Monthly Archives: May 2013

How to Crack the Best Deal When It Comes To Buying Construction Equipment

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Construction equipment are pretty expensive and hence construction or mining houses look for some great deals before purchasing them. Getting some discounts on these equipments is always welcomed by businessmen. A discount of 10% to 15% can save a lot of money of the company and if they are thinking of giving a big order to the heavy equipment manufacturing company then they can definitely expect a good bargain in return. Dealers are another alternative who can get some real good deals for you. It’s just that you need to know which dealer is giving what discount. Also, when you give regular business to a dealer they keep into mind to offer exclusive discounts to you. It’s all about the relationship you generate with them and nurture over the years that helps you to crack the best deal.

So, we understand that people who are in the construction business since a long time are privileged with various sorts of deals. However, when it comes to beginners who have just set their foot in this industry may not know how to get the equipment at a cheaper rate. They may end up buying the stuffs at the market price each time they feel the need of buying one. Well, a bit of awareness can help them big time and they can also find themselves amongst the old players reaping benefits from the dealers. Following are the ways they can adopt to get a fair proportion of discount on heavy equipments.

Know your dealer:-  In numerous occasions, the dealer is the first point of contact. The equipment manufacturing companies gives the work of selling machines to these dealers which is at a much lesser price than what they advertise in the market. They however retain the service part. So, if you want to buy a machine, you can place an order to the dealer and check what they have to offer you. Going to them with a reference of their regular customer will be an added advantage for you.

Buy it online:-  Internet provides a platform to both the buyer and the seller to trade items. You may come across many online selling sites where people list their item to sell and have also received huge responses from buyers. The trend of buying things online is catching a lot of attention and is increasingly becoming a famous concept worldwide.

There are some online selling companies who have a separate website for selling heavy equipment and heavy motors. You can simply visit their site and check if they are any sellers selling the machine you want. If you find one, you can directly contact the seller via phone or email and convey your interest in buying the product. Paying online is very safe as these sites protect the interest of the buyers and hence cases of any fraud happening is negligible.

Please remember that while you contact the seller, make sure that he is giving you a brand new machine if you’re not looking for a used stuff because these sellers sell both new and used machines on the online selling portal.

This could perhaps be the best place where the buyer can get ample off options pertaining to his machine and can always expect to get the best deal.

Why Should One Be Using Caterpillar Excavators – Find It out Here

A construction site is filled with heavy equipment of different kinds and they all are working all day busy constructing a building for us to live. But one thing we must all understand that without the help of these heavy equipment, things won’t look as simple as we see it to be. A construction company needs to have all sorts of machines. Right from a bulldozer to an excavator, they need it all to fulfil their business requirements.

Each machine has its own role to play and hence it becomes quite imperative to pick the right iron for the job. It becomes quite tricky to select the best available option when you are given too many of them. However, when you have a name like Caterpillar as an option, you may not think twice to pick that up. Therefore, it is wise to put Caterpillar machines to work and get the job done.

Cat is perhaps one such company which gives lot of stress to consumer’s demands. They leave no stone unturned when it comes to fulfilling customer’s requirements and pay special heeds to their needs. This is probably the major reason why many big construction and mining houses vouch for Caterpillar heavy equipment.

We would be discussing about caterpillar excavators and why should one have them in their corner. Let’s talk about the most recently launched Cat 320EL Hydraulic Excavator. Well, this machine can make the hard work look simple. It’s rock solid but has the potential to do the work with ease. It’s easy to move from one place to another and the control system is simply awesome. The operator won’t perspire doing the tough job and may even find him listening to some music while moving earth. Its capacity to lift things has increased by over 5% on a standard one and if we consider a heavy lift configuration, then that’s been increased by more than 20%. Like its earlier version, it has low emissions engine which not only increases its fuel efficiency but also boosts productivity.

Cat 320EL is fitted with C6.6 Acert Engine that has an electronically control the fuel pressure. It also includes a 3 layer fuel hoses and an electric pump which permits the use of biodiesel. In order to cool the engine, they have an air to air after cooler and an A/c condenser. The fan automatically adjusts to the temperature and keeps it cool. The engine of this model plays a significant role to keep down the fuel consumption without hampering its performance.

The machine is gifted with hydraulic horsepower which perhaps make it unique in approach and also more favourable as compared to other machines. It’s indeed the actual power behind the machine which allows it to do the toughest of the work with much ease. It has a back to back main control valve which helps it to increase its efficiency. It’s also blessed with a heavy lift which allows the machine to lift a lot of stuff at the same time and complete the work at a much faster pace.

Knowing all these, it would be absolutely naive to think of going for any other equipment which may not at all have these features and if at all they possess it, it may be short lived.

 

Proper Tire Pressure Makes the Riding Comfortable and Your Work Pleasurable

We all enjoy long drives and want our car to go real fast. Drive fast as long as the car is in your control. Many people before they go on a long drive check the tire pressure and then move on with their journey. They do not want the ride to be a failure just because there weren’t enough pressure in the tire. The same applied with your heavy equipments. You assume your machines to work for the entire day and in the end of the day, it needs some pressure. Give that to it and you feel like you’ve just refuelled your machine. Well as a matter of fact, maintaining appropriate tire pressure ensures secure and cosy driving. After all, you’ve spent a fortune on the machine and just by giving it the right amount of pressure will enable it to give you the relaxation and comfortable feeling you’ve always desired of. It also saves on fuel, thus keeping you rich by not paying to the fuel companies.  Also, when you are driving in an incline or if the weather is not so pleasant; for instance, you are driving in rough weather where it’s snowing or raining heavily, proper tire pressure plays a pivotal role in ensuring that you reach your destination without any hiccups.

Checking the tire pressure might sound to be complicated but it isn’t that way. You will find it a lot simpler once you know the right way of using it. Other than that, you also need to have a good gauge which provides air pressure to the vehicles. These facilities are available in all major gas stations.

Buy a gauge:-  Though not necessary but spending a meagre amount on buying a gauge should not burn a hole in your pocket. A digital gauge should be simpler to understand the air pressure. At the same time, the figure it gives out is quite accurate. Thus there is no chance of filling the tire with too much of air. While buying a digital gauge, you might want to enquire if they run on battery or on electricity or do they have the technology where they run on both. Buy the stuff as per your needs and it will help your cause every time you need it. Nevertheless, a word of caution would be to avoid buying cheap stuffs as it may give you incorrect reading and can even damage the tire of your vehicle.

How to check pressure:-  Ideally, there are 2 ways to check tire air pressure. The first is through way of PSI and the other is digital measurement. In order to know what PSI is appropriate for your tires, you need to check your manual or can even find it on the driver’s side door. You may also ask at the gas stations and they may tell you the appropriate PSI. Please remember that you should never fill in more or less than 5 recommended measurements of PSI. The other is using the digital gauge. You can know the air tire pressure in the manual and things become simple for you. You can just check the reading in order to know if you have given the right tire pressure.

Maintaining Your Heavy Equipments during summer

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Summer is a season that many enjoy and many do not. They have their own reasons for liking this season. Some enjoy the heat after a chilled winter and loves to go out on a vacation. Summer is the most ideal time to enjoy. However, that was purely restricted to humans and not with machines. With context to machines, they are more prone to breakdowns during this season. Summer may not have much to offer to people being in construction businesses as they may find their machines giving up quite often. The heavy equipments are meant to work all day and during a pleasant weather one can find its engine to have become extremely hot. Leave aside the days when the sun is at its full swing and showering its wrath on the planet earth. Things become quite difficult for humans though they have the luxuries to live in air condition houses but that is perfectly in contrast to the heavy equipments. Though the heavy equipment manufacturers are producing machines which can resist the heat of the scorching sun, but at times it tends to break down. So the question here is how we deal with the situation. During summer, the sun would be in no mood to keep its cool but the work has to be completed. Not in the wildest of their dreams can a construction company think of not working for a single day. That would cost them a fortune and hence they would take every possible step to ensure that their equipments are not affected by summer.

Daily maintenance of the equipment:-  Heavy equipment should be maintained on a daily basis. They should be lubricated properly and if any particular part of the machine has become obsolete, it should be replaced immediately. One should follow the thumb rule of spending at least 15 minutes of his day in doing proper maintenance work of the equipment. Please understand that a faulty part in a machine can lead to serious consequences resulting in accidents causing injury to the workers.

One needs to run through all the parts of the machine to check if they are all in order. If possible, he can also run a test to check if the machine is making a noise that supposedly leads to a problem. Also check if there are any leakages in any part of the machine and if found should be immediately taken care of. Give a wash to your machine. Ensure that it is clean and the parts of the machine don’t have dust wrapped in oil. These may sound childish as we often ask your children to follow these small things with their stuff and on the other hand often neglect doing them on the heavy equipments.

Quarterly maintenance:-  Under daily maintenance, you keep a check on small stuffs but quarterly maintenance is equally important. You may give the equipment to a mechanic who will service it thoroughly. They may open the parts of the machine and lubricate it properly. Quarterly maintenance should be followed by seasonal maintenance so that any wear and tear caused during a particular season can be taken care of and the machine is ready for the next one.

Rentals of Heavy Equipment – How Should One Go For It

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Starting up a new business has always been a courageous thought and when you have decided to begin a construction business, it really means a lot. Not everyone can dare to think something of this nature as long as they know what they are doing. Now, once you have taken the decision to step in the construction industry and are pretty determined to take it to the next level, all you need is great deal of hard work and good machine to support your work.

Good machines does not necessarily be machines that are highly sophisticated (though if you can afford to have one, there is nothing like it) but they are machines which should last long and should not give troubles like changing body parts or calling the mechanic every now and then to fix something or the other. So what you feel one must do to get such machines. Well, we would be talking in length about it.

However before we proceed, there is something more important than how to procure good machines. It’s about knowing if you can afford to buy them. If your answer to this is NO, then you might consider some other options. There is perhaps nothing to worry if you can’t afford to buy one. There are many who can’t but still they have them. Now, this is important. How do they have these machines when they can’t even afford buying one? Well, the answer is pretty simple. You take them on rent. Machine may not be as expensive as properties are but what about a person who can’t afford to own a property. He definitely lives on rent. So that’s what you should be doing. Take it on rent and keep running your business with your skill and talent.

How do one know from where can they get the heavy equipments on rental basis? Browse the internet. Internet has brought the world closer and simultaneously people living in it. We now live in a small world and hence it’s easy to get connected with someone who can serve our purpose.

Heavy Equipment for rent and sale

Heavy Equipment for rent and sale

There are plenty of sellers who have listed their heavy machineries on online selling sites. Some want to just sell their stuff and the rest are looking for people who can take their stuff on rent. Moreover, you also get to see the specification of the machine and can understand the intricacies of it. So that’s saves you from doing a research on that machine. So all you got to do is give a call to the seller/lessor and talk to him about the deal. Try to have an appointment and go to his place to check the stuff. You may also ask for a test and if you find the thing in good condition and also suit your requirement, you can make the deal.

The next alternative is to check out the classified section in the newspaper. You might find it very handy and it has worked for many beginners who are in look for good deals. So the crux of the matter is to locate the lessor and check the sort of machine you’d be dealing with and if everything sounds good, you can close the deal.

Use of Heavy Equipment in Construction Business

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The way you need oxygen to live, perhaps in the same way a construction business needs heavy equipment. They just can’t think of running their business putting the heavy equipment to rest. It may cost them a fortune if any of the machines goes off for some reason as they may not have something else to replace the non-functional one. Therefore, may construction as well as mining companies ensure that their machines are well lubricated and maintained so that they don’t wreck off when it is actually needed and in case if it goes off for some reason, they ensure that they have a team in place who can sort things out for them.

If we talk about construction of roads or dams, it would be highly unimaginable to work them out without the use of heavy equipment. Construction of roads involves moving earth, digging some parts with strong clips and at times levelling the land. The machine should be in a position to move to and fro and at times move 360 degrees to manoeuvre quickly. Such type of work can’t be done by manual labour and it requires those heavy pieces of metal with class engine to get the job done.

Heavy equipment manufacturing companies like Caterpillar, John Deere, Hitachi, and many more of them produce quality machines for the construction houses and the equipments last for many years. Thus, the money invested in buying the machines are often fetched by the profits the company earns in the business. The heavy equipment manufacturing companies are producing machines that are comparatively eco-friendly than their predecessors and consume less fuel giving the same quality of work. On the contrary, the efficiency of such machines has only increased over the times which have benefited the industry big time.

We would be naming some of the machines that have played a significant role in shaping up the construction business and its uses to the construction industry.

Bulldozer:-  Bulldozer is a very heavy machine which is used to push earth, debris or big pieces of rocks. It is extensively used to build roads and also needed to a larger extent in the construction industry. It has those heavy blades in its front which is used for digging earth, collecting mud in it and putting it in a truck of debris. The blade is controlled by hydraulic rams which forces the blade to dig inside the earth. Bulldozers are used to transport heavy items for a short distance. Some other work where a bulldozer is required are uprooting trees, pervading the soil all over the place that’s dumped from the truck, levelling the land etc.

Excavators:- Unlike bulldozers, excavators can’t move stuffs from one place to the other. However, they can dig earth with their strong buckets and take the mud to dump it in a truck. The excavator has a long arm which does most of the work. The arm is fitted with an iron bucket and hence it mainly controls the bucket for doing things. The excavator has a cabin where the operator sits and controls the entire functioning of the machine. With the introduction of hydraulic powered accessories, excavators has become multifunctional and is not only restricted to excavating.

 

Looking for Construction Equipment for Rent – Read This One to Find Out

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Heavy Equipment used for construction purposes are very expensive and it can be bought by people whose business are quite established by now and are minting good money. Other than that, people who just stepped in this business may find it very difficult to buy a used machine, completing evading the idea of buying a brand new piece of metal. People who are beginners have to struggle a lot with many things.

Right from gathering human resource to selecting able operators and arranging for finances, they have a lot on their shoulders and at time it takes a toll on them, leading them to shut their business. This is perhaps a sad ending to a wonderful beginning or may be not so wonderful beginning. Apart from one having the skill to delegate the work to the right people and run the business on his own merit, nothing can be a big problem.

Taken into consideration the fact that it takes a lot of money to buy different construction equipment but that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road for you. You can certainly look out for different avenues to tackle this hurdle and take score of things. Out of many avenues one may look at, there is one such alternative which could be used to get rid of the problem of buying construction equipments. You can always rent a machine for you.

Before you look forward to rent equipment, you need to check the number of machines you require for the project you have in hand. Go as per your project and don’t get involved in taking too many machines that will eventually end up rotting on the fields. On the other hand, do a good study of your requirements by asking the operators, workers and other technicians. Once you get a feedback from them, it’s time you look for the equipment.

It would be better if you also check with them the number of equipment you’d need on the field. You must be very clear while instructing that none of the machine should remain idle for a day. You want them all to work throughout the week. They can service the machine during the beginning of the day and also while they end their shift. You can take the help of a mechanic to visit the site on every weekend and check if the machines are in order so that it works incessantly all during the week.

In order to find people giving construction equipments on rent, the best place to search is by browsing internet. There you’ll find number of people who wants to either sell their machine or give them on rent. There you also have the option to find various models of machines with their specifications. You can go through them and can compare them with other models. You can then contact the person who owns the machine and check when you can come to visit them and see if the machine is exactly what they have advertised.

It’s recommended that you take an expert along with you who understand the intricacies of these machines and can help you get the best deal.

Heavy Equipment for rent and sale

Heavy Equipment for rent and sale

What Should One Be Doing – Buy Heavy Equipment or Take Them on Rent

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Heavy Equipment serves you in a number of ways as far as your business are concerned. However, it has a high price attached to it and normally businessmen are baffled thinking if they should be buying the machine or take them on rent. Taking them on rent sounds to be a good option but has its own problems. If you take the equipment on rent, it definitely means you’d be using a used machine and hence can’t always be sure that it’s not going to give any troubles. There have been numerous instances where the person taking it on rent had problems with the machine.

At times, it just broke off or it consumes too much of fuel and perhaps isn’t that productive. The common reason to this problem is the people who take it on rent are very much aware that they don’t own it and have to return the equipment once the term of the contract gets over. Therefore, they use it without taking any care for it. Maintenance is hardly done and hence the machine keeps giving some or the other problem. Thus, it becomes imperative to distinguish properly if you should be purchasing a new machine or go for a rented one.

There are few things that one needs to understand before they take a decision. Only on the basis of considering few parameters, one must either buy or take the equipment on rent.

Finances:-  Before you come on to the decision of buying heavy equipments, it’s prudent that you check your financial position. You also need to plan things like wages of the workers, payment of utility bills and any other bills that needs to be paid to keep the business running. You might consider taking a loan but that should struck your mind only if you’ve a fortified business plan where you are pretty confident that nothing can go wrong and you’d end up making money. That will nevertheless help you to pay off the loan amount.

Know your business requirements:-  You should do your homework before you start thinking about buying/renting heavy equipments. Try to know the project you are dealing with and for that what kind of machines you’d need. Once you’re sure of your business requirements, you can chart out a plan where you can state which machine is needed for what purpose and try to streamline your work.

Take suggestion from people in this domain:- You can always take suggestions from people who have spent good number of time in this business. They will be in a better position to guide you. Their experience in this domain will benefit you for good. Thus, it’s important that you reach out to such people who are in your good books and you are sure they will not throw you in the dark.

Take references:-  Once you have taken a decision, you can also ask for some references. You get them from the people who’ve advised you with things. Check if they can help you out with few names with whom you can do business with. They can certainly give out some names from where you can buy/rent equipments.

Heavy Equipment Accidents and How to Avoid Them

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Heavy Equipment Accidents and How to Avoid Them

Construction sites are prone to accidents and one has to be overly cautious when working inside a site. He/she must also follow all the safety measures to avoid a mishap and stay away from a potential danger. Most of the accidents that happen in a construction site are because of the negligence of the victim. However at times, it has been witnessed that a part of the heavy equipment had gone faulty that became the reason for the accident. By following safety measures, one can avoid the accidents that happen without the involvement of a machine; but how can one ensure the safety of others in a construction site when accidents are happening because of heavy equipments that has gone awry and has stopped working as it used to.

Well, the most suitable solution for this would be to replace the faulty part of the machine with a new one and check if it works fine then. If the problem still persists, it is prudent to get rid of the old machine and get a new one instead. This is a quickie. However, its costs a lot to buy a new machine and hence companies search for alternatives when they find their machines would not stretch more from here on. To be precise, they have not enough alternatives at their disposal. What they could have done was serviced the machine at regular intervals which would have revived the wear and tear caused on it over the years. Construction companies should have a maintenance department whose duty would be to ensure that the machines are in good order and they do not falter at work. Maintaining the machine by oiling them regularly and if necessary replacing the old part with a newer one should be the responsibility of the maintenance department.

Construction companies doing huge businesses are highly dependent on heavy equipments. With changes in technology, they need to introduce new machines that are comparatively far better than its predecessors. Not doing so can have serious consequences on the workers operating them. For example:- A person who just graduated from a technical institute have learnt to deal with machines with the latest technology. If he is asked to operate a machine of an older model, he may not understand the functionalities associated with the machine and might end up doing an accident. This means that either you stop recruiting the young guys in your company or change the old piece of metal with newer ones. Changes are bound to happen and in order to conduct business the way you always used to do, imbibing these changes and implementing them in your business will eventually help to avoid accidents in the workplace.

Avoiding controllable error is another significant step in reducing the instances of accidents occurring in the workplace. Controllable errors are errors that can be avoided. They are errors that are within your reach and can be eliminated. Lot of accidents happen due to sheer negligence which is nothing but controllable errors. Once these errors are contained, rest will follow smoothly.

Looking For Seller/Dealer of Heavy Equipment – Read This to Find Out

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Be it a businessman who has newly started his construction company or someone who is running the business for a while, both are always in need of new machines. This means that they both need sellers to provide them with the heavy equipments they need to meet their business requirements. If not the one who has been in this industry for long but certainly the beginners would have a hard time to locate sellers who can sell good stuffs to them. Most of the times, it has been seen that the newcomers find themselves tricked by the dealers and are given something they have not asked in the first place and then they have issues in getting it replaced. Thus, it is very important to know whom you can trust and therefore continue the business with them.

Having said that, we don’t mean all sellers/dealers trick buyers who are naive as far as heavy equipment or their parts are concerned. It may be just a handful of them who gives more importance to money rather than business ethics and buyers should be watchful of such sellers. The more cautious you are, the better it would be for your business.

So the vital question is how one can find sellers/dealers on whom they can lay some trust and buy those expensive heavy equipment.

Through proper reference:-  It’s said that a word of mouth is the strongest mode of advertisement and therefore you should first reach out to folks who’re pretty old in this industry and check from whom they buy heavy equipment. They should be in a position to tell you whom to approach and whom you should avoid. Having dealt with different sellers and dealer all through their life, they must have seen the many faces of this industry and would be the right set of people to guide you. They may also let you know if you can expect any discount of stuffs.

Most of the times, the seller offers discounts on machines if you give them the reference of the buyer who’s been dealing with them for long. So it often helps you save some amount of money and then you can gradually develop your relationship.

Search the web:-  Internet is another strong medium to locate sellers selling heavy equipment. You can 2 major options. The first one is you can directly visit the website of the company and check if they have a showroom in your city. The second option would be to just enter the thing you’re looking for the in the search menu and the search engine will throw multiple options related to your concern. You can then choose the best available option and can get some information from it.

Similarly, you can also make use of online shopping site which allows you to buy heavy equipments online. You get to see the specifications in the listing which also mentions the price of the item. If you feel it’s too high, you can as well contact the seller and check if they are ready to negotiate with the price. However, before you contact the seller, it’s advisable that you check the feedback of the seller. If only the seller has a goof feedback score or has received many positive reviews from different buyers, you can reach out to him.

These are few simple ways to locate the seller/dealer and get some good deals from them.