Tag Archives: Construction Equipment

Heavy Equipment #1 accidents

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We believe that accidents happen due to our negligence. That is certainly one of the reasons why accidents do occur but there are certainly other factors that contribute for such an incident. We can even contribute absent mindedness to be one of the reasons or for that matter lack of anticipation can even lead to accidents. So there is no one particular reason why accidents occur; which is why people find it extremely difficult to tackle the problem. There can numerous reasons why an accident can happen and therefore it is almost impossible to contain such an event. Not all accidents can be attributed to human error. Some just happen. Even after being cautious and alert one can meet an accident. So there is no fool proof formula to save a person from meeting up with an accident. However, by taking precautionary measures one can certainly avert an incident or can lessen the amount of casualty.

People can meet up with an accident while they are at work and there are some professions that are termed to be risky. This means that people who are into that profession can meet up with a possible incident at any point in time. Construction industry is one such sector where the incidences of accidents have increased over the years. In spite of taking utter care on the construction site some people accidentally injure themselves and at times it even leads to loss of life. One of the most crucial things that one needs to understand while they are at the jobsite is that they will just not indulge in anything else other than their work. This means that they can’t use their cell phones (It has been considered a prime reason for accidents on the jobsite) while they are at work. In case they need to attend some urgent calls, they can provide a Landline number located inside the jobsite but using a cell phone should be strictly restricted.

A lot of accidents happen when the operator fails to understand the signal or some incorrect signal has been given. The operator needs to be very sure of what he is doing. He just can’t take a wrong step because if he does that it can turn out to be extremely fatal. The #1 accident that happens in heavy equipment is perhaps from an excavator. Excavators have to work on soft land and if a detailed study of the land is not done then there is every chance of an accident to occur.

Moreover when the excavator is moving to and fro if someone comes in mid of the way and the operator loses sight of the person then that can even claim the life of the person. At the same time, one must stay away from the arm of the excavator while it is operating on the jobsite. You never know which way it will move and it is not possible for the operator to always make sure that no one enters the zone where the machine is working. Therefore, it becomes the onus of the people to understand that they should not be around the machine while it is active.

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Putting heavy equipment in shipping containers

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We live in a global village where almost every product is accessible to every part of the world. All you need to do is ship the item to the place of demand. This is why Wal-Mart is eyeing Asian markets as it feels that the population of people is more in countries like India and China and this means more consumers for them which in turn lead to more business. Though Wal-Mart has still to make inroads in countries in India it does see it as a hot business destination. All they have to do is ship their products to India, China and other such countries and make good business. It does not take much effort to ship products that are smaller in size and less heavy but when it comes to things that are huge and are also heavy shipping such items should be done with care. You may not want to see any defect that arises on transit. The buyer will definitely not buy an item which is expensive and has dents on it or has gone faulty because of improper shipping facility.

 

Heavy equipment manufacturing companies no longer limits itself in doing business in US only. They have spread their wings and want to fly in all directions. They want to expand to countries where they see huge scope for the construction market. This is why they have also set up offices and industries in various countries so that they do not have to always ship items from US to the destination country.

 

At times heavy equipment companies receive orders of machines that they do not manufacture in the country from where they received the order. They are then compelled to get it shipped from the place where the item is available. Now the issue is not during loading the machine but you face the problem while unloading it. At the time of loading the item you take utmost care to use all the mechanisms in place to ensure that the machine is loaded carefully but while unloading it in a different country, the people out there may not be trained or informed or experienced in unloading a heavy equipment and they goof up big time.

 

Just because they do not have the necessary resource to unload the item they end up keeping it at the dock for days. This causes lot of issues to the company who actually ordered the item and also a great deal of embarrassment to the manufacturing company. What needs to be done is make a note of all the stuffs that were used to put the heavy machine in the shipping container and transmit the message to the party of the country where the machine will be shipped. Ask them to come down with a crane or a fork lift that has the potential to lift the machine and take it home.

 

By following few simple rules it becomes absolutely simple to load heavy equipment in containers and then ship them across.

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Running a storm clean-up project using heavy equipment

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Heavy equipment is one of those inventions that have made life way easier. The different types of heavy equipment that are available in the market can take care of any kind of heavy duty work. It can construct, destruct and remove anything from anywhere, without much of a trouble.

Though storms like hurricanes, tornadoes and cyclones and even the snow storms are some of the natural forces that cannot be prevented, the damage that is caused by these can well be repaired and managed with the help of the heavy equipment.

Managing the damages:

Storms are sometimes extremely disastrous, resulting in so much of damage and financial losses that it becomes absolutely difficult to overcome the losses. What is an added trouble is that storms simply disconnect the world and this brings the livelihood to a standstill. Even after the storm has stopped, people fail to get back to the normal life to cope. This is because, the roads, the houses and everything else is affected by the storms. In such a case, heavy equipment comes in as a help to remove the debris and to construct the damaged.

  • Managing the railroad damages:

 

Railroads are one of the most important aspects of communication that is often damaged by the storms. There are some areas of the railroads, where it is absolutely difficult for the rail equipment to go in, in order to remove the debris. The nearby forest and woods often get torn apart and block the railroads. In such cases, the mulcher excavators help in removing the debris. These mulchers can mulch down the logs, stems and the huge amount of forest debris within a very short span of time.

  • Repairing roads:

 

Often roads are damaged severely after a storm. The bitumen and asphalt come out of the roads, making it absolutely impossible to drive on and also dangerous. The bulldozers, excavators and motor graders, crawlers as well as chip spreaders can manage the task within a day or two.

What needs to be mentioned here is that reaching the remote areas is a difficult task for many vehicles because of the waterlogging. However, the heavy equipment that is specially designed to manage storm damages, are capable of going through water.

  • Dumping the debris:

 

Along with removing the debris, it is also very important that you take the debris to the dumping grounds. The loaders help in this task. The loaders come in various sizes and they can carry huge amount of loads from one place to the other. You can also hire the dumping trucks for this task of carrying the debris.

Depending on the damages and the type of help that you need, you can choose the heavy equipment. The heavy equipment for storm clean-up can either be hired or purchased. You can decide whether you want to own the equipment or hire it when you need it. There are many suppliers, who offer both brand new and used heavy equipment for various purposes. Choose a good and reputed supplier.

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Active marketing on social media websites

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Cut throat competition has led to invention of new and innovative marketing techniques. In order to stay in the market they all follow the various marketing channels to reach out to a large number of people. You may have a good reputation and have been running the business for a long time but it does not take a while for people to forget you if you fail to keep knocking the minds of people. People forgetting your presence can happen due to many reasons. However, the most primary one is there are multiple companies available in the market that produces the same quality stuff.
So if you miss to stay in the minds of people, there will be someone else who will take your place and soon you will be out of the league. This is quite a dangerous thing to happen and no tenured company will ever want this to happen. The same rule is applicable in the construction industry as well. In order to get new projects or work, you need to be known to others and it is possible only when you stay active on social media websites and speak in volume about your work.
Lay out a strategy in the first place:-
It is crucial that you first lay out a concrete strategy to put up the name of your construction company on social media sites. For this, you need to first have a website that talks about you and your company. The vision of your company should be clear in the website. Once you have your website in place, you need to locate the social media site that is most famous amongst masses. Now there are few websites that are known for casual purpose and some are for business purpose. You should be more active on the business one. However, that does not rule out your chance to post your work on other social media websites. What is important for you is to get known by as many people as it is possible. The more people know you and your work the more are your chances to get businesses from clients. Remember, every prospective client of yours also have an account for posting casual stuffs. They get to see your company on both types of social media sites and therefore they know about you sooner as compared to your competitors.
Be more active on professional social media website:-
You should be active on social media websites to gain attention of people but you should be more active on social media sites that are meant for professional purposes. There you will come across people who belong to your profession and the chance of getting work from them is more. Simultaneously, you will also bump across people who are skilled workmen and you may require their services for the completion of a project. There are websites that are exclusively used by Human Resources team of different companies to hire new talents. They go through the work experience of the job aspirants and if it matches their requirement they are informed about the date of interview. You can also hire skilled labor force from such websites.

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Buying heavy equipment directly from the company or from the dealer

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When you think of buying heavy equipment you need to know which equipment will meet your business needs. Not all heavy equipment is competent to do all kind of construction work and therefore you require the one that is indeed going to be helpful to take care of your business needs. Now once you know what kind of equipment you require, the next important thing for you to know is which model you should be going for and from where you can get the best deal. Every new model has some additional feature and it becomes imperative for you to understand which model to go for. Buying the latest model will be helpful but also be ready to pay the price for it which will undoubtedly be very high. It is also not necessary for you to go for the latest model as you can get your work completed by buying an older version which will be comparatively less expensive.

Once you know which model you should be going for, the next crucial analysis will be to determine if you should be buying it directly from a company or get it from a dealer. Each one of them has their own advantages and limitations. So you got to be wise enough to understand the pros and cons and then take the call to buy the machine from either of them.

Not sure which model to buy:-

Suppose you fall in the category of buyers who is not sure which model he should be going for. Then you can take the help of the company by letting them know a bit about your project and your requirements. On the basis of your needs, they will suggest the model for you. Alternatively, you also need to disclose your budget to them. The amount you can spend to buy the machine plays a big role in the selection of the model. Just in case, you are falling short of finance, they can also arrange loan on the equipment. So make sure you have a good credit report before you apply for loan as you will not want it to get rejected.

Dealer can offer you good discounts:-

If you plan to buy heavy equipment from a dealer you can check if they can offer you with some discounts or are they running any offers that can eventually reduce the loan amount. Dealers take the call on offering discounts on the number of orders he has received from you. This means if you place a big order, there are higher chances that you will end up with good discounts on your purchases. At times, they offer you more discounts than what the company can give. It is primarily done to encourage people to buy equipment from dealers as companies can’t reach small towns.

Place an order online:-

If you are sure about the equipment you want to buy, you can then place your order online on the company’s website. You won’t be asked to pay online and can pay them after meeting them in person and personally checking the equipment.

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My Grease fitting will not take grease on my heavy equipment. What should I do?

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Grease fitting is attached to the top of the grease gun and it delivers grease from grease gun under high pressure to inside of the sealed joints of heavy equipments. For the efficient functioning grease fittings should be free of dirt and not contain hardened grease. However, grease fittings get clogged and become ineffective in delivery of grease (malfunction).The following are some of the solutions to overcome this problem:

  1. Spraying petroleum based spray onto a grease fitting and cleaning it with a cloth will clean the grease fitting.
  2. Heat the clogged fittings with a propane torch or heat gun on a low flame. Following which the grease gun should be attached and flow of new grease will push soften old grease out and will clear the fitting.
  3. To attach commercial grease fitting cleaners such Zecker Zap, IPA, Powerfist and Performance tools to the clogged fitting. They are attached to one end of the grease fitting, injected with light viscosity oil and then stroked with a hammer. This will force the oil into fitting and will clear it of the hardened grease. Thus, these tools help to clear fitting without removing, replacing, digging or scraping. Applying this option has advantages that one does not have to pay for labour charges, reduces maintenance costs and downtime.
  4. When the above solutions do not work, then the grease fittings have to be taken apart to clean off the grease.
  5. After unscrewing the fitting, its passage is cleaned with a wire and filled with motor oil. The fitting is replaced and oil is pumped up, which will soften the grease and get it out.
  6. Sometimes there is a hydraulic lock at the zerk and which seals it. One has to loosen this component so that grease flows in.
  7. Sometimes the little ball in the tip of zerk gets friction stiffness or dirt gets collected over it and just needs to be loosened. A small sharp object can be used to dislodge the tip.
  8. Most the grease hardens on the zerk fitting. After taking the grease fitting taken apart, the zerk fitting is removed. A very small flat head screwdriver is used to remove all the grease out of the opening. The remaining can be cleaned using oil. A new zerk fitting is used and new grease is pumped till it comes out of the seals.
  9. If the above methods are not effective, then the fittings can be replaced with new ones as they are inexpensive.

Additional few things although minor, need to considered when grease does not flow into grease fittings. Sometimes there is lack of contact of the tip of the grease gun and zerk of fitting. There is also a possibility that the grease gun nozzle is worn out and leads to collection of grease around the zerk. Hence, replacing it with a new nozzle works for a long time. Also, one used use superior quality of grease. Finally, a daily scheduled servicing of the grease fitting is necessary for proper maintenance of the equipment.

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Equipment purchase advice

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An advice received from a knowledgeable person boosts our confidence towards our commitment in accomplishing a task. We as humans are meant to take advices from people in things that we do not know and also at times we go for advices for things that we know. We just want to be double sure about what we are doing and therefore we want to hear the person out and whatever he speaks go in sync with what we have thought, then we go for it.

So advice is something that is not only taken by guys who do not know about a particular thing but also by folks who knows about their stuff but just want to get a sort of assurance to their thoughts. Advices become all the more important when it is asked at critical junctures like a team of junior doctors operating a patient and want to confirm things from their senior or when you are about to purchase a new apartment and need advice from your attorney and from other people who are associated with the sale of the property.

Advice coming from an expert makes a lot of sense at critical junctures and especially when it is related to construction business. You need all sorts of advices from various sections as nothing is less important in that form of a business. Advices pertaining to purchase of heavy equipment is of immense importance for any construction house no matter how big or small his business is. It becomes more important when the scale of your business is big and any incorrect decision can take a big toll on it. For big construction companies, a lot of planning is needed before they go for buying heavy equipment. Heavy equipment are basically bought on the basis of the current requirement and how it can be used for future projects. It makes no sense to use the machines for just one big project and then sell it off at a much lesser price.

Involving men and take their inputs:-

Involvement of men who can give inputs on the purchase of heavy equipment is crucial for taking decisions. You have to ask them to go through the entire project and check what kind of heavy equipment will be required and at what stages they will be needed. You may not buy everything at one stroke. Just when you see the requirement is felt, you can go for the purchase. Now selection of heavy equipment is imperative. Get all the minds rolling on the model, brand and type of heavy equipment required for the work? Their advices will be will really helpful for you to take the final call.

Brand new or used heavy equipment:-

We often see ourselves in a dilemma when we have to decide if we should go for brand new or used heavy equipment. Probably due to lack of experience or knowledge we are unable to make our mind on this and desperately need an expert advice. This is where you talk to someone who is a part of this industry for long and take this advice.

Purchasing heavy equipment can really become a pain and only an advice from a knowledgeable person can make you feel comfortable.

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Top 5 motor graders on rent

Construction industry requires different types of heavy equipment. A motor grader is commonly used in construction industry and is referred to as road grader or a maintainer. It is a machine with a long blade used to create a flat surface during the grading process. It moves earth from one location to another and levels the soil by spreading it evenly. It is easy to operate in almost any terrain or weather condition. It can produce inclined surfaces for roads. Graders are the workhorses of construction industry, hence they are always needed on the worksite. Today they are highly in demand due to increase in construction activities. It is often observed that regular users buy them on rent or on lease, which is a cost-effective approach. Similarly, the first time users of this equipment try the rental option instead of purchasing new equipment.

Caterpillar, Komatsu, John Deere, Case, and Volvo, are the world’s topmost brands which manufacture different types of heavy equipment including motor graders. These brands are very popular and are trusted in construction industry. Thus, they are highly preferred for heavy construction activities due to the quality, durability and reliability. They sell or rent or lease their equipments. They provide new and used equipment on rental basis either directly or through their authorized dealerships.

The following are the reasons why topmost brands offer their equipment on rent.

  • Due to the increase in construction activities, there is huge demand for motor graders. Heavy equipment including graders are very expensive and it’s difficult for construction companies to purchase a new grader for multiple jobs on their work site. Further, there is an economic downfall, where a customer may not afford to buy brand new grader.
  • In case of short term projects, buying a new grader leads to waste of money since the grader is used for a particular duration after which it is not used.
  • When the current grader at a construction site is damaged and it needs to be repaired.
  • Due to the increased quantity of work on site, more number of graders are required.
  • The user wants to try a new model which is advanced technologically. However before purchasing a brand new one to be used for a long time and the option of buying on rent is helpful. The user also gets an idea of how the equipment performs and if it is suitable for his work.
  • Most buyers prefer for used graders which are rugged, reliable, easy to operate and maintain by local, low skilled crew, ready availability of spare parts and have high resale value. They do not want to work with grader equipped with highly sophisticated technologies and electronics in particular, since they lack operators with the required skill sets to operate and maintain the machine. Used equipment of Caterpillar and Komatsu are in demand.

 

Buying on rental basis becomes a feasible option, where one has to pay monthly rents the cost of which is affordable. In addition it has been observed that these both used and brand new equipment are maintained very well by the Rental service provider.

What does low oil pressure mean on your heavy equipment?

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A lot of care needs to be taken when it comes to construction equipments as it is often considered to be the backbone of the industry in any jobsite. If your heavy equipments cease to work your entire project comes to a standstill and a construction company will never want that to happen. This is the reason why they must ensure that the overall health of the heavy equipment is in order. Now something that plays a crucial role in determining the good health of heavy equipment is the lubricant that is used on it. The machine will perform smoothly as long as the lubricants are doing their job but one also needs to ensure to change the oil which if not done can cause immense problem to the machine to perform. This can simply not be ignored and if done then the owner should be ready to bear exponential cost to get the machine fixed.

In most of the modern day heavy equipment that all construction companies and contractors possess have something known as “oil pressure warning light” installed in the machine which will flicker the moment the machine comprehends a problem that is causing due to low oil pressure. They can also get a low oil pressure reading on the dash gauge which also acts as a warning indicating a problem is expected to arrive at your doorstep. The owner/operator should not take this warning lightly. Action needs to be taken immediately. However, it has been observed that people tend to neglect and ignore such warnings which later become the reason of the non-functioning of the machine. Since normal wear increases the engine bearing clearances, engines are bound to lose a certain degree of oil pressure. But when you indentify low oil pressure in an engine you should take it as an indication that there is something really wrong which if not worked on can throw up severe consequences.

One also needs to understand what causes low oil pressure. It is often caused due to worn main and rod bearings. The oil pump produced flow and any sort of resistance to this flow causes low pressure. So who causes resistance? It is the orifices in the engine block that causes the resistance. The oil flows through the engine block and between the bearings and crankshaft journals. So when the bearings wear it just increases the flow of oil which ultimately results in low pressure. Other parts of the machine such as the overhead cam engines can also suffer due to low oil pressure. Increase in the bearing clearance can also lead to noisy engine and pounding which should be enough indication for the owner to act immediately on the machine or be ready to shell out good chunk of money to fix the problem.

Other than rod bearing if there is an excessive flow of oil through any other means is also a cause of worry. This can obviously not be checked every now and then and which is why the best option is to get the problem resolved at the first stance when you see the oil pressure warning light flickering.

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Use social media as a tool to augment your heavy equipment business

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The construction and the heavy equipment industry are largely dependent upon new technology. The construction industry is always in the hunt of heavy equipment that can get the work done quickly and with utter precision. Now this is only possible if you upgrade your heavy equipment by adding new technology in it. This will bring in a new life to the machine and it will work with more vitality under tremendously rough situations. Now that was all about how technology can help get the work done at a faster pace. However, if we want to make use of technology to advertise our products and services so that it can reach to thousands of people at a given time, there is no better option than talking about your business in social networking websites. There you can reach to a large number of population without having to pay a penny for it.

There are many companies who are involved in the process of creating their business profiles in social networking websites like LinkedIn, Periscope, and Facebook etc. There find this to be an excellent tool to reach out to a sizable amount of people at one go. They have seen their business growing in this fashion and acquiring more clients from such networking websites.

There are few do’s and don’ts that one needs to follow while they set up their business profile in a social networking website.

Keep your personal and professional profiles separate:-

It is very crucial that you keep 2 accounts in one social networking website, one for your personal use and the other for your professional. If you are into selling of heavy equipment of all the brands, you can make use of your professional account to mention that there. Talk everything about your business in that account but pay special attention that you do not talk much about your business in your personal profile. If you share a couple of your business stories to any of your friend on the personal profile, it won’t be an issue but if you only keep on bragging about your success stories all the time on your personal account, your friends might get turned off by that. They definitely do not check your profile to know about the success in your life. They just simply want to know if things are ok with you.

Maintain strict professionalism on your business account:-

You should keep your business profile very professional. Social networking websites like LinkedIn are meant for professionals and businessmen who are looking to acquire clients and get businesses from them or to reach to the skilled masses and absorb them in their business. If you are an authorized dealer, you should be very stringent when it comes to professionalism.

Post a photo of your company:-

It makes ample of sense to post a picture of your company’s logo on your business profile. It help your prospective client to understand the kind of account you are holding and they will move into your business account to know more about your business and will not stray down to your personal account.

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