Category Archives: construction equipment

Fire Extinguishers with all heavy equipment

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Equipment that gets heated up in no time and also has fuel stored in a different chamber is more likely to catch fire. Heavy equipment work all throughout the day and become really hot even after having worked for few hours. There are high chances that the machine may catch fire and therefore there is a need to have fire extinguisher inside the heavy equipment. It also should be within the reach of the operator which means that he/she should not have to struggle to get the extinguisher the moment he/she detects the machine is on fire. The most common reason for the heavy equipment to catch fire is that the fuel tank is located just above the engine and when the engine becomes tremendously hot, the chances of it catching fire increases manifolds. Just a small spark is enough to cause a big disaster and therefore the operator should ensure that he continue working on the machine after giving some break to it.

Now as per the US department of Labor and US Fish and Wildlife Service it is sole responsibility of the employer to maintain fire extinguishers. If they are found not having one in the machine, they will be penalized as per the Labor’s Fire Protection Code 1926.150. But there is nothing mentioned in the code about the size of the fire extinguisher one should have and hence they can have any size of extinguisher provided it is rated not less than 2A and is provided to a protected area of 3000 square feet. Also the travel distance should not exceed by 100 feet.

What the employer can do before placing an extinguisher is go through the regulation carefully and understand them well so that later on he does not have to face any legal hassles from the court of the land. Simply installing a fire extinguisher does not make much sense when the person who is supposed to use it does not know how to use the stuff. This means that the operator should also be given sufficient training on how to handle a fire extinguisher. An operator will be the guy who can help himself if a crisis of this sort ever happens. He will not be able to find help from outside and if he does not know how to operate it well, it is a big danger for him.

The construction company should also put emphasis on programs related to fire fighting and should engage people to attend it. The workers in the jobsite should be trained to tackle the situation as this may save the life of their fellow workers. The Occupational Safety and health Administration (OSHA) has strictly mentioned in their regulation book that the employer has to take the onus to conduct and develop fire protection programs and should also provide for the required firefighting equipment to its employees. Construction companies are bound to follow these guidelines very stringently as it is concerns the life of his employees.

Market your products well. It helps to sell them sooner

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The toughest job to do in any business is to sell the produces. If you are new to a business, it is quite evident that you may not have enough people who know about the existence of your company and in such a scenario selling your products to the mass at large can be quite a challenging task for the sales guy. He may find it extremely difficult to sell the products if people have never heard the name of the brand. He will just end up frustrating himself and may eventually take up something else. So if you are new company the first part of your job will be to let people know about your existence and the products that you manufacture. Tell the mass about how your products will benefit them and why should people go for your stuff rather than taking it from your competitors. This phenomenon of putting your products for all to see is known as marketing.

Here you are letting people know what you are what you deal with. If you are someone who is into selling heavy equipment, then marketing the machines you have becomes all the more important. Construction or mining companies do not tend to purchase machines in bulk. They buy it only when they need it. So whenever they are in a need to buy heavy equipment they will undoubtedly go for the best and you got to tell them that what you are selling is the best and you can do this only via marketing your heavy equipment. There are universities that have courses in business marketing, marketing management and many other subjects that talks about the importance of marketing and how one can learn to market his products well in the market.

How to market/endorse heavy equipment and your company at the same time is a matter of skill and application of constructive strategy. One simple way is to hire professionals who can make the work simple for you. They will give you marketing tips that can be used to broaden your network and allow people to know more about you. First and foremost you need to have a website of your own and should be pretty operational. You should keep on updating your website twice or thrice in every week. Try to add things that people belonging to the construction sector would like to know. The more people visit your website, the more they will get to know about you.

Take help of web designers to make the appearance of the website look attractive. Try to come on news if possible. That will give you bigger exposure. You can simply take some videos of your company showing the way you guys work and post it on YouTube or on your website. This is a good tactic to promote your company. You can also make use of social media websites to market your company and heavy equipment. These avenues will help you a great deal to encourage others to visit your place and buy heavy equipment from you.

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Heavy Equipment Sandblasting/Painting

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If you care for your heavy equipment, you will always want it to look new and for that you will be ready to paint it once in every six months or may be once in a year. Sandblasting or painting as we all know it is a term given by people belonging from the construction domain to paint the heavy equipment and make it look like a new machine. Many construction companies and contactors are hiring companies who are into sandblasting. Why is sandblasting needed and why so many companies are now after getting their heavy equipment painted? The simple reason is that it increases the lifespan of your machine. We all agree to the notion that heavy equipment go through a lot of wear and tear and this also reflects on the body of the machine. Now, this also affects the longevity of the heavy equipment which becomes prone to rusting and may wear off completely.

Now in order to get rid of this issue, construction companies as well as contractors hire the services of sandblasting companies. There they are assured that once the heavy equipment is serviced by them, it will come out with an altogether new look and also with an enhanced life.

Heavy equipment are expensive and are deserved to be cared:-

We all understand how much one has to shell out in order to buy heavy equipment. They may take out a huge chunk of your profits and therefore they deserve the right to be cared. Not many people leave their machines to rust. They do it only if they feel that they may not need the machine any longer and are going to sell it off as scrap. Other than this, nobody with a sane mind will ever want his machine to bear the brunt of the construction site and still not be serviced. Painting becomes a priority when we talk about caring the machine. All the protective layers that the machine is made of gets eroded slowly and gradually while it is put to work and if it is not taken care at the right juncture, it can lead to irreparable loss.

Can expect good rental or sales price:-

We all want to buy workable second hand heavy equipment. People are even ready to pay good price for used machines provided they should be in good condition. Nobody wants to buy scrap by paying a hefty price. So if you are intending to do away with your existing heavy equipment, sandblasting can help you get a better deal. If you have old equipment but still expect a good price, perhaps sandblasting is the only option. You can make it look completely new by this process and then sell it to a buyer at a good price.

You can apply the same option when it comes to renting the machine. Here, it actually becomes a must to paint the stuff because you are not completely doing away with the machine but will get it back after sizeable wear and tear. Therefore, you paint the machine well and once you get it back you can sandblast it again to rent it to some other person.

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Things that a heavy equipment salesman should stringently follow

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Every profession has certain dos and don’ts which people in that profession should stringently follow. Similarly, a salesman selling heavy equipment also has to follow few codes of the profession to sustain and maintain a good conduct. He should simply never quit few those things from doing. There are no certain rules of selling heavy equipment but it definitely has some principles and ethics and a salesman is expected to follow them.

Never pitch the wrong product:-

You may think that heavy equipment is a complex subject and a person running a construction business will have no idea about the right product. Well, it is actually on the contrary. They may not know the technicalities of heavy equipment but they know for sure the type of construction machines needed in the business and they will never pick the wrong product. This is why it is important that you do not pitch in the wrong product to them or else you will unnecessarily taint yours and well as the reputation of the heavy equipment company. Do not take them for granted. You can try to find their requirements. Once you know that, you got to check the brand they have been using. In case if the person uses just one brand which unfortunately is not yours then you got to do a lot of work to persuade him to try a change. If he/she is not a brand conscious person it means he/she is looking for best and you got to display your machine as the best?

Provide him the best financial solution:-

The salesman in many occasions has associations with bank who lend money to construction companies and contractors to buy heavy equipment. They get a percentage as commission from the lenders for bringing every client to them. Now, the salesman in no way should pitch a financial solution that is not healthy for its client. He/she should understand the financial standing of his client and pitch him a lender who does not charge more towards closing costs and other miscellaneous expenses. The salesman does not stop selling heavy equipment after that sale and therefore he/she should remember that if he/she gives the client the right financial solution, he may get quite a number of references in return.

Do not try to be pushy:-

The salesman should try to establish a healthy relation with his/her clients. He/she does have targets to meet and he/she survives on commissions but they should not make him/her push his clients to buy heavy equipment. It could be possible that his/her client is interested in buying a machine but may want to wait for some time. In such a situation, the salesman should try to find the reason for him/her to wait and if he/she finds it reasonable then he/she should let it go. In no terms can he be pushy with his client. That will in fact drag him/her away and he/she may lose the client forever.

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Renting a wheel loader

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When we talk about construction business, we need to give priority to every kind of earth moving equipment. Each machine is designed and built for a specific purpose and therefore as long as you do not have that set of heavy equipment with you, there are high chances that you may not get the desired results or the results that you have achieved is not to the point and may not be satisfactory to the client. So for instance, you are the contractor and you are assigned some task for which you do not have the right heavy equipment. You may end up doing a shabby piece of work which is most likely will not be appreciated by your client. Getting any more business from the same client can’t be expected and your bad reputation will follow you everywhere you go. So it makes more sense to use the heavy equipment that will give you the best result.

All sounds to be good when we talk about procuring the right set of machines but the real challenge is to buy one. It may turn out to be a very expensive affair to purchase an earth moving machine which is why many people just give up their dreams of establishing their construction company. Well, when you have alternatives in hand why not use them as well.

We are focusing on the topic of how convenient it will be for a contractor or for that matter any small construction company to rent a wheel loader if buying one is proving to be an expensive affair. A wheel loader is very useful heavy equipment and can be seen in almost every big construction site. It has the capability to pull huge pile of dirt and dump it in the dumpsite. In a construction site, you will come across debris that needs to be taken care of and you will not find any other heavy equipment apart from a wheel loader that has the potential to do the work in a better way. So for contractors who work in a phased manner, renting a wheel loader is perhaps the most suitable option.

Renting heavy equipment is never a problem. All they need to do is find the right machine and their work is done. However following the right channels are important. So once you have identified a wheel loader you need to test its capability and its strength. Checking if the machine is in good stage is important or else you will pick up something that has become a pain for the operator. So when you go to meet the owner to test the machine, make sure that you take along the operator with you so that he can test it and only if he gives his nod that you should proceed with the transaction.

Check if the owner is ready for negotiation with the rental amount. In case, you find it apt with the current market price and you feel it irrelevant to negotiate you may simply take the loader or else must try to bring the price down.

How Heavy Equipment Rental companies stay strong

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For a company to grow and stay strong, it has to lay down several strategies and also has to work on them so that they are all executed firmly and the company gets the results of the hard work put by the employees. But is it just the strategies that play the most significant role in making a strong company. Well, there is more than one factor that comes into play to make a strong company. One needs to first understand the economics of the business. He need not be an economics graduate to understand this but need to have the basic understanding of demand and supply and if his company will be able to meet the demand in the market.

In the construction world, the heavy equipment rental companies play an instrumental role and therefore the one who is running one such business has great opportunities to take his company to greater heights. The construction industry has more newbie than the ones who are in this business for the last 20-50 years. Not just the construction companies but also individuals need heavy equipment. However, their want is quite limited and is restricted to a particular period of time. They may not need the machine for months. Therefore, it becomes appropriate for them to go for machines on rent. This suggests that there is a wider market for heavy equipment rental companies and they can use this as an opportunity to grow and stay strong.

Come up with innovative marketing plans:-

Heavy equipment rental companies should time and again come up with innovative marketing plans so that people are drawn towards them. For instance, they can chart plans like giving accessories free along with the heavy equipment till the contract is over. By not charging anything for the accessory will draw more people which eventually mean more business for the company. They can also keep offers like giving rentals at a lower price for a limited period. Construction companies are always in need of machines and if they get an offer where they have to pay less rent for using the machine, they will not want to miss it.

Provide machines that go as per the business requirements:-

In order to stay strong in the heavy equipment rental business, the company should also have a basic understanding of the construction industry and what kind of project needs what machines. So what you can do is try and fill up a form where the taker will mention in brief about his project and the machine he wants. You can then do fair deal of study on the subject and see if you can come up with any better suggestion. If you feel that the person should go for some other machine, put it forth to him. He will appreciate your help in this matter and will refer you to more people. This is what many heavy equipment rental companies are being doing to stay strong in this competitive market.

Goodwill means a lot to the heavy equipment companies

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Sometimes it is not just the selling skill of the salesperson but the goodwill of the company that helps him to sell the heavy equipment. There are many construction companies who feel reluctant to buy machines of heavy equipment companies other than the ones they have been using. They have lot of faith on the brand and this is what works for the salesperson. He does not have to put in any extra effort to convince the client. Just the name of the company does the trick. Perhaps a few demo and may be a bit of negotiation and that is it. The sale is done. It is therefore that the heavy equipment companies do not want to play around with the goodwill of the company and if they find anything that can tarnish the image of the company, they take stringent steps to weed out the element from the organization.

Companies like CAT, Volvo, and John Deere give a lot of value to the goodwill part of the company. They strive hard to produce quality products right from the word go and also try to read the nerve of the market and also of the consumers. They basically conduct surveys quite often which help them to understand the changing requirements of the consumers and they tend to manufacture stuff on the basis of those needs. These companies also play a vital role on the social front. They take part in various social events to create a sort of awareness amongst the consumers about their products. Awareness like how environment friendly are their heavy equipment are made through such mediums.

They make products for both high end and medium end consumers. They very well understand that not all consumers can afford products that come with a high price tag and therefore they also manufacture machines that cost less so that they can also cater to the ones who are not so economically sound. This plays an important part in increasing the value of the company in front of others. Now even small construction companies or contractors who can’t afford to pay more for heavy equipments can buy the machines that are specifically designed for them keeping their affordability into consideration.

One of the factors that play a major role in establishing goodwill is the after sales service. No doubt that all machines have issues once they are sold to the consumer and if there is no after sales service, the consumer may feel cheated. They invest a lot of money to buy heavy equipment and if it does not work after sometime they may end up losing all the money they have put on the machine. This is where the after sales service comes into picture. The consumer needs to call up a designated number and inform them about the issue. The agent on the other hand will book an engineer who will check the issue and try to get it resolved.

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Role of heavy equipment on the construction sector

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One who is a part of the construction domain clearly understands the importance of heavy equipment in this domain as well as to his business. This is perhaps the reason why many big construction companies are procuring state of the art machines for their big projects. Since they understand that the only way to get the work done faster is through the introduction of highly advanced heavy equipment that they want to have the best in their arsenal. Heavy equipment to a construction industry is what a heart or a brain is to a human being. He just can’t survive without these important organs. In the same way, it is almost unimaginable for the construction industry to move an inch of progress without the involvement and participation of heavy equipment.

We would be speaking in brief about the utilization of some heavy equipment which is most commonly seen in any jobsite.

Excavators:-

No big construction project can be completed without the participation of excavators. In order to begin the construction, one has to excavate the earth to build solid foundations. This is only possible with the help of this machine. It usually digs the earth with the help of the boom that is attached to its axle in the front. It has a cabin to the rear where the operator sits and manages his affair. This may seem to be a very common machine but has a lot of importance in the overall industry which is why heavy equipment companies are always in the process of designing hi-tech excavators that will sell as hot cakes.

Wheel Loader:-

A wheel loader is the machine that is extensively used to ferry debris from one place to another. When it comes to ferrying debris, other heavy equipment can also be utilized. However, they all have their limitations expect a wheel loader. They can carry huge pile of dirt, rocks and other debris which in many ways is not possible for other machines to perform. They are also extensively used for mining and road construction works.

Bulldozers:-

You have a permanent structure that you want to bring down you will not find anything better than a dozer. It has the capability to bring down a very solid structure into rubbles. They can also work as an alternative for excavators as the attachment can be changed and so does the work of the dozer.

Rollers:-

Rollers also form an important part of the construction industry. It is crucial to have good roads for better connectivity and also for the prosperity of the country’s economy. It is good roads that become part of better transportation of essential commodities. The pain of a bad road can’t be understood better than the driver of a truck whose spine aches while he drives every mile on it. The rollers play a significant role to smooth the road and make driving better.

There are many more machines that plays an instrumental role when it comes to making the future of the construction sector.

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Get the best land clearing equipment to get optimum results

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Clearing huge stocks of debris can be a big pain for a construction company who has taken the project to build something in a place. First you got to invest good deal of time to break down the existing stuff that is standing and then once it is fallen, you got to invest another good number of days to clear the land and just in case if you do not have a state of the art heavy equipment, you find yourself into deeper problem. In this age where we seek all our work to be done in the click of a button, we can’t expect to give days to clear a stock of pile. We definitely need something that is quick and can get the work done in a day or two and should not take long. Therefore, one should always depend on the heavy equipment that can get optimum results when it comes to clearing debris from the land.

There are many heavy equipment manufacturing companies that are coming up with machines that can play wonders when put to use. But such machines are quite expensive and can cause a big hole in your pocket. Right from Caterpillar to Tigercat, they all are into producing equipment that can clear land in a day or two which would otherwise have taken a week if not less than that. Tigercat is a company that specializes in producing equipment used to clear lands in the forest areas. Land in the forest areas is very rigid and it is very arduous to clear them off. Tigercat has earned the goodwill to complete this kind of work in comparatively lesser days than any other equipment had taken. The sad part of the story is that you won’t find Tigercat throughout US. They have kept themselves small but have plans to expand and are probably on their way to enlarge their business. But for the time being if anyone wants to buy their machines, they can’t get it from a showroom in their city and have to book the stuff on the net.

Tigercat may not have all the parts of the machine indigenously built in their workshops but they rather assemble the parts from other companies and make the best equipment. The M760 mulcher is a 425 hp machine and has a CAT C-12 engine in it. While they have used CAT’s engine, they also installed their own cooling system. Thus they gave the land clearing equipment the most desirable thing that it always wants: tons of horsepower and in order to cool off the engine, a dependable cooling system. Other than that, it has all the features that are required in any land clearing equipment thus making the work of the operator simpler. The operator will not feel that the machine is new functions and finds hard to understand them. On the contrary, he will feel like he is working on a machine that’s quite familiar to him and that will make him work in comfort.

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7 elements needed for success in the construction industry

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Success is a simple word but it comes with a heavy price. We have usually seen people always running for success but it is quite difficult to get it. A person has to strive hard for years to achieve it. Some even try few shortcuts and they are also able to taste success but not achieve it. As it is rightly said “There is no substitute for hard work”. You can be smart with your work but just being smart does not help. You need to be equally hard working. People who believe in smart work can only taste success for a short while and then they fall like pack of cards. It is because the foundation on which they are standing is not strong enough to keep them on the top for long. People in the construction industry in particular have to go through a lot of hard work and patience to achieve success. Other than that, there are few others factors that are imperative for them to have in order to succeed in the construction industry.

People to people contact:-

You got to be a good communicator if you are a part of the construction industry. Most of the world leaders are good communicators. Simultaneously, you need to be remarkable when it comes to people to people contact. You should basically speak with everybody in your company. Right from the worker to the managers who are managing these workers, you should try to communicate with everybody. You should be able to reach out to them and so should they. This will earn you something very important and that is people’s loyalty.

Patience is the key:-

When you are after something, you should be patient enough. Success is nothing but just a benchmark that you draw and then try to achieve. While you are in the process of achieving it, you should remember that by rushing things you can spoil all your effort. Therefore try to be as much patient as you can.

Remaining focused:-

A few failures in our life and we tend to lose our focus. This is completely unacceptable when you are a part of a dynamic industry like construction. Here in this part of the business you just can’t afford to lose your focus. Failures teach you something. Learn from it and move on.

Be punctual:-

We are often taught to be punctual in our schools but we kind of tend to forget it in our journey of life. Your punctuality displays how professional you are with your work. It also shows your seriousness towards your business and also how much you respect others time.

Knowing your business:-

To conduct the construction business you first need to know the business well. You can’t jump into this business and take important decisions. Important decisions are taken based on experience and if you lack that, you better start from the beginning.

Learn a bit about heavy equipment:-

Heavy equipment play an important part in the construction business. It is imperative to know which machine is needed for what purpose or else you might end up buying something that is of no use to you.

Market your business well:-

Promoting your business will let others know your existence. You need to learn to promote your business in a way that it is cost effective, pretty much in your budget and connects you to people across the spectrum.