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Heavy Equipment Parts

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Heavy equipment are prone to vulnerabilities due to the nature of work they are into. At times, the operator has to keep the machine in the working state for hours which indeed takes a toll on the machine. Moreover, when heavy equipment are made to work in rough terrain or in extreme weather conditions, it becomes all the more difficult for the guy working on the machine as well as the equipment to get the desired work done. It has to go through a lot of wear and tear when it performs in such nasty weather and thereby needs frequent servicing. It often happens that a part of the machine gets faulty and there comes a situation when the equipment just stops working and there is a dire need to replace the faulty part of the machine with a new one or else it just won’t work.

Heavy equipment is made up of various essential parts and it becomes the duty of the operator or the person who owns it to ensure that all the parts of the machine is in place and in order. In case, if anything is not in order then that needs to be checked and should be sorted in time. It has been that you do not always get a particular part of the equipment in a store as he may not have it in stock.

You have to wait for the stuff to come and if it is an important part of the machine then you are presumably not working till you have that part. Therefore, it becomes very important that you keep a stock of the important parts the moment you realize that it is wearing out and will sustain only for the next few days. In this way, you do not have to wait for anything. Just replace the part with the faulty one and get it up and running.

Parts are available in stores:-

Getting parts of the machine can be a problem for people who do not know the place from where they can get it. However, that should not be so tough. All you have to do is reach out to a heavy equipment store that deals with only parts of the machine. Here you will find different parts of the equipment of several brands. So you do not have to go to CAT dealer in order to buy a part of the CAT machine. You simply drop in at the store and get what you need. The only challenge that you may encounter is that he may not have the item handy. This is something that you need to counter by some other means.

Buy the parts online:-

This is an excellent option for people who do not have the time to visit a heavy equipment parts store or find it convenient to do things on their computer. All they got to do is just visit an online heavy equipment parts store and check for the things they have in stock. There has hardly been a moment when people did not find the stuff they were looking for. You can find almost everything with the click of a button.

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Caterpillar 320E L Excavator

An excavator is perhaps the second most useful heavy equipment after a bulldozer. It is not that other heavy equipment are not so useful but no other heavy equipment can replace an excavator in terms of the various functions it can perform on the job site. An excavator is a multirole machine and can be used for various purposes like digging the dirt out, loading it in an articulated truck, it is also useful for agricultural purposes and so on and so forth. An excavator means a lot to a mining or a construction company as without it, it will be very difficult for them to sustain in the ever changing business environment.

Caterpillar is one such company that specializes in manufacturing class excavators. The reason why they are good with their products is they keep into consideration the needs and wants of the customers and accordingly they try to put in their innovative minds into work resulting into real classy machines for the end users. One such model that has been real famous among its users is the 320E L excavators. The engine model of this machine is C6.6 ACERT with a displacement of 403 in3 and with a net power of 153 hp.

If we speak about the dimension of the machine, the maximum length of the machine is 31 ft 4 in, maximum height is 12 ft 3 in and the overall width is 10 ft 5 in. The ground clearance of CAT 320E L is 18 inches and the dig depth of the mono boom is 24 ft 10 in. The fuel tank capacity is 108.3 gallons and hydraulic tank capacity is 37.8 gallons. The operating weight of the machine is 48940 lbs. They have tried to keep the weight of the machine appropriate to its size.

Knowing the importance of possessing an excavator especially when one is in the construction business, caterpillar has ensured that the price of the machine should be within the reach of everybody and therefore if one intends to buy the machine, he should not find it hard to procure it. However, if you still find it outside your reach then you can get it financed from any financial institution and can pay the loan in easy installments. It is however necessary to pay the installments on time or else it may lead to repossession of the machine.

The CAT 320E L excavator can be bought directly from the company or from an authorized dealer. You should be very conveniently able to locate an authorized CAT dealer in your city. Placing the order with them will suffice the requirement to get the machine shipped to your place. You can pay the money in one go or can pay in easy monthly installments. All that should be informed to the dealer at the time you are making the purchase.

The other option is checking out few online stores that deal with CAT excavators. There you will easily find the 320E L machine for sale.

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What is the ultimate small dozer?

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You do not always need big things to get smaller work done. Similarly, in case of heavy equipment when you see some petty work, it would be highly unwise of the person to bring in the big heavy equipment to get that small work done. In case, if he tries to work with the big machine, he may get everything wrong and may have to start things from all over again. Therefore, it is always advisable to identify the machine and check if it is compatible for the work before you start doing your work. The sight in a big construction company will have all huge machines however; you will also get to fix your eyes on some small machines. Wonder why? It is only because they understand that not all work can be done with the help of these big equipments. They also need small heavy equipment to complete certain kind of work.

We would be discussing about small dozers and how they are effective in many scenarios.

Why do we need a small dozer when we already have the bigger ones?-

A big dozer is a heavy machine and at places where we do not need the strength of a bigger machine, a small dozer comes handy. For instance, you just want to work with the garden area at the front of your house and you need to do some digging work and after that dump the dirt at a place that is meant to do so. In this situation, you can’t use those big dozers because they will simply pull off the entire mud making it improper for you to work on it. You will need those small dozers which have less strength and can get the required work done. Moreover these dozers are quite user-friendly. You will not have a tough time dealing with them and can get your work done in a smooth manner.

No need of specialized operators to work on it:-

Big construction companies have specialized operators who work heavy equipment. It is believed that the function buttons of these equipment are quite complex and it needs good deal of training to completely understand the different buttons and levers which is not possible for a naïve person to do. As the small dozers are quite simple than their complex counterparts, a person will definitely go for it. They just want to get their work done without wanting to know the complexities involved in operating a bigger version.

Companies that manufacture small dozers:-

There are many companies that are manufacturing small dozers. However, some of the prominent companies are Cat, John Deere, and Case, etc. Caterpillar has 4 models of small dozers. All the dozers are less than 130 hp. All the models have full power turn potential, dynamic braking. Steeples speed range and few other important features that one may find helpful while operating the machine. The joystick of the machine takes care of speed, direction and steering lessening the strain of the operator.

 

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Does Caterpillar have the best track loader?

It seems that almost all the heavy equipment manufacturing companies have something best to offer to its consumers. Some of the companies are good in manufacturing dozers; some are good in excavators while some are good in manufacturing track loaders. However, if one has to decide which one should he be using for completing his projects, then that would be a hard decision for him. There are few companies who have earned their goodwill in the industry by providing quality machines and offering great after sales services. In today’s time, it is just the brand that makes the sales for them. Out of these many companies, the name Caterpillar has made its mark in almost every kind of heavy equipment. Be it back hoe loaders or crawlers or track loaders, Cat seems to be the best.

If we talk about CAT 953, it has a free wheel power of 148 horsepower with a bore of 4.13in and stroke is 5.0 in. It has a displacement of 402.76 in. It has been fitted with the state of the art technology and seems to be one of the best in the industry. The track shoe type is double grouser and its standard width is 18.9 in and optional width is 15.0 in. The number of shoes installed on each side is 37 and the track on ground is 91.4 in. The drive system is one of its kinds as it has hydrostatic drive with a speed of 10 km/hr.

Apart from this, the loader is multi-specialty equipment as it can be used for many applications like excavating, landscape contouring, grading and truck loading. Ideally, heavy equipment manufacturing companies produce machines that are multi-specialty equipments and are meant to do more than one job.

Cat has another track loader model (CAT 963), that is at par with the 953. Having almost similar specification, it has been branded as one of the best track loader in the market. The one thing that distinguishes CAT 963 from the 953 model is its bucket that can be of general purpose, multipurpose or for extreme multi-purpose use. The bucket is meant to do heavy clearing, shredding topsoil, excavating, backfilling, carrying material truck loading and other loads of things. The earlier model may have certain restrictions. However, the engineers have taken notice to those limitations and therefore designed this model that is more or less based on the same line as the previous model but given few added benefits.

In case if people want to place orders to buy either of the models, they can directly approach the company and check if they can offer them with any deals. A discount in the price is what one can expect the most. Alternatively, they can also sign up for after sales service for a lesser price and in case if any of the part goes faulty, then that can be replaced or fixed without being charged an additional penny. Overall, if a survey is done wanting to know what people would prefer to buy, it would be undoubtedly either of the models.

 

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Job Prospects and Career Guidelines of becoming A Paving Machine Operator

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Want to become a paving machine operator. Read this article carefully to know more about the career opportunities and professional outlook in this field.

Education and Training required for Paving Machine Operators

Most paving machine operators start as apprentice or a trainee and work under an experienced operator. Training can also be taken from vocational schools. The best institution is The International Union of Operating Engineers which offers training to an apprentice and to those who are interested to make a career in this field. The duration of the course is up to 4 years.

Proficiency Required

An operator should possess good communication skills, as he have to take and give directions while operating the machine.

They should easily deal with large and complicated heavy equipment and also have comprehensive knowledge about them so that the machines can be maintained and repaired well and quickly.

Career Prospects

The career prospects in this sector are lucrative, bright and full of optimism. There are 54,460 posts available to the operators in a research conducted by the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2012.This sector will witness a employment growth of 20 percent by the end of the year 2022 according to the BLS.

Other Career Options Available

Apart from driving a paving machine an operator can also find jobs as Material Moving Machine Operator and Heavy Tractor Driver.

Material Moving Machine Operator

A material moving machine operator makes application of heavy construction equipment such as cranes or conveyor belts to move thing from one site to another. They can find work in different industries, or in places like a storehouse, mine or sea harbour and ports. There are no proper education qualification for becoming material moving machine operator , but a high school diploma and experience in the construction industry will stand you in a good stead as many industries prefer it.; You can start as an apprentice and there are scopes for growth. However in order to be a crane operator you will need special license for operating it.

In future the job opportunities of  material moving machine operators is  believed to remain  unaltered starting   from the year  2012-2022, with job  growth  approximately at 1%.

Heavy Tractor Driver

Becoming heavy tractor driver is another option available to the operators. A heavy tractor driver is a professional driver who complies with the rules laid by the federal regulations. A proper commercial driver’s licence is a prerequisite, as you need to drive the machines carrying hazardous materials and other perilous cargoes. The tractors are heavy and can weigh up to 26000 pounds. The operator also needs to keep in touch with the dispatcher for solving various tractor related problems. They are also responsible for maintaining mileage and also plan the long distance routes.

To sum up paving machine operation is a specialised job and the operators have to undergo extensive training to develop and gain good skills and comprehensive knowledge to operate them. They also need practical experience and exposure to drive such large and complicated equipment.

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Guide to start a business of heavy equipment

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The industry of repossession is growing continuously. It offers a lot of business contingencies to the people who want to start their own business of heavy equipment. This kind of business has lot of growth opportunities. It is because this constructional heavy equipment are used for forestry, construction, mining and transportation purposes. But, to start a business, it is very important to have a strong business plan so that you can easily take your business to the top. You only have to do a little hard work and calculations to build up your successful business strategy. You don’t have to search over the internet to make your business plan. Just follow the simple steps given below and you will definitely rock.

Business plan for heavy equipment

  • The first thing which matters is the budget. You should plan your budget in such a way that you won’t face any financial crisis afterwards. Create a list of all the equipment that you are planning to get. If you have a low budget, then go for buying used equipment. Your budget should include all the money that you have to pay to the marketers as well as to the employees.
  • Now, choose a proper name of your business. Then you have to file all the exact information of DBA with the local government. After that, try to get the license of your business as soon as possible.
  • Your driver’s license should contain the appropriate classification for hauling heavy equipment. Get the license checked by the motor vehicle’s local department of the state. If you are planning for driver hiring, then check their driver license too.
  • Purchase or rent a space for commercial office. The space should have large storage yard so that you can keep big and heavy equipment in that.
  • You can also employ contractors who work independently. By doing this, you can save a lot from your budget. But, the independent contractors should have a proper insurance.
  • Lease or purchase the equipment for your company. The equipment should bear the necessary info of your company like name, address, logo and contact details.
  • Develop strong marketing strategy. Contact with the companies who are involved in financing the constructional equipment purchases. Meet them face to face and try to give them every information of your company which will help you to explore your business.
  • Now, one of the most important steps towards marketing is developing a website with proper logo and company’s name. Your website should have an attractive design to draw more traffic to the website.
  • You should join the industrial agencies such as American Recovery Association. It will help you to apprize with local and national news of business referrals.

Starting a business of heavy equipment is not so easy. You have to be very careful of every step that you are going to take. But, this thing shouldn’t demotivate you. Be brave enough to face the challenge and explore your heavy equipment business globally.

6 Myths About the Heavy Equipment Fleet Management Software That You Need To Know About

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There is no doubt about the fact that the entire construction industry heavily relies on the heavy equipment in order to finish off a construction project within the given deadline. As such, one really does not have to explain the importance that heavy equipment fleet management holds in the entire scheme of things. Though it has been shunned and criticised by a number of people, one cannot deny the fact that heavy equipment fleet management has enormous competitive advantage of its own.

Heavy Equipment Fleet Management- Myths That Need Busting

The heavy equipment fleet management software has been successful in giving rise to a number of preconceived notions in the market. Needless to say, these are quite untrue.

  • It is true that heavy equipment fleet management software allows you to have access to a number of data on the hardware of the equipment. However, if you expect the software to work of its own accord and give you returns on investments, then you are going about it in absolutely the wrong direction. You have to know the way of utilising the data s availed optimally so that you can receive huge profit.
  • People also feel that they can go for any fleet management software and the result will turn out to be the same. However, that is not the case. The heavy equipment fleet has its own set of concerns and therefore, the solution for the system, too, differs from one another. It is therefore, best to consider this aspect and go for fleet management software that caters to the individual requirements of the heavy equipment.
  • The heavy equipment fleet management software allows the concerned authorities to monitor the behaviour of the equipment operators and put a stop to misuse of the equipment along with tracking them. This allows them to cut down on fuel consumption, thereby, cutting down on the overall expense of the company. Hence, one could easily conclude that this heavy equipment fleet management software in no way intrudes on the privacy of the workers.
  • Contrary to the common preconceived notion, the heavy equipment fleet management software cannot be said to be an expensive deal in the long run. The initial purchase and installation charges might prove to be a pocket pinch, but the subsequent benefits more than makes up for it.
  • A lot of people consider operating the heavy equipment fleet management software to be an exhaustive procedure. On the contrary, operating the entire thing is quite easy only if the concerned authority have a commendable system administrator at their disposal.
  • A lot of smaller heavy equipment fleet management companies tend to think that they do not require fleet management software because of the small size of the company. However, this is a myth as small fleet management companies can make use of this system to improve things.

The heavy equipment fleet management software is quite a lucrative deal if one manages to get past the myths existing in the field.

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Don’t run after money – Give some time for business to grow

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It is pretty obvious that we all do business for money. The very reason why we end up doing a business is that we can make more money than what we could have by working with a public or private concern and of course for the very fact that we will our own bosses and no one will be there to monitor or control or work. This all sounds to be so nice and sweet as long as you are able to generate money from your business. However, the bitter fact is that for the first few years you have to struggle like anything and you get nowhere near of making any profits. On the contrary, there are high chances that you will be incurring losses and still need to pour in more money in order to sustain your business.

It is a known truth that construction business can give you so much money in a shorter span that no other industry can probably give and due to this very reason more and more people are getting into this industry. It is not so difficult to start a construction business but it is quite tough to sustain if you have one. The main hurdle is to get projects and if you succeed in getting projects, the next problem will be if you can complete the work on time. You may need different kind of heavy equipment for which you need enough reserves in hand or else you have to end up taking loan from a financial institution paying them high interest. Other than that, you need to employ able staff and construction workers and need to ensure that you pay them on time.

All this will take a lot of time to fall in place. So if you do not have the patience and if you start running after money, you will not achieve what you wanted to. If you keep earning money as your only motto then things might not go your way and you may have to wind up your business sooner or later.

Take some time to know your business:-

Every kind of business has certain tricks of the trade which one needs to be aware of. Without knowing them, you should not straight away jump into forming a company and employing people. This may back-fire you in some way or the other. So it would be important that you first take time to learn a bit about your business and once you feel that you are ready to take the plunge then start making preparations like accumulation of funds, looking out for employees, conducting interviews and stuff.

Keep reserves for the first 2-3 years:-

You business will not start generating profits from the word “GO”. For the first few years, you may experience a lot of hiccups which will gradually settle down. It is important that you give time for issues to settle as it will definitely take time and will not disappear in no time. It ideally takes 2-3 years of struggle to take a business from a toddling phase to the next level.  Once you are out of the initial phase, things will start becoming better for you.

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Caterpillar Jacket

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Jackets are not only required to protect you from cold winds but it is got to do more than what we presume. Jackets that have reflective stripes in the front and the back are there to protect workers working in industrial and construction sites. Times are gone when people worked only during the day. In this generation, where people want everything to happen at the click of a button, you have to build things faster and for that you have to deploy people who are ready to work at night. So for those resources, you have to provide them with reflective stripes jackets so that people from far can make out someone working in the site.

There are several companies who excel in producing excellent apparels but there is one name that lies above the rest of them. Caterpillar is termed to be the best when it comes to producing quality produces. Though Caterpillar is never into production of any merchandise, they have companies working for them who produce different kinds of merchandise for the end users. Once it is produced, it is emblazoned with the CAT logo. This is just one part of the story. The primary part is CAT selects the company that promises to produce the best before getting emblazoned with the CAT logo. Several companies send their products for inspection to CAT officials who on the other hand take due care to inspect the product very minutely. Only if they find the product is worthy to be inscribed with a CAT logo that they collaborate with the company and give them business.

In the same manner, jackets that have CAT logo on it are not produced by Caterpillar but before they put their logo on the merchandise, they ensure that the product is worthy to have their logo. They believe that people have faith on their logo which is why they do not bother if it is produced by them or by some other company, they just buy it seeing CAT’s name.

Caterpillar’s jackets are available in all major merchandise stores so that people do not have the trouble to buy their products. As of now, CAT has not opened its own merchandise store and puts up its products in big malls and marts all around the country. So getting a CAT jacket will not be a difficult task and one also need not worry much about its price. They are well within the budget of a common man. This means that CAT does not manufacture merchandises for the elite class but pays more attention to the wants of everybody.

CAT does not want to limit itself to heavy equipment and has spread its horizons into various zones benefitting the entire mass. One can also buy Caterpillar jackets from online store. Internet has helped the end users to be able to buy products by staying at home. Gone are the days when we had to go to a mart to buy things. Now transactions can happen at the click of a button. You like something, you pay for it and it gets delivered to your place. This is how simple buying things have become.

Becoming an expert mechanic of heavy equipment can ensure lucrative career

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It takes ages for a person to establish his career in any sector and top of it is abundantly painful as you have to strive for every inch that you make of yourself. In today’s time when time is money, it becomes difficult for people to wait this long. However, patience always bears fruit and thus the one who works harder can expect good returns. Same goes for becoming heavy equipment mechanic. A person who aspires for this profession as his career may have to go through lot of troubles and hardships and then he can expect to start getting some returns. Nevertheless, the one who is able to stick his foot to the ground and take all the struggle with a smile can make it to the top. Becoming an expert mechanic of heavy equipment is not a joke. One has to invest a lot of his time and energy studying about different kinds of machines, know the in and out of the machine and only after gaining enough experience can expect a lucrative career in this profession.

One thing is for sure that the guy who knows the most of a machine has huge demand in the construction sector and sky is definitely not a limit for him to grow. We will be discussing on few pointers that one should keep in mind if he has decided to make it big as a heavy equipment mechanic.

Getting basic education on heavy equipment is a must:-

Basic education on heavy equipment is a priority for any aspiring person. You need to know certain terminologies that can only be explained in a classroom session. Therefore a classroom training of approximately 1-2 years is essential. Once the classroom training is cleared, then the basic practical training begins and it is from here that one can pull it off.  Classroom training helps an individual to understand the basic principles which becomes very important when the person goes for practical training. He gets to know the jargons which otherwise is never taught in a practical class. There you are expected to know those jargons and if a person is not aware of it, he will have a hard time knowing things.

Always ask questions:-

Asking questions is something that we basically like to avoid. We get the feeling that our question is a stupid one and everyone knows what could be its answers. However, the reality is not many know the answer and you should not think if it is indeed a stupid one or a sensible one. A question is a question and if it has come to your mind, you need an answer for it.

Work under an expert:-

If you ever get the opportunity to work under an expert heavy equipment mechanic, stick to him for as long as you have gathered enough knowledge from him. Please understand that everybody wants to have good mechanic who can get their machines fixed in no time. Therefore, working under an expert will give you all the knowledge that you require to establish yourself as an expert heavy equipment mechanic.