Heavy equipment operators of treasurenet!!

[Guns Blazing]

Hey everyone, I am going to heavy equipment operator school next month for 10 weeks. I have only ever driven a skidder. Do any of you old timers have any words of wisdom for me?

Thank you

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

Construction jobs (well ..... all jobs ) are slow in this economy. My work (street sweepers) is involved in road paving industry . I wish you the best though. You never know.

 

[Wyomingmedic]

Smooth and gentle. Ramp up and ramp down your moves.

Smooth and repeatable means max productivity. Employers will like that as will the mechanics LOL.

Good luck,

WM

 

[Rossiter25]

Load more coal, load more coal. How many times can they say the same thing.

 

[G.A.P.metal]

Yes wear ear protection... guess they will tell u that at school......Bulldozer on Ice= 20 ton ice skate...never put your hands near leaking hydro lines (Some time just a fine mist) will cut your fingers off fast....test with a small stick or leaf. Be careful....never assume the other guy see you. ALLWAYS call the power company before you dig it may save your life.
Gary

 

[HutSiteDigger]

Few years ago I got my heavy equipment cert. hope it all works out try and get in with a commercialized company or state/govt when you get out they are the ones looking for certified operators.

 

[halfstep]

You can't hurt dirt. Don't make it more difficult than what it is. Always think before you do a job. Plan it out in your head so you can be efficient. If you dig a hole and pile the dirt in your way, you will have to move it. Learn to move dirt once, not 3 or 4 times.

I have a little skidsteer with a backhoe attachment. I like having something around to dig those deep targets. I have run graders, backhoes, loaders, tractors, dumptrucks and other things. Learning to move the levers are easy. Learning to do the job safely and effeciently is what makes you a good operator.

 

[cooper1841]

Some good advise above, I might add, 25 years in excavators, and loaders, listening to a Detroit Deisel scream behind you, I wish I would worn ear protection, more often........huh.....what? The best is smooth and steady, dont be rammie, and jerky. The machine should be an extension of your arms. People would come up to the excavator and ask "what does that lever do?" I would have to move it to see, thinking about it I could'nt tell you, it just becomes automatic. Remember, you want the guys on the ground, working with you to be comfortable around your machine, they hate wild operators! Good luck! Retired Operating Engineer Local 324 "He's a smooth operator"

 

[mical66]

i think GAP said this but it cant be said enough ,, dont think the guys on the ground see you and will stay out of your way , it is more your responsability to watch for them then it is theirs to watch for you .
i witnessed a man backed over with a back hoe , the driver was dragging gravel for a concrete pour and never looked back to see if the guys raking were behind him.

 

[racer117]

If digging a hole,trench,etc,everybody thinks they need to watch,and look into the hole.Unless they are spotting you digging around pipes,elec lines ,etc,dont be afraid to tell them to get out of the way.You dont need an obstacle course of guys leaning on shovels.Everyone around will be wanting to give you hand signals. One guy or gal should be giving you signals,not three or four. And most important,keep your eyes out for buried treasure..lol

 

[Bum Luck]

dont think the guys on the ground see you and will stay out of your way , it is more your responsability to watch for them then it is theirs to watch for you .
i witnessed a man backed over with a back hoe , the driver was dragging gravel for a concrete pour and never looked back to see if the guys raking were behind him.

I work around heavy equipment a lot. Some operators are great, and others are terrible. I've seen some pretty hi drama and amazing work.

I really believe it is a gift. You either have it or you don't. If you're one of those that doesn't, give it up so you don't kill somebody.

 

[Toby1858]

Good hand eye coordination and situational awareness. A thirty three year old man up the road at a metal recycling shop was killed last week after being hit by a track hoe. Very sad and very preventable!

 

[kuger]

get on any and every piece of equipt ya can,and nothing substitutes seat time

 

[mtau]

I'm new here, but I've got about 40 years operating experience. The best advice I can give you, is the same advice that an "old timer" told me when I first started operating. "You will learn something every day that you operate a piece of equipment. The day that you don't learn something, is the day that you need to get off of that piece of equipment, because you'll never get any better than you are that day".

 

[Bum Luck]

I'm new here, but I've got about 40 years operating experience. The best advice I can give you, is the same advice that an "old timer" told me when I first started operating. "You will learn something every day that you operate a piece of equipment. The day that you don't learn something, is the day that you need to get off of that piece of equipment, because you'll never get any better than you are that day".

......... or you quit caring.

 

[uglymailman]

I was on a survey crew for 12 years. On a subdivision project we had to set wooden hubs marked with keal ( a blue wax substance) to mark desired final grade. There was a motor grader operator that graded off the keal and left the wooden hub. I hope you get that good. Good luck.

 

[mtau]

Hey everyone, I am going to heavy equipment operator school next month for 10 weeks. I have only ever driven a skidder. Do any of you old timers have any words of wisdom for me?

Thank you

In 10 weeks, you are only going to get the basics of operating heavy equipment. It takes a long time to get to be a finish operator. A word of advice is, don't try to over sell yourself when you go out on your first job. I've hired a lot of operators, and one thing that would irritate me immediately is when they would tell me that they were an "expert" operator. I have taught a lot of operators that admitted they didn't know much, and I've fired a lot of operators that claimed that they knew it all

 

[halfstep]

I was on a survey crew for 12 years. On a subdivision project we had to set wooden hubs marked with keal ( a blue wax substance) to mark desired final grade. There was a motor grader operator that graded off the keal and left the wooden hub. I hope you get that good. Good luck.

I had to run blue top for a grader before. I would run ahead of the grader and tell him how much up or down he had to cut. I had to pull the flag and let the grader pass then reset the flag. Then I would have to hurry to the next hub and flag and do it all over again. I bet I ran 20 miles aday for a week. Good thing I was young.

 

[Bum Luck]

I was on a survey crew for 12 years. On a subdivision project we had to set wooden hubs marked with keal ( a blue wax substance) to mark desired final grade. There was a motor grader operator that graded off the keal and left the wooden hub. I hope you get that good. Good luck.

This is no exaggeration.

Imagine a back hoe operator that can work by signal and feel laying pipe in a trench 15 feet deep with his out of sight son inches away from death.

 

[nickeltabs]

Remember this the 10 weeks is just traning- you will learn on the job and when you are fired dont give up, it was a learning ex, just move on and do better each time. Thats what I did, learn from each job that you will ever work and you will do well- best of luck - oh and you might take a lower paying job to start tyo get the experience that you need and work your way up to the better ones