Hey guys! Our company has there own Heavy equipment operator training school that i have been a part of for the past 3 years. The course includes Rubber Tire backhoe, Excavator, Dozer, Rock Trucks, Articulating trucks, Loaders, Rollers, and the new addition this year is the Grader. I was wondering if you guys know of any exercises that we could use to try and make this part of the course more appealing to the younger guys (not that im really that old). These younger guys really don't have a lot of interest in running a grader, almost all of them are hell bent on running an excavator! Which is fine, but i think that if we can make this part of the course more appealing we could sway a few guys to put the time and effort and maybe even become a grader operator! Here are a few exercises that i have in mind. 1) A pilon or barrel course set up so that the operator would have to weave there way through, using there articulation, and not knock over any barrels. 2) moving a windrow from one stake line to the other without nocking over any stakes. 3) finishing off a pass ( fading your material out to noting) 4) if we could find a steel ball somewhere, have them go through another pilon or barrel course and not loose the ball. these are just a few i had in mind.... do you guys have anymore??? Thanks for looking Danial
the way I learned My first time in the seat of a grader was maintaining a haul road for 6 631D pans and 3 R-35 Euc`s. I think over half of the pan operators were high so it was quiet a scary first day.
Just tell them that when everyone else is collecting unemployment insurance the good grader operator will be working overtime!
you know what is really sad! ive told this to a few younger guys before and it was usualy followed by this response " well i really dont want that job now, i dont want to work anymore then i have to" thats a great outlook eh!
Jeez, do these young guys realize that blade hands typically get paid more than other operators? I started in excavators and loaders and finally got the opportunity to run a grader. I had so much fun and when I realized that it was up to me to make the final grade and make it look great, I never wanted to get out of that machine. Just an idea, instead of steel balls, what about using old bowling balls? Check out youtube for grader rodeo videos. I saw one course that had operators knocking golf balls off of grade hubs. The had to get the ball off without taking out the grade hub. That seems like a great exercise to me as you can get the feel of where your cutting edge is and eventually get to the point to where you are getting within half a tenth.
bowling balls would be a great idea!!! might have to look into that. Haul roads are a great way to start on a grader but the majority of our in quarry haul roads are paved so thats out of the question. I wonder what a person could use other then grade stakes? I am thinking that first starting out that they are going to murder every one they see and its going to get old having to pound new ones in the ground every time.
Traffic cones.
True anyone else have any ideas for exercises ??
When I was in college for heavy equipment they had us building roads with the grader (740a III Champion) and grading the gravel in the student parking lot as well as some snow removal. A lot of guys don't want to run grader, most seem to think its too complicated. I know I did for a long time. It's just recently in the last year that I have been sitting in graders. I haven't done much mind you but graded a few roads out this year with a 14G.
Don't forget wrecking that M grader Alex LOL
Seat time is the important thing. I would say, go for exercises that is as close up to the work they have to do. Build roads, make ditches, grade parking lots, maintain roads at the training area, and such. Have more than one operator in each class, and get them competing against each other. Learning is easier then. Let them discuss between themselves, and tell them all the time what is done good. Focus on the positive stuff all the time. Then i have to say that over here, graders and dozers is for the bit "special" operators. They tend not to be of the A4 type of people, if u understand what i mean. The level of training needed, before u are a operator, is much higher than on other machines. In my last class, i mean that only 2 out og 6 will be operators. The others fit bether in other machines....
?????????? Not much I can add to MKTEF's comments, as I think he nailed it well.
Which one? There was last week's, and then the famed Ritchie Brothers accident of 2009. Luckily there is only one witness on this forum who saw it and he won't be reading this thread.
Make em draw letters of the alphabet out of a hat. The letter they pull is the letter they have to carve out of the ground. This exercise will make them use every function on the grader and one more besides......their brain. Anybody can drag a blade down the road. Its knowing how to get the grader to do the things you want it to that makes a blade operator.
Just the hose you blew the other night LOL Did you have fun getting those cyl in sync again
what was the ritchie bros accident?
Daniel, Reminds me of Champion's "Grader College" we used to have a few times a year up in Goderich. It was a 3 day training class (mostly class room) with a 1/2 day in the dirt. After going through several stations on different models you finished up with the Grader Rodeo. This was a timed event and of course fastest time won bragging rights. I'll try to explain: First....we had to put a 2nd gear rule into effect because the course was tight and short. This was to reduce chance of 25 mph passes through the "S" curves You started with the blade on the ground - On go you raised the blade and manuvered through a "S" curve which had qty 2 safety cones with a tennis balls sitting on top. One to the left and one to the right. These were short cones but you had to knock the tennis ball off without knocking the cone over. 15 second penalty for knocking a cone over. I think then you had a short straight where you could accelerate before being forced to do a 3 point turn without knocking over any cones. This made them work on their backing skills while using articulation. From there another straight with a soccer ball placed in between 2 cones. You had to stop and use the blade slide to push ball out from the cones...retract and take off again to the finish. Time stopped when blade was back on the ground. Obviously this was more fun than educational but was a good finish to a 3 day training class.
Fun! Hello. That sounds like whole heaps of fun!
Just send them finish the job, and tell them "you dont finish the job on time,you dont have a job'' Worked in my case...