Author Archives: Kevin

Excavator an Effective Heavy Equipment used in Demolition, Clearing and Grading

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All construction sites need to undertake three activities in the development process which are considered to be quintessential. These three activities include Demolition, Clearing and Grading. With technology evolving drastically Excavators has proved to be reliable and effective heavy equipment in conducting the three activities of demolition, clearing and grading.

Demolition is the process of tearing-down of structure and buildings in a construction sites with the help of manually driving hydraulic equipment such as excavators.

Clearing is the process in which dirt, debris, vegetation cover and excessive materials are removed from the building site to make it conducive for development.

Grading involves construction work such as making improvements on roads, laying foundation for railways and land etc.

Excavator in Demolition Process

Excavators are used to collapse two stored buildings by a deterioration process. The plan is to involve destroying the building while controlling the method and direction the building collapses. The whole demolition task is undertaken by a project manager who decides where damage is essential to enable the building to be pulled out in the desired direction. The walls of the building are damaged at the foundation of the building, but this depends on the design of the structure which totally dictates the demolition process. Factors such as protection and cleaning activities are taken into considerations while demolishing that particular building.

Excavators with high reach demolition are more frequently used for collapsing lofty buildings since it is not suitable for explosive demolition. Excavators equipped with shear accessory are normally used to pull apart a structure made of steel. To bring dust under control fire hoses are used to sustain a demolition of a wet building. Hoses are used by the workers which are attached to lifts to increase height.

 

Big buildings may require the application of the wrecking balls which are found to be more effective against building material, but controlling the wrecking balls can be a complex task for the workers and a lot of time it is found to be less competent when compared to other demolition methods. Innovative methods make use of the revolving hydraulic shears as well as rock-breakers which are fixed to the excavators for the purpose of cutting and breaking through wood, solid and steel material. The application of shears becomes useful when flame cutting would become hazardous.

 

Excavator in Cleaning Process

 

Excavators provide housing and commercial land clearing services and removal of debris dirt. As we all know clearing the land of the construction site is one of the foremost steps for constructing our home and offices, so first of all you need to get rid of all dirt, debris and other excessive dust. With Excavators clearing becomes an easy task without consuming too much money and time.

Excavator in Grading process

Grading a construction site does not merely refer to pushing filth around. By grading the building site with the help of Excavator the contractors ensure the location is at the accurate level to guarantee proper flow of the water. Grading helps in making right base of the building.

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Caterpillar D9T Bulldozer

The role of a bulldozer is quite eminent in the construction and mining industry. It is needed more at sites where there is an existing structure that needs to be demolished. You need a big dozer to maul that down and a company that has been producing dozers for years can make a big difference when it comes to manufacturing big heavy dozers. Caterpillar is one such company that has pioneered in making bulldozers and is known for making real tough machines. It is not just known for high quality dozers but is also renowned for manufacturing other forms of heavy equipment that is required in day to day construction activities. Having said this, they simply specialize in manufacturing dozers. They try to know the changing needs of the customers and give their shot in producing as per the customer’s expectations.

CAT has introduced D9T dozers which has achieved accolades from millions of people from all over the world. Talking about its specifications, it is a C18 ACERT model having a gross power of 464 hp and a net power of 410 hp. The power is measured at 1800 rpm and has a displacement of 1106 cu in. The operational weight of the machine is 47900 kg and the fuel capacity is 889 litres. The cooling system fuel capacity, engine oil capacity, hydraulic fluid capacity and power train fluid capacity are 104 litres, 38 litres, 89 litres and 164 litres respectively. The operating voltage of this piece of metal is 24 V with alternator supplied amperage of 95 amps.

If we check the transmission we see the type as Power Shift with 3 forward and reverse gears. The maximum forward speed is 7.3 mph and maximum reverse speed is 8.9 mph. The ground pressure of the machine is 16.1 psi and the ground contact area is around 6569 in2 with a standard show size of 24 in. The number of shoes it has on each side is 43 and the total number of track rollers it has on each side is 8. The track pitch is 9.4 in and the track gauge is 7.4 ft in. It has been fitted with hydraulic pump system that has a relief valve pressure of 5875 psi and the pump flow capacity is 101 gallon per minute.

The total width of the standard blade is 14.3 ft in, height is 6.4 in. It has a capacity of 17.7 yd3 and a cutting depth of 23.9 in. Moving to the dimension of the machine, the total length with and without the blade is 21.8 ft in and 16.1 ft in respectively. The total height of the cab is around 12.5 ft in and the length of the track on ground is 11.4 ft in with a ground clearance of 2 ft in.

Caterpillar has made sure that the price of the dozer should be within the reach of most of the customers and that they should not find it unaffordable to buy. Therefore, if one is looking for a bulldozer, they should definitely check the specification of this machine and check if that suits their requirements. Most it will fit in their budget and should not be hard for them to buy it.

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Hassle a newbie encounters for setting up his construction company

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Establishing a business of any form has never been easy for a newbie especially when you do not know anybody from your family doing it or anyone who can probably help you in setting up your business. Guys who inherit the businesses of their fathers may not have to go through a great deal of ordeal than people who have absolutely nobody and will be do everything on their own. Apart from this, life gets tougher when somebody ventures into an industry like construction where there is too much of cut throat competition existing and people are eying to snatch away whatever little project you have got.

We will be talking in detail about the different kinds of problems a newbie can encounter during his journey in setting up his own construction company.

In absence of knowledge, people may take you on a ride:-

If you are dealing with something that you do not have much of an idea, there are high chances that people will take you for a ride. It is quite evident that you may not know everything related to your business and at times you have to depend on an expert to help you on an issue. But it is important to know a bit of everything so that in case if someone is trying to play nasty with you, you can get a hint of it and play wisely.

Have a concrete strategy:-

When you are in the phase of building your construction company, it is very important that you lay down a strong strategy and then take relevant actions to walk on it. It will be equal to walking in the dark without a solid plan and often you may encounter troubles. Apart from this, the one who gives you’re the projects are also keen to know about any sort of plans that you have laid down to complete the project.

Getting the right sort of heavy equipment:-

Heavy equipment play a crucial role in building your construction company and possessing the right sort of equipment will help you to complete your projects on time. So it is important to know which construction equipment is needed by you for a given project and how can you acquire it. Construction equipment are highly expensive materials and you can’t simply afford to invest your money in buying something that may not be useful for your existing project. Alternatively, if you can manage to know the estimated duration a project may take to complete, you can just rent the machine rather than spending a fortune in buying them.

Make sure your financial position is not weak:-

You can set up your construction company if only your finances are in place and you can spend money to buy stuffs that are essential to carry on a project. In case, you see that you may not be able to afford for something that is vital for your business, make sure you will be able to manage to avail loans from some financial institution. Knowing your financial status is a must as it plays a huge role in shaping up the future of your business.

Two Ways to Differentiate Your Service Contracting Business from the Competition

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As the Information Technology has made the service contracting business reach the mass at a rapid rate, it has become very important for every owner of service contracting business to stand out in the competition. Only providing top-notch quality service is not enough, one has to become a good learner of the market strategies to globalise his service contracting business.  The two most important ways to differentiate your service contracting business from the competition is to use the social media like Facebook, Twitter and Linked In and listen to your customer with great care.

This article will define the above said two points to improve your service contracting business.

  • Use of Social Media:- Social media is the best source to reach the people. By using social media you can share the views of your customers and also tell them about the services which your company offer. You can use this media to inform the people about your service contracting business and why should they opt for you. A survey on the number of users of social media shows that nearly 1.7 million people use Facebook (leaving aside the surveys on other social media). Social media sites give opportunity to the users to communicate with other such service contracting business owners. And if the owners add you in their circles then you can also get some latest information about how they are trying to satisfy the customers by delivering services. This will definitely help you a lot. Account with more number of likes always attracts more traffic. If you have more number of likes, then people will visit your website and if they require any kind of service they will contact you either through email or phone. The increase in the number of likes in a social media makes the customer believe that it is trust worthy.
  • Carefully listen to your customer: In order to attain success in service contracting business, you have to listen carefully to your customer. Find out in which field they need your service. Ask them the deadline of delivering that service. Don’t delay in providing customer service and try to give them some offers or discounts to attract the customer. Try to give the customer quality service. If you give them quality service and that too within an affordable price the customer will definitely stay with you in the long run. Give good training to the customer service provider personnel isn’t a bad idea. If they are properly trained then they will make no faults while servicing. Even when your contract period with the customer is over, call them (though less frequently) to know the condition of the product. And if they make any complaints regarding the service then try to fix it and assure them that it will not happen again in future and you are really feeling very sorry for it.

 

Apart from this building an attractive website, giving online and offline ads, and an arrangement of weekly fun staff meeting where you can discuss about various steps required to take your service contracting business to the top are some other points which cannot be ignored.

 

 

Keeping your cards close to your heart is the thumb rule to success in the construction industry

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Every businessman has some or the other secrets that is the reason of his success in any industry. Especially in the construction industry, people need to be very shrewd about what they are telling to others. In no way they can utter a single line of their success mantra and people who write books claiming that they have written all the secrets to become successful in life are not so true. They may just give a glimpse of the entire mantra and elaborate it extensively to make it look like they have written everything in the book. However, that’s not the fact. A businessman would always want to keep his cards close to his chest and would hardly or never reveal his business secrets to anybody.

We would be discussing why one should not speak more about his achievements and the way he managed to attain success in public especially when he is dealing with men in the construction industry.

Your business model is unique:-

We all follow very distinctive business model and if it works we start reaping fruits. We add few things from it and deduct any unwanted elements which ultimately make it a model that many would like to follow. But the sad part of the story is that you can’t allow your business model to go public. Construction business is a highly competitive business and everybody wants to grow as quickly as they can. In this situation, if you make your model public and easily accessible to the general public, then there will be no stopping for people who will use your model and claim it to be theirs. You have only unnecessarily grown problems for yourself. Therefore, just keep the stuff with you without letting others have the slightest hint on what model you follow and how you work that you make such good profits.

Integrity is key:-

Integrity is a big business requirement and it is hard to get people who know what integrity is all about. It is absolutely important to hire the right set of people who understand the importance of honesty and integrity. People of strong character and principles should be the one you want them to be a part of your company. Once you are sure that you have found the right set of people on whom you can trust, you can share your business model with them and can work on it to take your business to new heights.

Avoid being a part of excessive limelight:-

We all like to become famous. But becoming famous at what cost would be an interesting question. It is fine to know people in your business circles and is also great being known to them. Having good connections always help you in your business but coming into excessive limelight can become a problem. Unknowingly, you may give people the chance to take undue advantage. Too much of anything is not good and definitely for your business.

 

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Hire an expert to design the website of your construction company

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In today’s competitive world, in order to become a successful businessman, one needs to ensure that he pervades the name of his business to the edge of the world leaving no countries where he can provide his services. It is important that he make his business known to others which will in turn help him to get more businesses from others. This is possible only if he can spread the word like a fire in the jungle. He can make use of internet to reach out to millions who can avail his services and in turn he can make good money out of the deal.

A person doing any form of business wants to pervade it to others so that people around him knows about his work and in this process can get more businesses from them. This is how one can grow his business and plan for expansions. In order for all this to happen, it is important that the company has its website which exclusively speaks about the company and the type of work it does. Internet has the power to reach millions of people in just seconds and people who need your services will get in touch with you.

In the Construction business, it is very important to reach out to people and establish trust pertaining to your work. In order for the guy to give your business, they should first know about you and the kind of projects you have completed. Reviews also play an important role. So you should be always open to feedbacks. So the crux of the matter is you need a website that is informative as well as interactive. Something where people can post their feedback and also gain information about your business.

Designing a website is an art and not everybody can give your website the charm that it requires. This work can be done by professionals who have been working in this domain for years. Remember, creating a website for a construction company can be more difficult than creating it for some other form of business. Here the website designer needs to show your past work, your existing projects as well as a glimpse of your future plans to the mass at large. For this, he might need some good quality pictures of the projects that you have a part of and then upload them on the website. He can then give some write up next to the pictures of your project.

Hiring an expert website designer could be another challenge as not everybody who claims to be a website designers are as good as you want them to be. You are investing good chunk of money to design your website and you need real good work out from them. So it is important that you do some research and try to find out some names of ace website designers who have worked designing websites for other construction companies. This will help you a great deal in creating a niche website for your company.

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Heavy Equipment Training Videos

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It takes time to learn something and when that thing is related to heavy equipment, it may take more time for one to grasp. It is not that the subject is very complex in nature but because it is quite vast if one wants to learn the entire of it. It may take ages to become an expert in the field of heavy equipment and still one may find scope to learn something new. No doubt about the fact that this subject is a little complex but people can still manage its complexities if they have a platform that can help them to learn the subject in a more simplified manner. There are various machines that are used for different purposes and it is perhaps impossible for someone to know everything about it. Therefore, what one can do is just select the subject of his interest and start learning about it. One of the most convenient methods is to watch training videos on computer and hear from the experts.

Training videos can play a vital role in shaping up the learning skill of an individual. Not necessary that his method of education is important in the field of heavy equipment but it can be used in any sphere. There are many people who find it difficult to understand things that are written in the books and they prefer seeing things for real. Not everyone can be taken to a workshop to show how things are taken care and how people work on construction equipment. Therefore the better alternative is to take a video of the work happening in the workshop and use it as a training material.

Very helpful for students:-

Many training institute that teach students on heavy equipment use training videos to show students how to work on particular construction equipment. There they can see things happening in front of their eyes and get a good exposure. The knowledge that they get from the books will help them to a certain extent but when they get to see such training videos, they will learn lot more from it. It helps them to remember things which they may not do if they study only from the book. They can also keep the videos with them for further reference. For instance, when they go home and read their books they can often play the video and relate things that are written in the book. This will help them to get a better understanding of the subject and will make them an able professional.

Check sites to find more videos:-

The institute may provide you with a couple of training videos and will ask you to learn from there. But if you have the quest to learn more, you can also go to websites like “Youtube.com” and hunt for the videos you want to watch. There you will find many options and you do not have to restrict yourself to the limited knowledge that is taught in your institute. These websites are always a better option for those who want to know more and learn more.

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Keeping the heavy equipment in good order will ensure a good resale value

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Heavy equipment cost dearly and it feels good to get a good resale value for the old machine. It is not always possible to fetch brand new heavy equipment whenever you see a need for it. Most of the times, you have to depend on resale equipment to get the work done. Therefore people who have bought a new machine can expect a good resale price for it only if they keep the equipment in good shape. It is pretty obvious that no one want to purchase an equipment which fails to work properly or breaks down every now and then. Everybody wants to buy equipment that are in good shape as that will also reduce the maintenance costs of the owner.

Maintenance cost is a big pain for the owner because if it fails to give good attention to the maintenance of the machine, it may not be able to deliver quality work. This can have a severe impact on the business and may lead to losing of projects. Therefore, if he gets a deal where the machine is well maintained, he would be ready to pay a good price for it. Nobody likes to compromise on quality as they all know that compromising on the quality of the machine means giving way to your competitors to take away your business. There are many things one can do to keep the machine in order to get a good resale value. We would be discussing few crucial points.

Service the machine at regular intervals:-

Knowing the nature of work heavy equipment are into, it becomes very important to service them at regular intervals. Lubricating various parts of the machine, changing the engine oil on a timely basis, regularly washing the machine, changing the faulty parts of the machine before things get out of hand are few very crucial things one needs to keep in mind while servicing the equipment. Skipping either of the work can have an intense impact on the machine leading to various complications that may become expensive to deal with at a later point in time.

Most of the time, the operator who drives the machine is in a better position to understand if there is anything wrong with it. If he finds any issues he may directly report it to the supervisor in charge who in turn should take immediate decision to alter the parts or service the machine.

Take the service of an expert mechanic:-

When you are dealing with something important, do take help of experts. While you service the equipment, it is prudent to avail the service of an expert mechanic who knows the in and out of the machine and can tell you precisely what has gone wrong with it and what needs to be done to get it revived. You should give your machine to someone who is genuine and whom you can trust. Though it is difficult to get good honest mechanics but once you feel you have found the right guy for your stuff, you should stick to him.

Dozer Engine Specifications – How can one know more of them?

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A construction site is installed with various heavy equipment. They need almost all sorts of heavy equipment to complete a project. Out of all the heavy equipment that they have on their site, a bulldozer is a must. Many big construction companies say that dozers are the most integral part of their business and they can’t dream of completing a project without the presence of highly efficient and easy to use dozers. Dozers are not only needed in big construction projects but also in projects which are not huge in nature. One can do away with any other heavy equipment which they feel can be ignored but never with a dozer. They will always feel the need of that equipment for the completion of their project.

Now we have something which is of such an importance. Have you wondered what would be the specifications of its engine which carries most of the load of the machine? An engine is said to be the heart of the machine and if that is in good shape, any external damage to the machine can be easily dealt with. However, if something goes wrong with the engine, it takes a heavy toll on the project as you may expect the machine to not to work for few days. Unless you have an alternative for the equipment, things will be harsh.

Let us now talk about the specification of the engine of a dozer. Before we go any further with the topic, please note that different companies have different makes and every make has variation in its engine. So the specification of the CAT dozer engine will be spoken in length.

The model of the CAT dozer engine is 3406 with around 315 horse power with a displacement of 590.9 cu in. The horse power that the engine gives is quite immense in comparison to models made by its competitors. Nevertheless, there are few makes manufactured by companies like John Deere, Hitachi etc that marvels many times that the CAT model.

In order to know in depth about the specifications of the dozer engine, the most reasonable way is to explore the internet. You may find unlimited search results that will help you understand the design or the pattern of the engine. Though exploring the internet is one of the best options but there are some flaws as well. Getting too much of options can sometime make things very confusing. You may not understand what to see and what to skip and especially when you are running short of time, it becomes a pain to browse the entire site just to know a simple specification of the engine.

In such a situation, it is often advised to meet a dealer or visit the dozer manufacturing company’s office and ask for a brochure which will contain all the minute information of everything. You can focus your attention to the design of the engine or can have a look at the entire brochure. You never know what might catch your attention the next minute.

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Caterpillar D7E Dozer

One of the biggest problems that majority of the construction companies were experiencing was their dozers consuming more fuel and they were indeed looking for. Something that can do away with this maximum fuel consumption and pays more attention in higher productivity. Many heavy equipment manufacturing companies have come up with dozers making tall claims but they were somehow not able to prove their metal when were put to test. Caterpillar was also experiencing difficulty in producing a dozer that can maximize its productivity by consuming less fuel. However, in the year 2009 they were able to produce D7E Dozer that was way better than its contemporaries produced by other companies.

It is believed that since 2009 many customers who were using CAT D7E dozers on their jobsites were able to save gallons of fuel which was otherwise not possible in the earlier versions. When we are talking about low fuel consumption it did not happen by compromising its performance. CAT made sure that the product they would manufacture should be of top notch quality giving the same user experience to the end users. This is why people who were using D7E dozers never had any issues with its performance and if anybody had any issues, CAT proactively got rid of those problems.

CAT engineers have installed an innovative diesel-electric power train which has a capacity of delivering up to 30% more fuel efficiency thereby raising the production level by 10%. All this has led to one big thing and that is it saves a lot of money of its customers which they can reinvest it in future projects. Operators working on this machine can operate it with ease as it has a bigger cabin that can fit him easily and also allow him to move around without hitting any of the levers by-mistake.

It is also fitted with stable blade control that allows the blades with auto adjust. Therefore, now there is no need for the operator’s input and all can be done automatically. This will also ensure that the grades are more precise as they are automatic in nature. Then they have the traction control that can sense the track slip and can accordingly make appropriate adjustments. This is used to develop load consistency which will result in greater productivity.

CAT D7E dozers do not require maintenance every month. However, one should make sure that they are serviced at regular intervals or else it may result to severe wear and tear. Concurrently, if any part of the machine becomes obsolete, it can be replaced by company made parts which is easily available with the authorized dealers. You only need to call them up and they will send it to you or you can even collect it from their store.

If you want to buy the machine you can reach out to the authorized dealer and buy it from there. Please read the user manual before you start working on the machine. Even though you have operated machines like these before, it is prudent to go through the manual before you hit the deck.