Category Archives: construction equipment

Sell machines that the construction companies need

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Construction industry is one of the most established and high profile businesses that are in a popular demand in the recent era. Given the huge population, there is a constant need for more buildings and constructions. Be it for the expansion of the cities or development of the cities or for residential and commercial complexes, some or the other kind of construction is always in progress. And, for making the construction smooth, it is a must that the construction companies are equipped in every possible way.

With more construction assignments, completing the construction faster becomes mandatory. As the demand is always high and there is a pressure from the owners to complete the tasks quicker, construction companies should depend more on the heavy construction equipment; rather than on the manual labour. Machines and tools can make the tasks easier and more accurate.

Buying the heavy construction equipment:

As there is a growing demand of the heavy construction equipment, it is a must that the construction companies buy the most suitable and appropriate machines or equipment. This will make sure that the desired task is done faster and better. The most common heavy construction equipment that one needs to own include –

  • Cranes
  • Excavators
  • Road rollers
  • Crawlers
  • Bulldozers
  • Forklift
  • Backhoes
  • Motor grader
  • Compactors.

Each of the heavy construction equipment has its own function that is absolutely different from the other. Hence, when you are buying these for your construction company, you need to be careful about the one that is most suitable for your company.

Trust the sellers:

There are various construction equipment companies that sell a lot of machines and tools, as well as the large scale construction vehicles. As you visit them, you will find all of the options and different varieties of the construction tools and machines. This can be a little confusing for you to choose the one for you. For that you need to discuss with the heavy construction equipment salesperson.

The salesmen of these businesses are more than just a salesman. They are vastly learned about the functions and benefits of purchasing heavy construction equipment. Hence, as you discuss your needs with them, they will be able to guide you through the different options. This will be quite useful for you to decide which one would be most suitable for you.

The seller would always sell machines that the construction companies need. If the requirement is for a tool or machine that would flatten the workspace, a road roller or compactor would be suggested. If the requirement is a machine that would help the construction companies or workers to load and unload the concrete wastes, dirt and dust and rubbish from a construction site, the seller would suggest a loader. For excavating a ground, an excavator and then a crawler would be more suitable. There are various companies that manufacture these vehicles in different sizes and powers. The best sellers would always be able to guide you about the right machine for you. Depending on the power of the machine, the prices are determined. Trusting the experts is always useful in not spending unnecessarily.

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Operators find it comfortable to work on technologically advanced excavators

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In order to speed up the work, you have to give your employees the latest equipment so that they are comfortable using them and can deliver in no time. You can’t use an age old machine and expect your men to complete the work in a stipulated time frame. They just will not be able to do that even if they want to. Same goes in the case of excavators. You can’t expect the operators to excavate a huge portion of land in just few days by giving them an excavator that is perhaps decade old. There is a possibility that the operator may not know its functions properly and might take time to get his hands on the machine or may just not want to work on it. So when you are looking to get a work done in a designated time frame you also need to ensure that you give your operators the equipment that they are comfortable working with.

Heavy equipment manufacturing companies have sensed the pulse of the operators and have therefore manufactured various types of machines that are technologically advanced. These types of machines mostly have automated functions which eases the work of the operator and at the same time lessens the chance of any accidents happening on the jobsite. Now we have several types of excavators in the mining and construction industry such as dragline excavators, bucket wheel excavators which might have existed for decades but the changes that are brought in is from within. For instance, the engine of the machine has been made better. The levers in the machine have been lessened and with the help of just few levers, the operator can handle most of the work.

It seems that there are no major changes made in the concept of the excavator it is just that the changes are made in the interiors which make things convenient for the end user. When heavy equipment companies manufacture excavators, they have to take into consideration a lot of factors. Factors such as if they are manufacturing the excavators for construction industry or for mining industry because the make of the machine will be different for different industries. The requirement of a mining industry will be obviously different from the construction one. They might want some additional features which is not required in the construction sector or can ask for adding few attachments in the existing excavator.

Ideally, many heavy equipment companies conduct surveys to understand the need of the operators. What they want to be added and how they want it to work. If there are any deficiencies in the existing model, how can they bring some improvement? They manage to take the survey from different companies across many states and then on the basis of the wants of the operators, they try to bring it new features. It is evident that the engineers have a tough time to get most of the features in but they still manage to do so. They eventually understand that in today’s time in order to exist in the industry they have to make as per the needs of the operators.

Pitch heavy equipment that go by customer’s needs

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People who are into selling often complain of targets that they find to be unachievable. Many find it hard to even go close to the target assigned to them and there are hardly few who are able to make it for the month. In the race to achieve given targets, salesman often commits the mistake of miss-selling items to the buyer. They just not bothered about the needs of the client. What they are more interested is to achieve the targets and get good commission out of it. In this process they are losing one big thing and it is the old customers and probably the chance of getting new ones too. Customers are smart enough to understand that you have not sold them the right product. They may not realize it at the point when you are selling it to them but will definitely get to know after some days. This is when you lose him.

In the construction industry, customer’s needs are very specific. You can’t try to fiddle with them because if you try to do so, you can get caught the next moment. Remember the guys to whom you have approached are there in the industry for the last many years and they have been dealing with different kinds of heavy equipment which you must have never heard about. So there is absolutely no point in talking something that does not make any sense to them or giving them with fake assurances. You got to be quite clear with your approach. If you have the item you say yes or else pitch some kind of an alternative that will go well with the equipment they require. But do not try to pitch a product that does not have any relevance to the requirement of the client. This will just not go well with him.

Do some research on the client’s business:-

Your client will appreciate your effort if you take some time out and try to understand his business. Every construction business is different from the other and so are their requirements. You got to first realize what they are dealing with and for that what kind of heavy equipment shall they need. Now this take some time and you do not get any money to do this research but remember that this very research will get you rich dividends as you may get all the orders of heavy equipment. The client will know you for the time you have given to understand the business and also have the confidence that you will not try to miss sell any heavy equipment.

Pitch the product that the client is looking for:-

Many a times, construction companies are not sure what heavy equipment should be used for a specific kind of work. They may have a number of options in their mind but could not figure out the correct one. This is where your expertise comes into play. After knowing his business needs, pitch a product that is very close to what he needs. That will generate the trust in the mind of the person and you can then expect to get many more orders from him.

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Regular maintenance is vital. It can fetch a good resale value.

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We have seen so many instances where we tend to forget things that are very important for us. For example, paying utility bills. These things however can be corrected if you pay them later but there are few things that are so important that you just can’t afford to delay and if you fail to take care of those things in a timely manner, it will have a big direct impact on your business and may take a good amount of money to get it resurrected.

One of the thing that you just can’t miss is giving your heavy equipment for regular maintenance. If you have construction business then you know it far better than any person the importance of heavy equipment in your industry. Heavy equipment is considered to be the lifeline of the construction, mining and agricultural sectors. Without the machines, one just can’t imagine to conduct his business smoothly. Machines do undergo a lot of wear and tear if they are put to work rigorously for all the days in a week and if not checked in time it will give up soon and may come to a stage where the cost of getting it repaired will become way too expensive. A wise businessman will undoubtedly want to save his money from getting spent in such unnecessary expenditures.

Apart from incurring an additional expense, if one manages to do timely servicing of his heavy equipment then he has far better chances of getting a good resale value. You can also fetch a good rental value if at all you plan to give it on rent. It has ideally been seen that big construction houses believe a lot in upgrading their machines that are more technologically savvy and far better than the old models. Now the question is what they do with the existing machines. Well, they either sell it off at a dirt cheap rate to small time construction companies or simply rent it out.

They probably do not make any money by selling it at a cheaper rate. It is because they were never bothered to give their machines to a mechanic for servicing. They are perhaps so busy with work that they hardly care about the maintenance part or assign a person who will take care of the maintenance part of the machines. If the man fails to do his work properly, then the machine starts showing problems and eventually it gets sold at a very cheap rate. It is therefore important to assign somebody really trustworthy who can take up this work quite seriously and won’t fumble with his responsibilities.

Other than this, if one services his machine at regular intervals, it increases the longevity of the machine and it can sustain under tremendously difficult terrains. People buying used equipment will definitely pay a good price for something that’s reliable and won’t give up when they really want the machine to work.

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Things You Should Know before Renting Articulated Trucks

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Trucks are used by construction industry to carry huge pile of debris from the jobsite to the dump yard. Articulated trucks (ATs) are specialized trucks are used for hauling of heavy equipment from their source to destination. Hence, many construction industries, prefer buying ATs on rental basis to reduce their expenses. However, one has to be diligent while buying rented machines since it is expensive.

The following are some of the tips which may be useful for the buyer:

  1. Purchase equipment which is in good working condition:

Although it is used, buyer must take care that ATs must be in good working condition. Instead of buying on rent very old AT, one should purchase AT which is less than five years old.

2.  Perform a thorough physical and mechanical inspection of the equipment:

  • Being one of the most difficult machines, evaluating AT is a difficult task. A physical inspection of AT is needed by investing enough time and taking it around during daylight.
  • Establish its serial number and the number of hours it has been operated. The serial number indicates the year of manufacture. While if it has run for less than 10,000 hours the machine is in better condition.
  • Different locks and articulation hinge joints should be checked for their movement. There are two parts to it. Oscillating part and articulation part. If there are problems with the former part then its repairs are very expenses as compared to the articulation part.
  • Engine, hinge pins, brakes, tires, battery, cab, mirrors, air filters, oil filters, suspension system in front should be thoroughly examined.
  • Buyer should make sure that brakes get applied to all wheels. Use of wet brakes reduce cost and requires less maintenance.
  • AT should be checked for its uphill movement and the amount of fuel used or the smoke released.
  • Truck’s comfort should be assessed in terms of cab’s safety and great visibility and comfort.
  • Machine’s maintenance records should be checked to know the service history. Knowing the past history of what it was used for hauling gives an idea of the wear and tear the machine must have gone through.

3.  Buyer should evaluate their work requirements.

Buyer should learn about application of ATs and should know if it useful for their type of work. They should check various details including the type of material, travel distance, cycle times and the equipment to be carried in AT. Since it is to be mentioned in the agreement, it is necessary that buyer should know the required duration of ATs at the work place.

4.  Product specifications:

There are different models of ATs. Buyer should know which type is required for their purpose since each model has different characteristics. The user should refer to product manuals and distributor/manufacturer’s websites, to learn about each model’s application. This will enable buyer to choose the right type of model for AT. It is important to know if the current model of ATs is supported by the manufacturer, which makes it easy to find parts of repair. In addition, buyer should also seek to know about factors such as high production per man hour and check the payload capacity both of which are important for increasing productivity.

5.  Consider the speed and gas gauge:

The travel speeds of ATs play an important role in productivity. The buyer should look at top-end speeds for long run and the pulling power for shorter distance. Check for the unit’s abundance of horsepower and torque which will allow operators to move fast and haul more in one cycle.

The buyer should also consider fuel efficiency based on material per gallon, which can be increased by proper planning of truck’s activities and by maintaining AT.

6.  Cost:

Buyer should know the expenses incurred due to rents (both of machine and its additional parts), maintenance, repairs of the oscillating part, fuel used and greasing of the parts and expenses due to hired operator.

7.  Making of an agreement:

When the buyer is satisfied with the rental machine and the costs associated, then will go ahead with an agreement with the rental service provider.

Following these tips can guide buyers in purchasing appropriate articulated truck on rental basis and get the job done well.

Rental Tips for track loaders

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The increasing population has led to increase in the construction activities. Many construction companies cannot afford to a buy and maintain all new equipment for their work. In case of short term projects, after completion of work the equipment is no longer required and this leads to waste of money. Hence, companies prefer to buy equipment and machines on rental basis at an affordable price and return it after use. Thus, the equipment rental business has gained a lot of momentum in last few years and is profitable.

It is observed that many equipment rentals, rent only specific equipment and not all types of equipments. Being in rental business of specific equipment can be a good idea as it saves the cost of buying and maintaining different equipment. Track loaders (TLs) are type of heavy equipment, used to move aside or load materials such as asphalt, demolition debris, snow feed, rock and so forth into or onto another type of machinery. TLs can do every kind of construction activity. Although not a perfect tool buying different equipment for every work is not possible for any construction company since it’s a heavy investment. Hence, multifunctional TLs are in demand. However, they are expensive, hence most construction companies prefer buying these equipment on rent.

The following are some tips for person in business of renting track loaders to make it profitable:

  1. TLs are expensive and rental service provider (RSP) should be able to afford to buy them. He should be aware of his personal expenses while owing a big place or showroom, advertising, labour and maintenance costs, and so forth. He should make a business plan and have strategies to sale TLs on rent.
  2. TLs should not be overpriced. Many people are willing to buy on rental will find it difficult to purchase. Hence they will negotiate with the price. Quoting the appropriate price is important.
  3. They should make his business known by advertising through newspapers and websites.
  4. Buying brand new TLs is costly. Hence instead of purchasing the entire fleet of TLs (of different sizes and models), the RSP should study the demands of the market to know what is mostly preferred by the construction industry. Keeping TLs from small to mid-size of different brands is a good option.
  5. Due to technological advancements, the new equipment have become compact and easy to operate. This increases productivity at the work site since the speed of work increases. The new compact TLs are more in demand and are said to replace the heavy bulldozers and preferred than the skid steer loaders. RSP should provide such technologically advanced TLs on rent, which increases the customer interest and sales.
  6. Buying used equipment on rental basis is common for the short duration projects, hence they are in demand. Thus, RSP can also look for option of renting ‘used’ or ‘second hand’ TLs, since purchasing such equipment is cost affordable. However, they should be careful while choosing such equipment that they are not very old aged and not used much. Only when these used machines have less wear and tear and their parts are available that they should be purchased from the seller.
  7. The RSP should be careful while renting the expensive heavy machines to the buyer. They should understand the nature of work requirements of the customer and should guide them properly. Also they have to make sure that the buyer has the capability to pay the rental amount and should take care of the equipment and will return the equipment in good condition. The rental agreement has to made between RSP and prospective buyer before the equipment is rented that all the terms and conditions are acceptable to both parties.  
     

 

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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Heavy Equipment Amusement Park

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Vacations are a much needed part of our lives which helps us to get relieved of the hectic weeks. It removes a lot of stress out of our mind and prepares us to take on new challenges. But when we talk about vacations we usually see a gap from work for a week. Now taking leaves so frequently is not possible when you are a part of the corporate world and when you have a lot of responsibilities to take care of. In such a situation, the best available option to get rid of stress is to visit an amusement park. It is perhaps the perfect place where one can enjoy with his friends and family. You go there in the morning and by the time it is evening you are exhausted with all the rides and still you feel so fresh and charged up. That is the magic that an amusement park has for you.

These days we have theme based amusement parks where they keep stuffs based on a particular topic or subject matter. These things are gaining immense popularity as kids are able to learn about a specific topic and have fun at the same time. We have one such theme based amusement park in US which focuses on heavy equipment. So children whose parents are from the construction industry will gain a lot from this park. They will get to learn many things as they take on each ride.

It is obvious that their parents will tell them the significance of each machine as they move on with the rides. This will also develop an interest in the young minds towards the construction sector and particularly towards the heavy equipment industry. As a matter of fact, the heavy equipment industry has immense scope of growth for people who are great thinkers and like to see things out of the box. Innovation is the need of the hour and kids of this generation are for reason smarter than what we were.

Children can learn to dig using heavy equipment:-

Children who have seen their parent working inside the cabin of heavy equipment and also aspire to be like them can benefit a lot from one such amusement park. The amusement park named “Diggerland USA” is one such park that provides children the thing they need to become competent operators. They get to ride on real heavy equipment and are also given to dig the ground using the machines. They are certainly accompanied by their parents who if are an operator can also share their views on the machine to the young chap.

Every hour has a new thing to do:-

Children are given a time slot within which they can be on one machine and play on it. Once the hour is over the next game begins and they have to move to the next type of heavy equipment and continue their game. This means that there is unlimited fun along with dining and simultaneously children get to learn new things in life which may later become useful to them.

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Renting a bulldozer can pay you off handsomely

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We buy heavy equipment on the basis of our needs and it has been often seen that after upgrading the heavy equipment, we are ultimately left with 2 machines of the same stature. So what we eventually think is to do away with the old one since we do not see any need of it. Well, we are wrong if we think about selling it off unless the machine is too old for anybody to use it and you sell it as scrap. However, when you have the option to rent the equipment why go for selling it. Bulldozer is often the first equipment possessed by a contractor. He may need it for his demolition business but then after a point in time he will think of upgrading his arsenal and might buy another one which is far more technologically advanced. In a situation like this, he can end up renting the previous machine and continue to make recurring income.

There is always a market for renting bulldozer:-

Bulldozers will never find themselves out of market. As long as the construction industry is in existence, dozers will have their place in this segment. Therefore, the dozer you have and you may not need it will always find someone who will want to use it. You can let it out to them by making a contract for a week or month or year or more than that and also fix an amount that you will get as a compensation for letting the other person use your machine. There are many contractors who are in constant hunt for dozers as they can’t afford to buy a new one. They are pretty happy to pay the rental money in lieu of the dozer.

Dozers are eye candy for demolition business owners:-

People who are into the business of demolition do not intend to make big investments. As a matter of fact, this is probably one of the few businesses where you do not need a lot of capital to invest to kick start your business. All you need in the form of heavy equipment is a dozer and few accessories that you need on the dozer. They certainly do not want to buy a dozer which can prove to be very expensive to them. The best alternative for them is to get it on rent. Since the rentals of dozers are comparatively cheaper than other heavy equipment, it certainly fits into their pocket. Simultaneously, getting a demolition job is simpler; they can easily afford to pay the rents without any defaults.

Can demand higher rent if machine is in good condition:-

The instrumental factor that determines the rental price of a dozer is the condition of the machine. If the machine is in good health then the price can be a bit higher but if it is not then you can’t expect a good rental value from it. This means that you got to take good care of your machine whether it is in use or not so that if ever you have to let it out, you can get a good price for it.

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