Category Archives: construction equipment

Use Social Media as a platform to grow your heavy equipment business

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Starting a business is not as difficult as growing it. You may need some amount as investment money, little know-how about the business and you can start your own business. You probably do not have to worry about making profits in the first phase of your business but as and when your business grows older and you start generating profits, making new clients, which is perhaps the time when you start thinking of expanding your business. Well, in order to reach the larger section of society, you need to use a platform that is adopted by everybody in their day to day life. Something which the mass uses quite frequently. If you are able to talk about your business in that platform, it is evident that more and more people will get the chance to look at your business and will appreciate it by becoming your client.

Today we all are highly connected with social media like Facebook, LinkedIn etc. These social media sites are used to stay connected to your closed ones who are ideally distance away from you. But you can still see them in the virtual world. You can make use of such social media websites to promote your work, to let people know the kind of business you are associated with. It can prove to be a big boon for people who have their business in the construction domain or who deals with heavy equipment.

In order to promote your heavy equipment business, it is prudent to use social media sites that are mainly used by working professionals or businessmen. Well, what you can do is create your own group and can invite people whom you know so that they all remain in your group and in this way they get to know your business from a closer angle. This will only help you to promote your business and in case if someone who is interested to buy any sort of heavy equipment will get in touch with you and place their order to you. You should try to keep your profile very professional as it attracts people’s attention and they do not take you casually. Having a casual profile will not have that high impact as a professional one can put. Remember, when you are putting up your profile in any professional social media website, it is not solely for the purpose to stay connected to the people you know but also let them know about your business and nobody will want to deal with a guy who has a very casual approach towards his work.

Moreover, there will be others whom you do not know but are linked to the people who are in your friend’s list and they also get to see your profile. Having a professional outlook will definitely give a good impression about your business to them. You never know when a big deal may strike and you may get chunk of orders from a new client that you have made from a social networking site.

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Road construction – Utility of compact rollers can give it altogether new shape

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Smooth roads are generally the bi-product of good rollers and other raw materials that are needed for constructing roads. We all understand the importance of good roads to the overall development of the country and at the same time how convenient it can make our lives. We all have experienced bumpy rides at some or the other point of time in our lives and the jerks that we get weakens the spine and eventually can cause lot of health related issues. Other than health, it makes the entire journey so very time consuming and uncomfortable that we may think twice to wander again in that zone. Since we all understand the importance of good roads, we should also give equal importance to the equipment and materials that are required to make good roads. Good quality heavy equipment is nothing but the kind of technology you put to construct quality roads.

So when we speak about quality roads, there is heavy equipment whose mention in the journey of the entire construction of roads is of utmost importance and it is none other than a road roller. Now road rollers are of several types and the utility of any types depends mostly on the kind of soil on which it has to work on. So it is not necessary that the one you see on big roads are also to be used on the lane that you have your house on. You may use a different kind of a roller to construct or repair the nearby lane.

For constructing big roads, smooth wheeled rollers are ideally used. Now these smooth wheeled rollers are of two types. The first one is a static smooth wheeled roller and the other is the vibrating smooth wheeled roller. These rollers are basically used in road construction where the soil is rough and it needs to be crushed. Soil like gravel, crushed rock, asphalt etc. need smooth wheeled rollers. Being rough, these soil do not require great pressure for compaction and the rollers are needed to give a finishing touch to the outer surface of the road. The most important component in the smooth wheeled roller is the drum that is attached to the front of the machine. The performance of the smooth wheeled roller depends upon the load per cm width which gets transferred to the soil and also the diameter of the drum.

For improving the performance of the roller, one can simply increase it weight by changing the drum from a lighter to a heavier one. Many operators do not change the drum to increase its weight but they fill in wet sand or water in the existing drum and make it heavier. They ultimately get what they need and therefore do not have to keep on changing the drum in order to make it heavier. While you are rolling the roller on the road, you should be immensely careful with the speed of the machine as it should not be more than 4-6 km per hour or else you will not get the desired result. Keeping it slow sounds to be the best way out.

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What heavy equipment salesman could teach other salesman in different industry

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Selling products of any brand can be difficult irrespective of how famous the brand is. The work of the salesman is to highlight the feature that matches with the requirement of the client and has to win his confidence that the product will last for long. Once the client is convinced with the quality of the product and how economically viable it is for him, he will go for it. But in the entire process of selling, every salesman gets to learn a lot of things out of every successful as well as unsuccessful sale. A salesman selling heavy equipment can teach a lot of things to salesman belonging to other industries. His selling techniques will be far more polished as he indulges in selling equipment that are quite expensive and people will buy those machines only if they see a dire need for it.

Intelligent selling:-

Selling is in itself an art but intelligent selling is a kind of a superior art which not many are able to master. Heavy equipment seller during his journey of selling different kinds of earth moving equipment has to choose their words carefully. They unlike salesman of different industry can’t keep on speaking to convince the client. Since they are dealing with a far more technical subject, speaking anything that is incorrect can back-fire them and they may lose the sale. Therefore they have to opt for intelligent selling where they are required to do a bit of research on the kind of work the client is into. He can pitch in his product as per the requirement of the client. This teaches salesman of other industry to follow the same pattern. Selling something just because you are given to sell it should not be your sole idea. Understanding the clients need should be the core focus area and then putting your products with his needs should be the next plan of action. If you are able to do that, selling becomes easy.

Do not be greedy after commissions:-

Salesman should not run after money. Though it means a lot to everybody but selling products that can earn them good commission should not be given preference. They can also earn commission by selling products that suit the needs of the client. Heavy equipment salesmen are required to develop a good rapport with their client and if they sell a machine with the intention of earning high commission, they may soon lose out on the client. This teaches others to follow suit and concentrate on developing a relationship with the client which will enable them to sell more products in the future and also get references of other clients.

Learn your product well before you start selling it:-

Heavy equipment salesmen are required to know their product in an out. They may not be able to capture the technicalities of the heavy equipment but are recommended to know as much as they can. This will help them to counter client’s tough questions and also win their confidence. Salesman of other industry should be open to learn as many things as they can about their product. This will help them to crack tough clients.

Modernization of heavy equipment has changed the dynamics of the construction industry

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With the advent of new technology, we also see the face of the relevant industry changing. It is pretty obvious that with new technology coming in, the method adopted by people towards their work is bound to change, which therefore impacts the overall performance of the industry. The arrival of new technology brings in a change in the attitude of people towards their work. They probably become more energetic and their aspirations rise manifolds. Though it brings in lot of positivity but there is also a fair chance of experiencing the negative side of it.

In the last few decades, the construction industry as a whole has seen a number of changes with the arrival of new technologies in this sector. Initially, there were hardly any sky touching buildings but now everybody seems to have an office in one such tall rises. This means the demand of constructing huge buildings is rising on an increasing trend and construction companies on the other hand demand for heavy equipment that are more technologically sound and highly effective in every manner. Be it building big bridges or creating an entire city under water, all seems to be possible with the help of technological advancements.

Owners of advanced technology heavy equipment get more projects:-

When you are about to give business to somebody, you will definitely check his credentials and the tools he has to complete your work. In the same fashion, when a client hunts for a construction company to complete a project, they ideally see what kind of heavy equipment does the company procures and how technologically sound are those equipment. They will be reluctant to give work to a company that lacks heavy equipment of latest technology and will look for bidders who has the potential to complete the work on time and if possible before time.

Entire township can be built in a span of few years:-

If we look back a couple of decades ago, building a township for residential purpose was very difficult as one had to construct large number of buildings in a large plot of land. This undeniably will take lot of time for the construction company to complete the work and give possession to the people who have booked the flats. Such projects may take more than 5 years to complete and if there occurs any issue with the title of the land then there are high chances that the entire work is halted for unknown period of time. These problems are quite rare these days. Firstly, it doesn’t take this long for a big construction company to construct a township and other than this they start working on the land only when the title on the property does not have any lien attached to it.

They use the latest machineries to plan the project and execute them. They understand that any delay will only cost them money and therefore they make use of advanced heavy equipment to complete the project as soon as they can.

Buckle Up on the Construction Equipment

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We often give a lot of importance to the safety of heavy equipment but when it comes to safety of the operator, we perhaps do not think much about it. It is not that we do not consider the safety of the operator to be important but it is for some reason have always taken a backseat and even the operator is not much bothered about it. You can hardly find any construction company who will ask his operator to buckle up his seat belt while he is working on the construction equipment. Though it is considered to be one of the most important safety processes to follow but not many operators take it seriously.

Buckling up on the construction equipment can prevent from colliding with the window of the machine when the machine hits something hard while in motion. However, people who drive trucks are often found wearing their seat belts. It is therefore to be understood that people are of the opinion that the chances of accidents happening while working in a construction equipment is far lesser than it is while driving a truck on the road. People may have the believe that since they are driving on the highway where there are other vehicles that move at a very high speed, there is always a chance of an accident and therefore buckling up can end up saving their lives.

But when it comes to heavy equipment they see that in a different way. They then feel that there is no point in buckling up when you do not have other construction equipment working at the same time and therefore there will be no collision. However, they forget the fact that while working in a construction machine, one has to go through a lot of jerks and if they can’t handle those jerks properly then there is a chance for them to come rolling down from the cabin to the ground. Though such types of instances are quite rare in nature but one can’t dismiss its vulnerability.

Now there are some heavy equipment on which you have to buckle up while you are working inside the cabin. The seat of the machines is positioned in such a way that you will fall if you do not buckle yourself properly. These seats are known as skid-steer suspension seats. Operators who work on excavators feel it is a must to wear seat belts for them. The machine keeps on jumping and one finds it to be extremely difficult to work if he is not buckled up. Excavators work on bumpy surfaces and therefore it bounces a lot which makes the operator to lose his seat every now and then. He will not be able to operate the machine if he is not able to position himself well on the seat and therefore it becomes a must for operators of excavators to wear belts.

Some construction companies are very stringent when it comes to buckling up on construction equipment. They just do not want any sort of untoward incident to take place for a silly reason like not buckling up.

Take the right call when it comes to heavy equipment

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In many situations, life gives you a second chance but there are few instances where you do not get a second chance and you got to ensure that you do it right the first time or else you consider that to be the end. Same goes with your business. In many situations that you encounter in your business, you do get a second chance but there also comes a point where the chance you have is the only one and you are not given any more chances. So you got to be ultra-careful and analyze the situation well before you make a decision. Taking important decisions is an art. You got to be absolutely sure of what you are doing as you know that you will get plenty of time to repent later if it goes against you. So do your calculations well and work on the graphs to understand the scenario and then take the decision.

In the construction business, one of the most important decisions that need a lot of pondering is buying heavy equipment. A construction company buys heavy equipment keeping the needs of his current project into consideration but the story does not ends there. He can’t throw away the machines once the project is completed. He has to use them for future projects as well. So in case he buys a machine whose utility is limited to his existing project and does not have any relevance to future projects, it does not make any sense for him to buy the equipment. Buying machines incurs good deal of money to the construction company and therefore taking a decision to buy machines that has its relevance for just one project does not sound to be a sane idea.

It is often advised by industry experts to take the right call when it comes to procuring heavy equipment. Renting machines for a short while can be a good idea but purchasing it for a short term project may not be a wiser one. Even if you rent heavy equipment before analyzing the need of the project can turn out to be a big waste of money. So if you feel that by renting heavy equipment you will not incur heavy loss, you may have to think all over again.

Getting your project studied by an expert in this domain makes lot of sense. The person will be liable to give you suggestions that will not be limited to procurement of heavy equipment but will also contain a gamut of other advices that will benefit you in every possible way. Their suggestions will be based on the facts that you will put across to them. Facts about your financial standing and the number of projects you have in hand and also that you are likely to acquire in the future. After doing a thorough research, they will guide you with the types of heavy equipment you should be using and if at all you should buy them or take them on rent or make use of some other modes so that you have them to complete your project. Overall, it will help you to take a sound decision.

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Heavy Equipment Technician Jobs

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In our competitive world where it is so difficult to find a job and people are running out of options when it comes to high paid jobs, there is one work that can fetch them good money once they become pretty experienced with it. Becoming a heavy equipment technician can make all their dreams come true of having a well settled life with enough money to live a decent standard of living. It has been witnessed that good heavy equipment technicians are rare to find. They are usually absorbed by big construction houses at a handsome salary while others move abroad where they get paid higher than what they can expect in their homeland. Many Gulf countries are hiring heavy equipment technicians from US, UK, Canada and from other western countries as they feel that technicians from these countries know their job well and will also do justice to their work.

The only problem that the technicians from the non-Gulf countries experience is that they tend to get homesick as they do not find any resemblance of their culture in those countries and eventually come back home after having worked there for few years. This means that the technicians are always in demand in such countries and the ones who want to make good money in a period of 3-5 years can make it to such countries.

Back in US, there are many institutions that are into coaching young minds to become able technicians and teach them all they can about heavy equipment. Though it takes immense practice on the part of the newbie technicians to learn things and they go to have enough patience to understand the various complexities that is involved in the subject. Heavy equipment is a complex subject and especially with the advent of new machines that is hitting the market every other day, it has become all the more difficult for the young technicians to keep themselves abreast of every updates. This is where they got to be patient and understand that it is not going to happen in days but will take years of hard work and dedication for them to become ace technicians.

It is imperative for the students to first get themselves enrolled with a reputed institution. They have several training programs that one can initiate and one needs to first understand which program they would want to go for. Ideally one should go for the entire course which is a 2 or 3 years program. They will get the basic understanding of different kinds of heavy equipment during the first 6 months of their training and then they might get to see and experience to lay their hands on some machines. Once they complete the training program they can approach different companies as a technician or can even start up their own business. However, it is advised that one should gain enough experience before they start a workshop of their own. Once you have your business, you should be able to handle all sorts of problems pertaining to the machine and for this you should be highly skilled and experienced.

Not getting buyers for heavy equipment – Try selling online

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Heavy equipment are really expensive items and not everybody has the money to buy it. For instance, a guy who wants to set his foot in the construction industry may have a pretty hard time buying different kinds of heavy equipment. Firstly it will be out of his budget as long as he does not belong from an ultra-rich family and secondly he will have a tough time to get hold of someone who can sell him used equipment. Same goes for sellers as they also experience the problem in hunting down prospective buyers for buying their machine. This issue has been diminished with the advent of internet and online stores to a larger extent.

In today’s time, internet has given both buyer and seller the platform to buy and sell the machines safely. So sellers no longer have to pay huge chunk of money to newspapers to advertise their products. All they have to do is simply list the item on the website by paying a nominal fee and rest is sorted. Buyers will go through the listing and if that interests them, they will establish the contact and may finalize the deal.

We would be focusing on few pointers that stress on what a seller can do to maximize the visibility of his listing.

Try to put sufficient pictures of the machine:-

If you list the equipment without putting sufficient pictures on your post, it is possible that your page will not receive many views from the viewers. It is quite obvious that people will lose their interest the moment they find out that there are no pictures for the listing and therefore will not be in a position to understand what the item is all about. The description at times could be misleading without the actual picture. Putting enough pictures of the machine will always help in receiving more views for the post.

Description should be in detailed format:-

When a person would be looking for your item, he would be obviously wanting to understand the in and out of the machine. Therefore, you should give every possible detail of the equipment. This information will only help the prospect to know more about your product and he may quite possibly find it to be intriguing. This will result in establishing contact with you which will bring you closer to a probable sale.

Use everything the site offers to make the listing look attractive:-

We must have heard this a thousand times. “First impression is the last impression”. This saying goes a long way as far as listing equipment online is concerned. You should make use of hyperlinks or any other feature that the site offers you to make your listing look attractive. This will increase the visibility of your listing and will pull more prospects towards it.

Pay additional fee to maximize the listing:-

Some websites may charge a nominal fee to maximize the visibility of the listing. You can avail the feature by paying that fee.

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Dozer vs Excavator: which is more versatile

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Though all heavy equipment are built with a specific purpose to serve the construction industry, but now most of the machines can be used for multi-tasking. Gone are the days when heavy equipment were used for only for specific purpose and companies needed some other machine for the next work. Today with the help of one machine, many tasks can be completed. However, such heavy equipment are also expensive and certainly cost more than the traditional ones but people prefer paying the extra price for the comfort of one machine. At times, there are issues when there is a requirement of the same machine at two places. This is when construction companies make use of the traditional ones but only when it is most needed. If given a subject where we have to pick a dozer or an excavator based on their versatility, it will be quite a difficult one even for the experts to do so.

Both a dozer and an excavator are widely used for activities like demolishing a structure, bringing down a tree and clearing the site debris, grading and excavating. We can’t expect an excavator to do heavy duty land clearing work. It can’t be used to bring down real huge structure but can certainly be used to demolish sizeable structures. At times, when contractors do not have a dozer at his disposal, he makes use of excavators to bring down any structure. It does not matter much to him how big the stuff is and if the excavator can do it. He is ready to give time but can’t deploy one more machine. There the excavator becomes more versatile. Though it does work out of the way but still its versatility remains intact.

Some experts in the construction industry believe that an excavator is more versatile when it comes to performance on the field. It is used extensively for a number of activities and one can simply depend on that piece of metal to complete all his work. They also believe that if given a hoe, the excavator can do everything under the sun. One can’t use a dozer to that extent. However, that does not imply the dozer to be non-efficient equipment. The group of experts who have their patronage for dozers feel otherwise. They see the dozers to be more versatile as it can quite efficiently do all the work which is somewhat not possible by any other genre of heavy equipment. They consider it to be the toughest of all and right from bringing down huge structures to carrying loads of debris, it can do it all.

There are also a bunch of experts who feel that it all matters on what kind of accessories are attached to the machine. You can get the same quality work done from an excavator that you can with a dozer if you gift them with appropriate accessories. These equipment fall in the category where they can be transformed as per their utility.

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Renting an excavator

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The most used heavy equipment in the construction and mining sector is an excavator. Right from forming a foundation for the building to clearing dirt, it is probably the only machine that is used for various purposes. So you visit a construction site and you will always get to see an operator working on an excavator. Since it is such an important heavy equipment, heavy equipment manufacturing companies are in a mode of producing technologically sound excavators and which is why they come in varying prices.

Other than that, different brands have different prices so if a person who works only on CAT or Komatsu may have to pay slightly more than excavators produced by other brands. But there is a better option for people who work on seasonal basis or may need the machine on a temporary basis. It makes no sense for them to buy an excavator to meet their requirements. On the contrary, they should be borrowing the machine for few months and once the work is done, give it back to the owner.

Such people can go for taking the excavator on rent. Here they have to pay monthly rent to the owner for using the machine and one their work is done they have to give it back to the owner. However, they have to maintain one important thing and that is the machine should be in order. They have to return it the way they got it from the owner. So just in case if there has been any minor dents or some part of the machine has gone faulty, they need to fix it before they hand it over to its owner.

Finding an excavator on rent is no big problem. There are plenty of companies who deal with renting heavy equipment. These agents have tie ups with owners of heavy equipment who do not use their machines and wishes to let it out. All you got to do is get in touch with such companies and check if they can arrange for an excavator. You name the model number and the attachments you need in the machine and they might get that for you. Well attachments are never an issue. You can always modify your excavator as per your needs. You can add a bucket to put the dirt in on simply increase the neck of the machine. What you need to know is if you can add any attachments on the excavator.

So let the renting company work for you and once they give you some options, check which one suits you. No doubt the excavator should be a good one but the owner should not overprice it and make it look expensive for you. So you should make it ample clear to the agency about your budget and the duration that you may need the equipment. Remember that the company will charge you an amount as their fee so you should get the best and your requirements should not be compromised.