Category Archives: construction equipment

Best way to find heavy equipment

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People who are new to the construction industry and want to make a career in this sector will have to understand how the business works and what are the key components that are needed to give it a start. Once they have done their share of research they also need to check what heavy equipment they require for their project. It will be absolutely futile to go and purchase any heavy equipment and then sit and decide if that is really what you needed. Ideally, all the heavy equipment are used for multiple purposes; still there is specific work that needs special equipment. This means that not all equipment can be used for all kinds of work.

This leads you to search the heavy equipment you need to complete your work. You can hunt for machines in several ways. Few of them are listed below.

Check with the company or with the dealer:-

This scenario is generally applicable to newbie who do not know much about heavy equipment. To find which equipment will be suitable for the project, you can take directly approach the company who may charge you a bit more to arrange someone survey your project, understand your needs and then help you with few options. Once they know what your project wants, they can even suggest you few types of equipment and then you shall decide if they fit your budget. If you want you can even let them know your resource allocation for heavy equipment and they will suggest you accordingly. Same goes with the dealer but it is unknown if the dealer will take the extra effort to arrange someone survey your project and try and understand your business needs. Contacting a dealer sounds great for people who are in this domain for long and they know which equipment will do what.

Check with people in your business circle:-

This is a better option if you are pretty old in this business. Machines age out and there comes a need when they are required to be replaced. You can simply spread the word in your business circle that you are looking for equipment with certain features and for which you are ready to pay an “X” amount of money. Keep the window of negotiation open. There are always people who keep on upgrading their machine and want to do away with their old stuff. If your requirement reaches them your work is done. You only have to check if the machine is in order. Negotiate to a price that’s comfortable to both of you and close the deal.

Find heavy equipment online:-

There are plenty of websites available that are into selling heavy equipment online. You can also browse the website of the heavy equipment companies to know what they have in store and how much will it cost you. Simultaneously, you can also check the online stores and see if there is any major difference in the price of the products. Once you are done with your research and if you decide to buy it online, get in touch with the seller and arrange to pay him online.

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Do your research carefully before approaching a bank for loan

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For starting any form of business, you need capital and if you do not have capital at home or in hand, it means that you need to borrow. Now the question is from whom to borrow money. There are large numbers of financial institutions who are ready to give loans to budding entrepreneurs but each of them have some or the other condition and to meet those conditions is the toughest part. Some may not have conditions prior of taking a loan but once you have taken it, you find yourself in a muddle. Therefore before you approach a bank, you should do a proper study of all their conditions and then talk to them. If you have doubts, you can clear it out while you meet them but do not keep your doubts for the next moment as that can be dangerous.

When it comes to procuring heavy equipment, you are dealing with a lot of money and if you think that buying second hand heavy equipment will cost you less than a brand new one, you are right in a way but that does not mean that it will be so inexpensive that you may not need a loan to go ahead with the deal. As long as you have allocated enough resources to procure a machine you may skip the idea of going for a loan or else many big construction companies take loan to buy heavy equipment. They feel that it is worth to go for loan because by doing that they will not exhaust all their resources and can use it well when it is most required. They need money to take care of operating as well as non-operating expenses and they never want to go short of money when it comes to meeting those expenses.

Conditions of banks prior to loan approval:-

The first thing that you need to check before you approach a bank is their terms and conditions prior to the approval of the loan. They may have certain conditions like they can approve the loan only if your credit rating is above certain ranking or points or if your annual turnover is above a certain amount. These conditions are in place so that they are assured that you will be able to pay your debts in a timely manner. Some financial institutions may even ask for your business plans and how many construction projects you have in hand. They try to seek this info to know you have work in hand and can be trusted as far as repayment of debts is concerned.

Conditions of bank post loan approval:-

Some banks have conditions post loan approval and you need to be cautious about such banks. They may not mention everything crystal clear verbally and therefore you got to read the disclosure carefully. You may find few things that you are not comfortable with. You can raise those things with the bank and seek clarification. If you find them to be satisfactory, you may proceed or else you can always pick the next option.

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Second hand machinery

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Buying heavy equipment has always been a challenge for guys who are new to the construction industry. They may have big dreams but when it comes to procuring the basic they start feeling the pinch. Due to their sheer inexperience, they tend to take some incorrect steps that make matter worse for them and eventually things get out of their control. One of the most common decisions taken by newbie’s that falls flat on their face is buying new heavy equipment that can be used on the jobsite. They understand that it is too expensive and will severely hurt the budget of the company. But they somehow see no other option and go for the purchase. Well, they are certainly not out of option when they think they are. One of the most convenient options available with them is opting to buy second hand or used machineries. Such machines are pretty inexpensive and work great on jobsites. They will not find themselves in loss if they go for this sort of purchase.

How does one go about a second hand purchase? Firstly it is important to identify the heavy equipment that is being sold by a seller. Well for this, one can make use of online websites that are into buying and selling of heavy equipment on the internet. All you got to do is register yourself on one such website and browse through the site. You can specifically check the seller’s profile and the kind of machines he is selling. Concurrently, you can also put few of them at keep it in your cart. This means that you can review that item later and continue your search for more such machines.

These websites can provide you with ample of options and machines listed by several sellers at different prices. However, before you go ahead with the purchase there are few things that you might want to follow. Please read the description mentioned on the listing very carefully. It states all about the machine and these are things that you will find important for taking a decision. If you are new to heavy equipment, it is advisable that you get help from some experienced guy and then move forward.

After having gone through the description carefully, if you feel that this is the one you were looking for, try to generate contact with the seller. Since this is a second hand machine there may be few things that you may want to know. Things like fuel efficiency, productivity, reliability and stuffs make a huge impact on your business and you should make sure that the machine is providing you with all these features.

It is prudent to go and personally check the item once. You can do this if the seller belongs to the same state or else you have to judge by what the seller says and take a discreet call. Nowadays, most of the seller who lists their machines on online platforms ensures that they repair the machine or replace any faulty parts with new ones. This is why online selling sites have become a huge success.

Administrative and finance are two crucial departments of a construction company

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Every company has few very crucial departments without which the functioning of the company is unthinkable. Like ways, the two most important departments of a construction company can unarguably be the administrative and the finance department. It is perhaps after the consultation from the head of these 2 departments that the company can take any major decisions. If either of these departments does not give their nod, there are high chances of non-happening of an activity. If heavy equipment and construction laborers are two vital parts of a construction company on the field then the admin and the finance departments are another two vital departments off the field.

A person who wants to establish his own construction company needs to understand the workings of these two departments thoroughly and once he/she is confident that he/she can take vital decisions after understanding the functioning of both the departments, he/she should go ahead. Rest of the important parts like knowing about heavy equipment, what machine is needed for which purpose can be advised by other professionals but there is no expert per say when it comes to the finance and the admin departments. No one can guide you accurately when it comes to the finance section as they do not know your business plan and the capital you have for investment.

If only someone knows about your business plans, they will be in a position to guide you. This work is ideally done by the Head of Department of the finance section since he/she knows about most of the projects the company is working on. However, if you are the owner of small sized or medium sized construction company then you probably not be able to afford an expert and qualified person who would be heading the finance department. It is perhaps you who have to take the lead and take all the important decisions. You will definitely be having few men working under you but they can only help you with data, the rest will be your call. Therefore it is necessary to understand how both these departments work so that you have a fair idea as to where the company is heading.

The work of the admin team is primarily restricted to taking care of the employees by providing them with all the necessary means that will enable them to work in a safe environment. In case, if the employee has any problem, the first point of contact he will approach is the admin team who in turn will check how to get that resolved.

If there is any monetary involvement in sorting out the problem then they might then get in touch with the finance team and check what can be done. If it pertains to any other issue that doesn’t seek the requirement of the finance team, then the process may become a lot simpler. However, it has been witnessed in most of the cases the admin team has to work in sync with the finance team and vice-versa making them the 2 most important pillar of the construction company.

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Heavy equipment should be checked well before taking it on rent

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We normally have the tendency to check the in and out of the stuff before buying it. We do this to ensure that we buy a worthy stuff and not a waste. Now when we are buying something for our business we need to be double sure that it is of good quality and will last for years. But do we have to check the quality of a product that we will be taking on rent. There should be no question that whatever we take related to our business should be of ultimate quality irrespective of us buying it or taking it on rent.

In the construction industry, companies often take heavy equipment on rent. Taking machines on rent is not a practice that is followed by the small construction companies or small time contractors but even big companies on many occasions have rented different types of equipment. They do it for a very simple reason. Construction companies deal with different types of projects for which they require different types of heavy equipment and it does not make any sense to any matured construction company to spend their money in buying heavy equipment when they have the option to get them on rent.

One of the fundamentals that one should follow before taking construction machines on rent is to check the machine well. If only the machine is in good standing that the company should be going ahead with the deal.

Locate the heavy equipment:-

Primarily you have to locate the heavy equipment that you need for your business. You can check with people in your business circle if they know anybody who is renting heavy construction machines. You can also try to get a review of the person so that you know the quality of machines he gives on rent. You can then call up the person and check if he/she has the machine that you need and if he/she has what you have been looking for then ask him to give you a time to inspect the machine. Do not give any commitment before you have seen or examined the machinery.

Check the working condition of the machine:-

The heavy equipment the person is showing you may look good from outside but you do not know its worth as long as you have not worked on it. Therefore, if you are a person who know to work on heavy machines should take a trial and check if it is working smoothly. Just in case, you do not have the technical know-how of heavy equipment it is advisable that you go along with a mechanic and an operator who will examine the machine and will give you precise suggestions. You should also check with the owner of the machine if they have recently changed any of its parts and has there been any issue with the machine that has been fixed by any mechanic. It should not happen that after you have taken it on rent and some problems resurface and you got to face the music.

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Renting your heavy equipment can fetch you good money

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Big construction companies are always in search of state of the art technology machines and the ones that are redundant; they have to take the call to either sell it off or to give it to somebody on rent. Selling could be a good option but at times it becomes real tough to get buyers. Not everybody has enough money to spend in buying used heavy equipment and that too when they know that their project is only for a limited period of time and thereafter they may not need the equipment for the next many months. The big companies can’t sell their used machines to another big construction house. They have to look for small companies or contractors who ideally take machines on rent and once the work is over they give it back to the owner.

This ideally leads to two things. Since the owner do not require the machine and also does not want to keep it idle can make full utility of it and in turn can also earn some descent money and the taker in other hand also fulfills his requirement. Therefore it serves the dual purpose and makes life simpler for both the parties. However, there are few things that is needed to be taken care before you put the machine on rent.

Check if the machine is in good order:-

Since the machine was lying idle for days, there are high changes that the machine is not functioning as it should have been and therefore it becomes your priority to check if it is in good working condition. In case you see the equipment has become non-functional, take help of an expert mechanic to fix the machine. Try to replace all the faulty parts with new stuffs and ensure that you give the equipment in the same condition you would like to take had you been the taker. It is also important to paint the machine or remove any dents to give it a new look. Add some stickers on the dent to cover it.

Making an agreement is a must:-

When you are renting your equipment, it becomes very crucial to make an agreement putting every possible clause that keeps you on the safe side and also ensure that your equipment will be in order. You should state in the agreement that if anything goes wrong with the machine then you have full authority to charge penalty. An agreement will protect your rights and also the right of the taker. Hire an attorney who has experience in making such agreements. They may know what all clauses should be there in the agreement and will prepare the draft keeping in mind the interest of both the parties into consideration.

Make a quarterly visit to check your equipment:-

You must clearly state that you would like to make a quarterly visit to check your equipment The person who will be taking your equipment on rent will realize that you give lot of importance to your machine and this will compel him to take good care of your machine.

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Heavy Equipment and Texting is a bad combo

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We always like to be in touch with our friends and family members but there are times when the medium that you use to stay in touch with them can prove to be fatal. You may say that you are just trying to communicate a simple thing to someone but if you are communicating you should not do anything else other than talking to the person on your cell phone. You can’t be working as well as talking both at the same time. It just does not go well with each other and has every potential possibility to inflict serious injury to you or to someone else.

Most of the accidents happen while the person driving the car is talking to someone and driving at the same time. Now as far as the talk is normal, he has his sight on the road but if he gets to hear something exciting, his attention gets automatically diverted. So you may have your eyes on the road but definitely not your attention. The chances of you bumping someone on the road increase manifolds.

While you are operating heavy equipment in a construction site, you got to be extremely cautious about what you are doing. It has been seen that many experienced operators use their cell phones and keep on texting people while operating the machine. This is a very bad combination.

The operator may be quite experienced and has superb control over the machine but he is still playing with fire by diverting his attention on the cell phone. It has been observed that texting is more dangerous than speaking over the phone. While you are texting, you continuously have to look at the cell phone and therefore you lose your sight on the site. You will not even get to know if something gets on your way and by the time you realize it may be too late for you to control.

According to a research, it has been noticed that while you are texting, your eyes off the road/jobsite increases by 400% and the chances of moving into a different lane is increased by 28%. So one can simply figure out how dangerous it is to text while you are operating the construction equipment. Now the most horrifying detail is that while you are texting, it increases the chance of an accident by 2000%. These statistics unanimously speak one thing. The construction business owners should put a ban on using cell phones while working on the jobsite. The operators may expect some emergency calls but that can be easily dealt by providing the number of the supervisor on duty. So if there is an emergency in the family, they need to call the supervisor and he will inform the operator.

The contractors should also develop a cell phone free policy for all the operators and also construction workers on the jobsite. This will ensure the safety and well-being of all the employees working on the jobsite.

Renting heavy equipment is far better than leaving it idle

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A person belonging to the construction industry has to go through different phases. Some are good, some bad and some even ugly. It is very evident that all construction companies make good money during the good times but the problem arises when the tide turns for bad and they do not have work in hand. This is when most of the companies take difficult decisions like sacking employees or disposing their resources, which heavy equipment are also a part of. It is certainly not wise to give away those expensive pieces of metal at a dirt cheap price and therefore if one has an option that can avoid them to sell the machines, they should pick that up.

Renting heavy equipment is considered to be the most viable option one can consider if they do not want to really get rid of their machines. If they pick this option, they will be able to make money on a monthly basis and can also retain the stuff once the tenure ends. This means that they never lose their title from the construction equipment and has every right to claim the machine once the period mentioned in the agreement is over.

Few things one must consider before they think of renting their heavy equipment.

Finding a taker who will take good care of the machine:-

It is very important that you get someone who will treat your machine with the same care that they would have taken for their own machine. It has been witnessed that people who rent heavy equipment use them very roughly and not care much of its maintenance. Thus, it deteriorates the quality of the machine and you may find it giving a lot of issues. In order to avoid this kind of problems, you should mention in the agreement that you can make visits to check how they are treating the machine and the visits can be in an interval of 3 months. In this way, you can ensure that your machine is in order and when you get it back, it will be working fine.

Rental contract should be in order and should protect your rights:-

When you make the rental contract with the taker, you should make sure that you pen down all the important points that will protect your rights as the giver. Please remember that you are not selling the machine that you will have no liability on it later on. You are just renting it and it should not happen that once the period is over, you get back a completely worn out machine. Also state the date by when you should get the rental money in your bank account. In case you want, you can give them some breathing space just in case they need some extension to pay the money, but that should not happen regularly. If they ask for an extension once in a blue moon, you can consider it, but if they take you for granted, it is definitely not a good sign.

 

Dependability on training videos has increased over the years

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When it comes to heavy equipment, it is mostly about how well you know about the different kinds of machines that are used in the construction site. If you aspire to become a technician, it means that you got to know almost everything about the machine so that if you ever happen to work on one you should know how to open the stuff, fix it and put it back in place. It certainly requires good deal of training and loads of practice but apart from that it also require you to learn about machines right from the initial phase of your student life (from the day you join the technical institution). If you have your basics strong, it will certainly lead you to a good career. There are few things that you can do to strengthen your basics. First would be to read as many books as you can on machines and apart from that you can view lot of training videos that is available to you on the internet.

It has been witnessed that people find training videos to be far more helpful and informative. Some though find books to have answers for all the questions. As a matter of fact, it is perhaps the mixture of both that can help you achieve the knowledge on machines more than that relying on just one particular thing. Having said that, the dependability on training videos has increased manifolds over the last few years. This is the age of internet and therefore the reading books have taken a beating. People prefer to watch the training videos more than reading books. All they have to do is download the videos in a drive and play it on their computer. It actually allows them to see how to operate a machine. The visuals then remain ingrained in their minds and this is what helps them to learn.

Also for people who have poor memory and could not recollect things so easily, they can keep playing the video as many times as they want and memorize the stuff. Other than that, men who need some sort of help in one particular aspect can search for that video on the internet and check how that is dealt with. So you do not have to go through the entire book to find just one piece of information. Entering the keyword will do the rest for you.

Most of the training videos are absolutely free. This means that you do not have to pay a dime to watch them and learn. Knowing the complexities involved with heavy equipment, getting training videos for free is not less than a bounty. Ideally, people who write books also share their videos on internet and at the end of the video they try to promote their book so that others can know about his book and if they find the video fruitful they might even go for the book. Overall, online training videos has been a huge success making life simpler for millions of users all over the globe.

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Clearing debris using heavy equipment

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The entire construction industry is largely dependent on the use of different kinds of heavy equipment. It can be used for many purposes like road construction, digging deep inside the ground, rolling down an existing structure or simply removing debris out of the site. Well, removing the debris can be a painful task for the workers if they exclude the involvement of heavy machineries. It may take weeks if not months for the workers to just remove the debris out of the site if they had to do this manually and without the participation of heavy equipment. In a nutshell, it is just not possible. You can’t take a hit on your finance and delay your project just because your employees are busy clearing the debris. That sounds completely insane from the perspective of a construction business owner.

So in a situation where you got to take care of the debris, it is advisable that you have your heavy equipment in place that are especially used for such work and get the work done in few days. The entire purpose of using heavy equipment to get the work done is to save your time as well as the time and energy of your workers and also to speed up the work a bit. The heavy equipment that are ideally used to clear debris are excavators, backhoe loaders, front loaders and any machine that can have an attachment either in the front or at the rear and can attach a bucket out there are fit to do this work.

Many construction companies or for that matter demolition companies use a dozer to demolish structures and then use the same machine with a different attachment and clear the debris. All they do is fit in a bucket in the front and the operator makes sure he gets the job done in a day’s time. So a bulldozer is a favorite for many demolition companies. Though there are some who prefer a backhoe loader for the same job but many find dozers to be more compatible than any other form of heavy equipment.

Excavators can also be used to remove debris. The claws of the excavator can be used to draw the debris in it and then it moves at the back of the machine and dumps the stuff inside the bucket which is then moved and eventually dumped in the truck. Excavators are the ideal heavy machines for the ones who got to dig deep inside the ground and then carry the dirt and dump it in the truck. So the construction and mining companies who are into building huge apartments or who goes deep inside the ground in search of minerals find an excavator as a perfect machine for their job.

Backhoe loader is such heavy equipment which is primarily used to remove debris. It has a bucket at the rear of the machine and the dirt is filled inside the bucket with the help of the boom that’s attached on its front. It is also used for excavating work; therefore has similar features of an excavator.

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