okay, i tried this thread once before, will try it again. i'm primarily in the water/sewer biz, but do some basement excavation, site prep...come on dudes, the purpose of these forums is to share!!! bounce stuff off of!!!...there must be some tricks of the trade, things you've encountered, overcome...that you could share with the rest of us!!!
Start at the top and work your way down...
One of my pet peeves is that i try to park my machine on level ground in position to check the hyd. oil. That way when i come back the next day i can do my preflight. usually with the excavator i point the boom with the tracks so you are able to take the access panel off the bottom and work if needed.
I don't know about "tricks" but good practice might be a better way to put it. Too many operators are a little too eager to start digging and don't take 5 or 10 minutes to plan things out. Preparation + Planning generally goes for a better job....Says Squizzy who only dug up 1 sewer last week
Use your commen sence. we had a guy dig up a powerline going to a house. the hole with the powerline was about 4 feet deep and full of water. so what does he do? He gets in the damn pool and starts hand digging for the gas conduit he was looking for
I haven't any "tricks of the trade" too share,but wonder about what others do in a particular situation. When your working on a job,which takes multiple days,do you leave your equipment at the site,or homeowners place?Or do you load it up,and take it home,to return the next day? I'm speaking more about skid-steers,smaller excavators,TLB's,etc. Not about dozers,and other large heavy equipment. I've always(that one time ) picked up my toys,and left.I can't stand too think of them being tampered with,or vandalized over the evening.It's a hassle,but I'm not trusting enough to leave it unattended.I don't want to return to busted windows,broken switchs,having the fluids contaminated,etc. What has been your approach,or what tricks do you use to secure the equipment,if you decide to leave it??
Jeff, too many horror stories about vandalism and theft. We take the machine home unless they are locked in a fully fenced site/backyard. Commercial sites are Bad even when they are fenced. Its a pain but it makes you get your trailer setup workin!:wink2
Same here, they are coming home with me 99% of the time. It just isn't worth the risk and if it is more than a days work it justifies a extra load and unload anyways.
If I'm comfortable with the surroundings, I'll leave the machine on the job. Most times I am. In most cases I can park right next to the client's house where they can keep an eye on it, and most neighborhoods around here are pretty safe. If I work in an area that is more urban, then I bring the machine home each night to avoid problems.
Last Friday when I got to my job my locks were mangled on both machines. When the service truck from the dealer came the mechanic told me I was lucky they didn’t get in, most of the time they will punch the keypad out with a screwdriver. I have been thinking about moving the equipment off site at night, but on a 3 week project moving and loading time would really all up.
Ticks of trade Tricks of Trade comes from planning and the ability to use the machine or machines on hand. A good operator can take a tractor and front loader, back blade build a drive where inexperienced needs a motor grader front loader dumb truck roller and most-likely what ever else you own. Starting and moving the machine is not the key for a successful finished job. The only thing close to a trick is in your mind before starting is a picture of the job completed.
Equipment theft is so scary, especially since anyone can buy a key for any machine for about $5. We're lucky out here, not much car theft in our small town and equipment theft is unheard of. Needless to say I think the next machine we get is going to have an updated theft deterrent system, we leave our equipment on the site overnight 100% of the time.
I was on a job one time that was in an area I don't normally work and I didn't feel comfortable leaving my tractor overnight even though the area was fenced and there was a night guard. One night another contractor left a brand new bobcat at the job and the next morning the whole thing was tagged. The guard couldn't explain how it could have happened because he was "on duty" all night. On jobs around where I live, I will leave a piece of equipment on someone's property if they are home, but I don't have to do that too often. It is just not worth it if there is any chance something could happen. I have hidden kill switches on all my equipment so someone can't just start them and drive away. I have an anti-theft system I devised for my truck that works pretty well. Someone can sit in the passenger seat and watch me start it and then get in the drivers seat and not get it to start. I have a buddy that has tried it numerous times and has yet to start it. Every time he sees me with the truck, he asks to try it again, but so far no-go. It is really easy to do if you have even the least bit of electronics knowledge. I always buy the shop manual for my equipment (I do all my own maintenance) and they contain wiring diagrams which, if you know how to read them, will give you numerous opportunities for a kill mechanism.
it is a pain but i take the battery out of my machine is i have worries it has a quick disconect so it pops right out
One thing I do is grease the machine before I leave at night. I do this for a couple of reasons. First reason, it is easier to grease when the grease and grease gun are warm. Second, if you wake up late, you won't be that much more behind at the beginning of the day. Rich:thumbsup
Tricks of the trade: I'm a third generation dirt mover and most tricks of the trade are learned over time through ones own experiences. Some routines are done but not thought about because its just the way it's always been done. I will be the first to say that I learn new things all the time through my own experiences and from need. I have some very good friends that are my competition and we share how to's and offer assistance where needed. If I have anything to offer I would advise the most obvious thing is to take care of your equipment with a stringent maintainence schedule! Your equipment is your way you make your money! If you have any direct questions I would be willing to share what knowledge I have with you. Alan [email protected]
I was thinking of have my locks rekeyed on my machines with my own key code to help delay Equipment theft.It only cost about $25.00 to rekey its getting out of hand about bobcat keys fit case. Even a dealer got 6 machines stolen from dealership here in northern IL.
No truer words were ever spoken. The trick is.. get a clear picture in your mind of how you want the finished product to look like. Making it happen comes with practice and experience. Another thing...sometimes it only takes a few more minutes between a good looking job and a poor one.:yup
Theft scares the crap out of me, cause even if I catch the maggot it might mean a life sentence. Anyone hear anything about the auto and equipment GPS chips? Bob
Bob-I'm buying a JD 410G hoe this coming week with that GPS chip.I'm all giddy about it and will report back once I learn about it.Now ,if only the manufacturers would give us the most simple first line of defense--NON-KEYED ALIKE LOCKS
Thats why the metro bobcat here in montgomery county only orders bobcats with the digitial key pad. They had some stolen too. They won't sell you one with a key. Getting a key pad for my 773G is on my to do list. Soon as I have some $$$$ I can blow.
If you are grading, try and get edges,corners and hard to get areas first. then finish up in the easy areas last. My dad always said " it takes an operator to do the edges and corners a monkey can do the middle.
Good Practices Watch out for each other; especially when working on the ground around equipment or traffic. Noise such as traffic and backup alarms tends to cause people to ‘zone out’ after being around it for extended periods of time. Operators need to watch other pieces of equipment. A scraper operator can spot another scraper’s low rear tire or oil trail on the ground. Practice not slipping a tire more than a quarter revolution, if at all. Slipping tracks on a dozer excessively is hard on grousers and pads. Get in the habit of not backing up any more than is absolutely necessary to make a turn… it really does make a difference in preventing accidents. Always try to back up on the driver’s side… keep the knockdown dozer or loader on that side, it will make everyone’s job easier and safer. Don’t carry your bucket, boom or blade any higher than needed; make gravity your friend, not your enemy. I have seen several excavator booms’ carried too high take down utility lines. Dump truck drivers always should check for overhead utilities before hoisting the dump bed. These are an excerpt from my latest post on my website... of which is intended to help and educate those interested in this business
Wow seven years ago this thread was started. How time flies
It may be an old thread but I don't mind when someone posts a new reply to one. Looks like dozerman400 has been reading some old posts/threads, which is highly recommended. Any new info he or anyone else can contribute is OK by me.
No disagreement from me.
Most of the equipment I operate is for pipeline construction purposes, so it is a little different but there are things that are similar in all situations. I agree with everything said above, especially the stuff about taking care of equipment. Many of our guys fail to understand that, you cannot get them to keep their machine greased, drive me nuts. Then they just trash the machine and if something is broken they don't tell anyone unless it means they can't use it. Went to use our telehandler the other day and noticed the fuel cap was gone, they had put tape over where the fuel cap goes. Anyways something I have figured out, when doing something like digging a long trench or ditch, make every movement count. You don't have to operate as fast as the machine will go but each time you get a load in the bucket make sure its full and move smoothly rather than fast. When you’re doing something that is extremely repetitive like digging a ditch every second counts. When take an extra 4 or 5 second every time you fill and dump your bucket that adds up over a 10 hour day. Same thing with any other piece of equipment: motor grader, dozer, backhoe or whatever. Just because you can run the motor grade at 10 mph doesn’t mean you are getting more work done necessarily. Hopefully you can understand what I am saying. Something I have notice people doing that drives me nuts is using the extending stick on a backhoe when it is not necessary, not only does it slow you down but it is hard on the equipment where we are (lots of rock and very hard ground). I'm not saying not to use it buy why use it when you don't have to. Pay attention to you equipment while you are running it, the sounds it make, how it is running, the gauges and everything else about it. We had a guy knock the oil filter off one of our backhoes never knew it till the engine locked up. So much money and time can be saved just by paying a little attention to your equipment. Well I'm sure I could fill a few page with what I have learned over the year but don't want to waste everyone’s time, y'all probably know everything I do and more but hopefully I can help someone out a little.
Briscoetab, You reminded me of a learning day a long time ago. You talk about wasted seconds ad up by the end of day. Also wasted travel ads up by the end of the day. I was stipping black dirt one time and backed up about 18 feet farther than I had to, dad drove his car between the blade and were I should be flapping his arms and explaining I need to learn to get with in 2 feet of the last dribble of dirt to be clean up and quit driving around all day, I am adding miles to my day. He only had to tell me once.
One thing I always try to get my guys to do (all 2 of them) is to coordinate your work so that it is easier on the other guy. It doesn't take hardly any extra time for the excavator to place downed trees so the dozer can easily access or push them into the burn pile and the dozer operator can smooth over rough spots for the excavator with a little extra effort.
Tricks of the Trade I've learned to apologize even when she's wrong.
A good story I read about RG concerns a serious accident he had while logging in the 20's?? Afterwards he essentially said "Always have a partner on dangerous work so someone can go back and tell the other guys what to look out for."
Pee before you start and get your check before you leave
I hand deliver every bill if at all possible. It does 2 things, 1 it puts me in touch with the customer to make sure everything is correct before he gets his bill, 2 it gets me paid on the spot 95% of the time.
This might be a tad off key to what you all are discussing, but I have not seen any real pattern here, just tricks, so here's one for mechanic work. I owe the credit to a wise guy, he showed me this and it has saved me a lot of hassle from time to time. Get a vacuum box for air conditioner charging, the type that you plug into the air hose. Dissamble the little box getting only the guts out, consisting of a little box with a male qd. Remove the fitting for the air conditioning and keep around for use later. You know have the little block with the male fitting for the air hose and a 1/8 npt female port. I used one of those little pipes from an air blower with a set of threaded bushings to get me to any size. There's the tool, now the trick. When you need to remove the drain plug or a hose from any type of tank(within reason) and don't want to drain the fluid, find a port on top you can thread the vacuum block into, plug it into an air source. If there is a vent, try to use that or plug it otherwise, some vent only Allow pressure out. Then remove whatever hose you need to or plug and fluid will not leak out. I have used it on a vessel for a cone crusher with a 2 inch fitting that I take out on the bottom, and don't lose a drop of fluid. Saves a mess some times. Hope I did not send the thread sprawling in an unintended direction.
Oh thought about this one the other day while running the backhoe. Before I figured this out I had a lot of trouble. Around here we make a lot of road crossing over pipes, it’s just a hump that goes over a pipeline on a road. This works for any kind of back dragging with a backhoe or a loader but probably works best with a backhoe. This probably applies to newer operators but it took me awhile to figure it out because I had no one to teach me. When back dragging, when you are first trying to shape a slope, use the back of the bucket where the dirt will build up behind the bucket. The closer to the ground the back of the bucket is the more dirt you will move. After you have your slope correct or close start using the front part of the bucket, where the blade is, this will start smoothing your slope and moving much less dirt and allow you to fine tune your slope. The less angle you have the front of the bucket the smoother it will make the dirt and the less dirt you move. Next time I'm doing this I'll try to take some photos, kind of hard to put into word and understand.
I said loader or backhoe but I guess the back of the bucket has to be kind of squared not rounded.