greasing) the hammer needs to be dropped on the people who are directing the on site work force. Unless the powers that be are putting production ahead of the longevity of the equipment.
Tinkerer, Your point is the main reason I'm taking the jump into retirement. For the last several years despite acceptable if not great wage and benefits at the company I have work for for 44 years the way the current management treats employees I decided that I'd had enough. One example, the straw that broke the camels back, back in December of 2013 I was told I would be on lay-off from just before Christmas till Jan 6th. Come a couple days before the 6th was told plans changed and to check back in a week. This went on till Feb 27th or 28th when I was told to start back on March 3rd. While I'm sitting home all of one mile from the shop I learn that they hired an outside contractor to come in and do a service on our 980K. Now I don't know for a fact the hourly rate this guy gets but I would be surprised if when travel time was figured in that he could pay his bills on his truck and other expenses for less than 3 to 4 times my hourly rate. At the same time there were at least two of our loaders sitting in the shop with all the parts needed for winter repair work sitting on the shelf next to them. I could have come in serviced the 980K then spent the other 35 hours out of a 40 hour week working on these machines with practically no additional cost to the company. Then when I did come back I found the guy had replaced both the inner and outer air filters on the 980K. Looking at them they appeared to be way short of needing replacement. I don't replace the outer filter till the machine ECM says it's time. And the inner filter would usually go through three outers before it is replaced. That pair of filters at our cost with discount go for $100.00 another unneeded cost. I have a total of 80 hours to work before my retirement and they have not made any decision on who or if anyone will fill my position as the only mechanic for the local plant. I won't get into the runaround my wife has been getting from corporate HR people on what or if there is any option for continuing my health insurance after my retirement date. I'm not talking about a small regional outfit, but one of the leaders in production world wide in the aggregate/cement industry.
Boy Rusty! I thought I had a lot on my plate. Sounds like you got the whole buffet table :drinkup
Yep. I do like it though. I work for a great boss and have it really good. 2u
rusty got a question or 2.. #1 is there a jobsite foreman that runs the crews? #2 does the company provide them with a grease gun & grease? #3 if the answer to these first 2 questions is YES then the boss & you need to sit down & have a heart to heart talk bout saving him some money!!
how do the machines get fueled? If NOTHING they should at very very min get a greasing when they are fueled. whoever has the fuel tank should be held responsible
Well if you do have a great boss he needs to put his or her foot down and make people responsible for the care of the equipment! It does not take a rocket scientist to see if a machine is being greased, dry joints on linkage and old dry grease on fittings are a dead give away along with squeaking and squawking when moving. Also big gobs around the fittings do nothing to get grease to the pins and bushings. That just means the person was too lazy to clean off the fitting before pumping the grease. Personally I hate greasing, but I hate pulling pins and pressing bushings even more especially on a machine with low hours. My goal is to put the guys who do line boring out of work! But from what I see these days I'm out numbered 10 to 1 by the lazy SOBs and their bosses who think greasing is something to do when you don't have anything better to do like drink coffee or stand around BSing! Automatic grease systems can be good, BUT!, they do not eliminate the need to look over machine to see that all points are getting grease. Also people who can not be trusted to manually grease a machine will also not be able to be trusted to keep grease reservoir full!
Welcome mate!
I have a client who was pretty well my first line boring customer going back 28 years. I was doing 20 to 30 K a year there in line boring. About ten years ago they had a change of workshop management and they started using twice the amount of grease. These days I would be lucky to pull 10K out of them a year and only a fraction of that is line boring