Category Archives: Construction

Operators should learn to fix heavy equipment

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Breaking down of heavy equipment in midst of loads of work is nothing less than a nightmare for the construction company. This is perhaps the last thing that they will ever want to happen in their business. Heavy equipment not working due to technical glitch and unavailability of a competent mechanic is a big problem that one can imagine. Dependency on others especially mechanics have proved to be pretty expensive for many construction companies and for which time and again they had to pay a heavy price for it. Therefore one should learn for the mistakes and never let it happen again.

Since the onus of the well-being of the heavy equipment lies mainly on the operator, it is therefore the operator should also take the onus to learn how to fix machines. Many small construction companies who can’t afford to hire a team of mechanics hire operators who have fair deal of knowledge to fix heavy equipment. It makes more sense to pay more to operators with good knowledge of heavy equipment than paying to mechanics who charges a bomb from the companies.

Make use of user manual to learn repairing techniques:-

When there is a minor glitch in the heavy equipment, there is no point to call a mechanic. The operator if he knows how to fix minor glitches can prove to quite a resource to the company. In case, he does not know to fix glitches he can take help from the user manual and understand the basics of the machine first. As a matter of fact, he has to use the user manual to check the various functions and how to use them properly. He can’t experiment as long as he is not aware of the different functions of the machine and therefore his first book of reference will be the user manual. He will also get to learn few basic tricks to repair the machine if there appears to be a minor technical glitch somewhere down in the engine or any other part of the machine. He will find it to be extremely helpful and can manage things on his own rather than having dependency on a mechanic to sort such a simple problem.

Blogs can be helpful:-

Ideally most of the operators are attached to some or the other blog that talks about heavy equipment. Now if they experience any issue with their machine which they are unable to sort, they can simply put forth the issue on the blog and check for people’s responses. One can expect some marvelous workarounds to the issue and applying them can really work for you. So make use of blogs in times when heavy equipment has ceased to work and get some solution from there.

Videos on internet can be a quick solution:-

Watching videos that shows how to fix a problem can prove to be really helpful. There you will watch the guy actually fixing the machine and you will have a better idea to solve your problem. Moreover you do not have to wait for anybody’s reply on solving the issue. You can get a quick solution in no time.

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Heavy equipment required for road construction

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In the current scenario or era, where communication and connectivity is the key element for the globe to stay in touch with every corner of the world, roads play a very important role in this purpose. With increasing population, the need for construction of new roads is also increasing day by day. Hence, to meet with the requirement, heavy construction equipment for the construction of roads is also increasing every day.

Technological advancements have given birth to different kinds of machines, tools and engines as well as heavy construction equipment. They all serve different purposes and are used during different needs. Hence, depending on the type of construction that you are catering to, you need to choose the type of heavy construction equipment. Here is a list of all the most important ones that you might require during the construction of the road.

  • Crawler and Excavator:

 

Before the construction task is started, the area needs to be excavated and the load of dump needs to be removed and the loader and excavator help in this task. It can dig the earth and remove the rocks and earth from the area. These usually have a bucket, a boom and a cab. They can have either tracks or wheels, depending on the requirement and surface that it needs to work on.

  • Motor Grader:

 

The first step of road construction is creating a flat surface, suitable for the spreading of asphalt. To create that surface, you need a motor grader. The usual structure of the motor grader has –

  • Two rear axles at the back
  • The cab and engine located above
  • One axle in the front of the vehicle
  • A long blade in between the front and rear axles.

The motor graders are also commonly known as a maintainer.

  • Chip Spreader:

 

Once the surface is prepared, the chip spreader spreads the bitumen or asphalt on the surface. They come in different shapes and sizes. The asphalt that is mixed in a permanent or temporary asphalt plant is spread by the chip spreader.

  • Road Roller:

 

As the chips, bitumen or asphalt is spread on the surface, the road roller presses it down into the place. There are different types of road rollers like –

  • Double drum asphalt rollers
  • Rubber tire rollers
  • A combination of both
  • Pneumatic tired rollers.

As the material that needs to be rolled or compacted in case of a road construction is either of asphalt, gravel, concrete or soil vibratory steel drum rollers or padded drum compactors are used for this task.

These are some of the very basics of the heavy construction equipment that are required for the construction of roads. The type of road that needs to be constructed, the type of surface, the area and the engineering plan would decide the types of equipment or machinery that would be required. Along with the heavy equipment, there is always the requirement of various tools, drills and mixing machines, without which the construction of the roads would never be possible.

 

Non-traditional financial institutions can rip you with high interest

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When you are in a business you are always in need of capital. Sometimes to buy infrastructure for your business or you need money to fulfill your merger and expansion plans. It is also evident that you will not have the amount required at your disposal and therefore you have to hunt for a lender who can give you the money at an economical rate of return. Now the crux of the matter is to get a lender who can give you the loan amount at an affordable rate. There are many lenders who are also hunting for clients and are ready to provide loans but they have certain conditions which may not be acceptable to you. Either they will charge you with higher closing cost or they will give the loan at a higher interest rate. More or less, they are ready to give you loan which will be not as per your convenience.

For a person who owns a construction business, he is always in need of capital and his volume of requirement is always high. This means that a construction business owner is potentially a more feasible and appropriate client for the lender. In such a situation, the business owner should keep in mind his interest first. Just because he needs money, he should not go for someone who is providing loan at an unfavorable term and condition. There are few things which the borrower needs to analyze before he finalizes to go for the loan.

Credit rating must be good:-

A construction business owner borrows money to meet his business requirements and the frequency of borrowing money is quite often. In midst of borrowing money, he should also remember that he can’t afford to default any payment because if he defaults then that will have its ramifications on his credit rating which take a hit. No good lenders provide loan to people with poor credit rating and they eventually land up to non-traditional financial institutions who care less about poor credit rating but they offer loans with higher interest rates. This will really hurt you in the long run. You will pay more of interest and less of principal resulting in the non-depletion of loan amount. So a good/high credit rating will always benefit you in terms of availing loan at a lower interest rate.

Closing costs are extremely high:-

Whenever you go for a loan, there are few costs that you have to pay to close the loan. There are charges paid to the guy who will underwrite the loan, then charges to the attorney and also fees that will be charged by the non-traditional lenders to arrange for everything to close the loan. These fees can be exorbitant and might also pinch you. The traditional lender also charges closing costs but that is comparatively lesser than the non-traditional ones.

Construction houses should be extremely careful when they are dealing with lenders. They need to do a thorough study about the different costs that they need to pay to the lender and only if they are convinced with the terms and conditions that they should proceed any further.

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Quality of raw materials to be monitored in the construction industry

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Any company in order to survive and simultaneously grow in a competitive environment has to show a lot of metal. They need to be consistent in one thing and that is maintaining the quality of the end product. As long as they are able to maintain the quality of their products they exist in the competitive market and once they start compromising on the sole factor that is responsible for their growth they will soon see a fall in their sales. At the same time people who have been using their products for a long time will want to see something new. May be an add-on feature at the same cost but if they see a decline in the quality of the product they will for sure give a second thought to go for the same brand ever in their life. This huge can be the impact of the quality of a product.

In the construction industry too quality plays a crucial role in its overall growth. Construction industry like any other industry is as competitive as it can be and therefore it becomes all the more important for a construction company to give significance to the quality part. Now in order for the final product to be an ace product it is significant that the raw materials used to manufacture the end product is also of ace quality. You can’t expect the end product to be exceptional by using deteriorated quality of raw materials. This is where the quality of raw materials plays such an important role in the overall making of a wonderful product. So the company has to pay special attention to the fact that the raw materials used for construction are of first rate quality and they will be for sure applauded for their wonderful work.

Hire expert people:-

You should be hiring people who have expert knowledge in recognizing the quality of the raw material. Raw materials which are superior in quality are quite expensive. So the call is yours which one you would want to go with. However, it will be crucial to have people who know about the quality of raw materials and can give their expert opinion of the subject. There are chances that you might get cheated by the raw material vendor who supplies the stuff to you. The subject experts can analyze the quality of the stuff and can guide you if the quotation laid by the vendor is reasonable or not.

Buy government approved raw materials:-

Hiring experts can prove to be quite expensive and if you are unable to afford them then the next best available option for you is to buy government approved raw materials. Government gives grades to the raw materials and on the basis of it the price of the item is fixed. So you need to know which item can cost how much. This small part of research needs to be done by you to buy raw materials of superior quality.

Blog are helpful to pick the heavy equipment of your choice

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We often get advices for free but expert advice comes with a price and moreover if the advice that you need is about heavy equipment. No wonder it is a complex subject and many heads have a lot of things to say about it but rather than getting confused hearing all those voices, you should take them and make necessary analysis. The analysis that you make will eventually be useful for you to take a call on taking the right decision and to pick the right heavy equipment. Now the question is do you have to make a blog to ask a question or can do it in someone else’s. It can be either ways. You have the liberty to create your own blog and put questions there but the chance of someone answering will be seldom. It depends upon who visits your site and checks out your questions. You may get a lot of response if the question is a common one and people know how to deal with it or may even end up getting hardly any.

Now moving to the blog that has been created by an expert. These blogs are visited often by people who have keen interest on heavy equipment and subjects related to construction. They may not necessarily have a question to ask but want to gain some information by reading some out of the box questions. You get to see a lot of thoughts out there. People come out with some real good answers that have not been contemplated by the best of the minds in the industry. Blogs are in fact a wonderful place where people come and share their excellent ideas on any given topic. So a complex subject like heavy equipments may look simple when you have people explaining it to you in the simplest manner.

Many have found blogs as a problem solving tool. People do not want to call a mechanic to fix small issues as they will charge him a bomb and therefore try their level best to fix up things. Now they put their issue on the blog of an expert and wait for the responses. Accordingly he tries out things and let others know if it worked. Just in case, if it fails to work and some other issue crops up, he can post that too on the blog and can expect some workaround.

Who uses blogs to put their issues? Are they only used by guys who are amateurs or even by veterans? Blogs are used by all those who know a bit about the topic and wants to contribute by sharing their views on the given topic. Well nobody is paid for giving the right answers though. You are only helping people and enhancing your knowledge by knowing if your suggestion worked. Alternatively, you also get to learn things that were never known to you. People at times can also give some business tips but that is very rare to happen. However it is still a possibility.

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Owning a construction business – Promote it on Social Media

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It is somewhat difficult to promote a construction business if you do not have a goodwill that supports to name of the company. This form of the business is so big and widely spread that it may take ages for you to set up an identity of your own. You not only got to work really hard but also equally smart in order to make a mark in this industry. So when we talk about smart work, the smartest will be to find an easier way to communicate to the mass about your business and in this process get some work and recognition from people. You can make use of a very powerful tool that will help you connect to many people at a given point in time. The people with whom you are getting connected to may or may not know you but irrespective of that you can put your word across to the mass. You can make use of Social Media.

It has been witnessed that almost every company across any industry has their website where they can post about their information. Similarly, they are fast approaching the concept of having an account in a Social Media forum so that people can go there and check the reviews left by others. Many from the construction business have also taken the same approach. In order to promote their business, they open an account in a Social Media website and from there they post messages about their business, their achievements and the activities they conduct so that people who might require their service are aware of them and can contact them when required.

Almost every internet savvy person today has an account in some or the other Social Media website. They do this so that they can stay in close contact with their friends and loved ones. Off late, it has been seen that people who have their businesses have started promoting them on these websites. However, they prefer to keep it official and do not post pictures that are casual. Likewise, when you are creating an account for your construction business, do not post any casual pictures of you hanging around with your pals. Try to keep it as much professional as you can. Post pictures that are linked with your jobsite. Pictures like heavy equipment working on the site, engineers talking with the laborers explaining what needs to be done and stuff.

Mentioning a bit about your achievements on the Social Media website also helps a lot. There are job seekers and job givers both available on the Social Media website and if any of the job giver finds the quality of your work in compatible to his requirements, he may give you an assignment to work on. You can also customize your account to make it look attractive. There are loads of options available that you can opt to make it work. Many have found this to be a great tool to promote their business and when it comes to construction, it can’t get better than this.

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Instill the habit of referring to user manual

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You buy an item from a shop and you get a free guide book along with it. The reason they provide you with the guide book is so that it can help you understand the product in a broader way and also guide you to how to use it. It has been witnessed that people learn things by trying and testing the item and any sort of reference given about the item can only prove to be very helpful. Therefore it makes ample sense to refer to a guide book time and again you put yourself in a difficult situation and do not the way out. Off-late, it has also been seen that people are increasingly making use of videos to work things out. This is of course a nicer and simpler way to know your product but at times can prove to be risky and you may spoil the entire thing.

The guide book which is also known as user manual in the world of heavy equipment play a crucial role in upgrading the knowledge of beginners who are using the machine for the first time. This is why heavy equipment makers try their level best to make the user manual as simple as they can for the readers to comprehend the complexities involved in the machine. As a matter of fact, heavy equipment as a subject is quite complex and it requires months of dedication and hard work to understand and ultimately work on one. Therefore, it is bigger challenge for the heavy equipment makers to frame the diagrams and sketches in such a way that the end user does not find it complex to grasp. Also the language they used in the manual should be simple and easy to understand which means fewer jargons to be used.

Training videos not a substitute to user manual:-

A very dangerous trend has come to notice where people are using training videos as a substitute for user manual. Well, a training video has its own importance but it can’t ever be used as a substitute for anything. It helps people to get a better understanding of the subject they are dealing with and can teach them many important stuffs but just in case if the machine breaks down and the person tries to fix it by checking the training videos, he may land up in a bigger mess. In situations like these, reference of the user manual is most advisable. Even many training videos suggest of using user manuals in case they get stuck on something and are not able to find a way out.

It saves money on calling mechanic:-

You end up paying lot of money to the mechanic every time you experience a problem with your machine. The most viable solution is to try and fix things by reading the user manual. In most cases, the issues pertaining to the machine can be fixed if one follows the user manual properly. You do not need to call the mechanic to help you and in turn pay him your hard earned money.

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Summer is deadly. Ensure that your employees are hydrated

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It becomes difficult to work on a hot summer and under the scorching heat of the sun ready to burn you down. Only the heavy equipment operators who get the privilege to work inside an air-conditioned cabin may get a bit of relief but for other workers, they may not see a solution. They have to work under the hot sun and need to ensure that they keep themselves hydrated at all times. It is common biology. More than 70% of our body is of water and when the balance is disturbed it may cause all sorts of problem to the human body. Now you do not want to fall sick just because you have failed to consume water and forced yourself to work in the hot summer. It is quite certain that your body will not be able to take this and will show signs of breaking down.

Water is an important component that you should have continuously during summer but other than that you should also intake items that helps to keep your body hydrated. There are certain fruits that play a crucial role as far as hydration of your body is concerned. So the employees working in the construction site should make a note to keep some fruits in their bag and eat them whenever they get some time out of work. To name few fruits, watermelon, orange, papaya, grapes are rich in nutrients that keep your body hydrated. Watermelon is considered to be the fruit that can supplement water. So in case you are working at a site that does not give you easy accessibility to water, you can keep some pieces of melons in a box and gulp it whenever you can. You do not have to go far to fetch water and can simply have this to stay hydrated.

When you sweat a lot, you are losing water from your body. Always try to keep your body wet with water. You can carry some ice and place it on a towel. Wrap it well and tie it around your shoulders. You can also use it to wipe the seat from your body. In this way, you not only wipe off the sweat but also hydrate your skin. You can also make use of shakes that contains lot of water and some portion of milk and fruits. You should keep taking sips at regular intervals.

Keeping the construction workers hydrated during summer should be the responsibility of the business owner. They may not provide everybody with fruits but can definitely arrange for sufficient water at all times. The employees should not run from pillar to post just to fill in a bottle of water. You can keep water storage tanks with water purifier attached to it at every convenient point. If the jobsite is big and one needs direction, then there should be signboards showing signs from where the bottles can be filled. Please do not take dehydration lightly as it can even cost a person’s life. So ensure that all your employees are properly hydrates and are therefore equally healthy.

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Online platforms have made renting heavy equipment easier

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Many newbie after starting their business in the construction domain has experienced the problem of shortage of heavy equipment. It is because of this issue they lose many important projects that can be a life changer. This is when they feel dejected and some are even forced to shut down their offices. Well, as a matter of fact, things are not that bad as it may seem to be for guys who really want to make a career in this profession. Unquestionably, heavy equipment is very expensive but that does not mean that one can’t operate his business just because he can’t afford to buy them. Well, if you can’t afford to buy them you can definitely afford to take them on rent and that is the most viable option you can take to carry on with the business.

The question is how one can trace people who are renting their heavy machinery. This was a difficult job few decades ago but after the inception of internet that has taken over the entire globe this is no longer a challenge. There are numerous online platforms that are helping people to meet their business needs. It was not that the taker was experiencing the problem of not finding someone who is ready to let his machine but the owner equally experienced the same issue. However, with the advent of internet a lot of these problems have come to rest.

All you have to do is register yourself with an online platform that deals with buying, selling and renting heavy equipments. There are also other online portals that deal with almost everything. So you got to first ensure that you have reached the right platform. It is advisable that you register yourself with a website that exclusively deals with heavy equipment. Such online portals can be very useful as you will get to see heavy machinery of different brands and of different types. You will not be restricted to just one type of machine. You can just search for the thing you are looking you will get all under one roof. This was not possible before internet could make its presence felt to the people from the construction industry.

Though internet has been helpful to many people from all walks of life, but if we limit our focus to guys from the construction and heavy equipment domain, this technology has been nothing less than prolific. There are few instances where some buyers were cheated by fraudulent sellers but the online portal owners are looking into these cases and making their laws stringent so that rights of both the buyers as well as sellers remain protected. Frauds can happen in any industry and in any kind of environment. The rise of internet should not be blamed for any fraudulent activity. On the contrary, norms should be made so that renting heavy equipment online can happen risk-free and more people can reap benefit from this technology.

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5 tips to prevent the heavy construction equipment from being stolen

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Theft is a common problem, when it comes to the heavy construction equipment. These are so expensive, so much in demand and so easy to steal that the thieves frequently make a target of the equipment at a jobsite. Despite the fact that these machines and equipment are so huge, stealing them is not a problem because of the lack of anti-theft or theft-prevention measures that the owners take.

Here are a few tips that will help you to prevent the chances of theft and make it easier to find, if at all it is stolen.

  • Indicate the parts and label them:

 

It is very important that you add an indicator and make a note of all the parts and machines of the heavy construction equipment. There are indicating stickers and labels that can help you in doing so. However, it is quite easy to remove these indicators and sell the parts in the black market.

Hence, it is a better idea that you use an inscription to indicate every part of the equipment and have a note of these parts. This will not only help you to keep a track of the different parts of the equipment, but also, in case there is a theft, it will make it easier for the investigators to have a note of the part that is missing. Even after finding it, identifying it becomes a lot easier.

  • Use apps to monitor all activities:

 

There are anti-theft apps that can be installed to your system and it becomes easy to control and monitor, whether the equipment is being stolen or not.

  • Area surveillance:

 

Most of the heavy construction equipment thefts have taken place because of the lack of surveillance in any part of the jobsite. There is less CCTV surveillance than needed and even the lights are turned off making it easier for the thieves to steal.

In any jobsite, where there is the use of heavy construction equipment and if they are parked at the jobsite, it is a must that you install motion sensors. This will help you to detect any activity and movement that is caused to move the equipment from there. There must also be enough light towers that will help you to keep a notice of the equipment.

  • Parking the heavy construction equipment:

 

This is something that not every heavy construction equipment owner keeps in mind. When you park the equipment or the vehicle after a day at work, you need to park it one after the other, in a queue, so that it is not possible to remove any one of the vehicles or machines or equipment, without removing the other.

If you follow these simple and yet useful tips, it will be absolutely easy to keep a track of all of your vehicles. You will be able to prevent any chance of theft. However, thefts can be very expensive and to make sure it does not lead to financial loss, you need to have the heavy construction equipment insured.

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