Category Archives: construction equipment

Caterpillar D5 Dozer

Removing of debris, moving of dirt from one place to another and things like these are better done by few set of machines and a dozer falls completely in this zone. This means that a dozer is a far more beneficial machine when it comes to doing stuffs that not many machines are capable of doing. More to it, the price of a dozer is also pretty less. This makes it a machine that all can afford to buy and make complete use of it in almost all of their projects. It also works as a very good alternative for excavators which are used to dig just few feet and not deep inside the ground. A dozer can’t completely become an alternative of an excavator as it is meant for a different purpose but can be used at times when an excavator is not immediately available. This also makes it a multipurpose machine.

One company that takes pride in making top quality dozers is Caterpillar. It seems that they are one of the pioneers in manufacturing dozers as it all happened in the year 1925 that they produced their first dozer. Since then they are into manufacturing several types of heavy equipment. However, they still specialize in producing dozers. Talking a bit about the D5 dozer, it has been installed with a 105 hp engine and has a displacement of 640.7 cu in. The total number of forward and reverse gears that is available with the machine is 3 and the maximum forward and backward speed it can travel is 6.3 mph and 7.6 mph respectively. The total height of the machine that also includes its blade is 15”1’ long. Going by the standard blade, the width of it is 10 feet and 3 inches.

It has 6 tracks rollers on each its side and it looks like little wheels that help the track shoe to move. Moving into the operating weight of the D5 dozer, the weight of the machine including the tank full of gas and the average weight of the driver is around 25,794 lb. The total fuel capacity in the dozer is up to 65 gallons.

Once can certainly go through the specification mentioned here to decide if the D5 model of dozer is the one he is looking for in his upcoming project or if he needs something else. However, this is perhaps one of the most inexpensive models available with CAT. Though CAT has been given an impression of selling high priced heavy equipment which to a certain extent is untrue. However, this piece of metal is nowhere falling close to the expensive stuffs that CAT deals with. Having said this, the ones that people find as expensive are machines that are quite technologically advanced and therefore are slightly over priced than the conventional ones. The CAT D5 dozers can be easily purchased from the manufacturer or from their authorized dealers. You also have the option to buy them online as they are available on all the major online stores that deals with heavy equipment.

Make use of eco-friendly heavy equipment to save our planet

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Our planet is almost on the verge of getting destructed by its inhabitants and the irony is that we know who is responsible for it and still can’t do anything about it. We have been polluting or environment for years and now we are at the brink. There has been a tremendous rise in the temperature and we are all feeling the heat of the situation. There have been several seminars and meetings held all across the globe to bring the alarming situation in front of the world leaders but nothing much has been done to curb this menace.

The construction industry is also a major contributor to the global warming issue and it is high time that we realize how devastating this is going to be for all of us. The big as well as the small construction companies should think about what they can do to bring things in control. Let them at least do their bit in saving the world. Their contribution can indeed work big time towards the big goal of saving the planet from an otherwise inevitable destruction.

First thing first. With the ever growing population and with the ever changing needs of the people, it is nearly impossible to say NO to construction. Construction industry is here to stay and with it there are also chances of it polluting the environment. But what can be done is if the construction companies start using eco-friendly heavy equipment, it can work as a major contributor in bringing down the emission of Co2 and other intoxicants. It is just that every construction company should take the pledge of stop using the conventional machines that is pretty high on the list of environmental hazards.

The way to deal with this problem lies with the companies that manufacture heavy equipment. They can produce equipment that are eco-friendly and at the same time also performance oriented. Well, the challenge in manufacturing such machines is that they will be very expensive and the heavy equipment companies will not see many buyers for it. As a matter of fact, not every construction company can afford to buy these expensive machines as the ones who have just entered in this industry are working hard to survive, disclaiming the idea to ask them to use such equipment. It is simply not going to work and there is a need to work this out in a different way.

Here the government plays a very crucial role. They can ask the banks to provide such small construction companies with loans at lower interest rate so that they can buy them and have to pay less compared to other big companies. The government can also bring subsidy to the tax payments wherein companies who are using eco-friendly machines would have to pay less tax for the initial few years. Slowly and gradually the price of these green heavy equipment will come down and when most of them are able to afford to buy them, the government can restructure the tax plan for the construction companies.

 

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Used equipment can be economically viable for your company

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Buying used construction equipment or a brand new one has been the topic of debate for years. Many experts feel that one should go for brand new equipment as they are installed with latest technology and one may find it far convenient to work on a new machine than a used one. However, others share a different opinion altogether. They feel that for new construction companies, it would be rather difficult to buy new machines as that can push them towards financial debts if they are unable to pay their monthly installments. Even if they manage to buy the machine outright, there are still high chances that they may drain away all their resources and end up borrowing to meet other business requirements.

It is difficult to judge what one should be doing as decisions should be taken based on the circumstances in which a person is. Let us assume that the construction business owner has surplus reserves and will have no problem if he pays the entire money in cash. Well, in this situation, he needs to analyze if he may need to pull out anything from the surplus to meet any of his business requirement for the next 9-12 months. In case if he feels that there may be a need for him to take some cash out and by investing the money in buying equipment can lead to financial difficulties later on, he should abort his plan to buy the equipment outright. But if he sees no encumbrances then he can make his way ahead to buy the machine.

Small construction companies should primarily focus on buying used equipment as that will not cost much to them. Used construction equipment can be bought at a reasonable price which they can easily afford. Nevertheless, the drawback a used construction equipment will have is that it will not have the advanced technologies installed in it that a brand new equipment will have. This will be a bit of pain to the operator and slightly more pain if he is accustomed with operating on new machines. He may not find it convenient to operate the machine like he used to with the newer ones. But if the operator can work on both old as well as new equipment, he will only need some days to get accustomed to the older version.

The other hurdle that a small construction company experiences quite often is with managing its finances. If they are not so financially stable, then it is never recommended for them to buy a new machine. That will only increase their business debts and it takes a long time to clear them all. They also have to do a bit of research work trying to know the lender who can offer them loan at the most affordable rate of interest. Now most of the small construction company does not have the time to do any of these research works. Therefore, it is prudent that they stick to the used machines and once they feel that they are getting financially stable that they should think of going for a new one.

Heavy equipment disasters

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Heavy equipment have often been the reason of numerous accidents in a construction site. Nonetheless, they have also been the reason of some major disasters. Accidents are prone t happen but when we talk about disasters, it means quite serious ones. Heavy equipment disasters are not so often but when they do occur, the repercussion could be irreparable. You may find a lot of videos of heavy equipment disasters on internet and they are all real ones and not fabricated. Watching those videos will make you wonder how dangerous heavy equipment disasters can be and you may never want one such thing to ever happen in your site.

Mostly disasters happen when you can’t figure out what could happen next and continue with your act. There have been so many mining disasters that have taken many lives. The operator was not sure how much more to go and he kept doing his job. He did not receive any proper direction from the engineer about the same and things went awry. You may come across many such cases of disasters. In some of the cases, it was also because of poor quality heavy equipment or even outdated ones.

Here was an instance that happened in Houston where a huge pile of concrete slab fell on earth moving equipment that was stranded just next to it. The machine was severely damaged. However, fortunately no one was there inside the machine and therefore there was no loss of life. Had someone been there inside the cabin, he would have died for sure. Now the operator would never know if the crane could no longer carry the slab and will leave it. Such types of disasters are quite seldom in nature but they do happen and the impact of it is quite large and irreversible.

Some tips can be followed to ensure that such type of disasters do not happen in the future.

Keep the heavy equipment under the open sky:-

When you are parking your heavy equipment, make sure that it is parked under the open sky and does not have any heavy object looming over it. There are always chances of things falling down and therefore taking such unwanted risks should be avoided.

Clear communication is important:-

Most of the times, disasters occur due to unclear communication from either side. May be the operator failed to understand or it was not effectively communicated to him. Moreover, during the monsoon or in the winters, things may become very risky and the chances of disaster happening in such occasions increases manifolds. The operator may not find things quite visible and he may take a call that may turn out to be completely incorrect. He may fall in a ditch or may get trapped in mud. Once he gets trapped there, it becomes way too difficult to get the machine out from that. It may require the help of emergency team who will come down with their equipment to get the machine out of it. Therefore, what he should do and what he should not must be communicated very clearly to him.

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Heavy Equipment Broker/Trader

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For construction companies, it has never been easy to buy good heavy equipment at a lesser price without the involvement of a broker. When they are looking for heavy equipment, the first choice of theirs is to catch hold of a broker who can understand their requirement and accordingly can fetch a machine at an economical price. Simultaneously, when someone wants to sell their used heavy equipment, they find the most convenient and simple way to sell it is through a broker. The broker is the person who is aware of who needs what and he accordingly sets things and can clear the deal. Locating a broker will not be a difficult task you can find them on their websites. If you do not have their websites, you can simply google and search for them there.

We will be discussing why one should approach a broker when they can directly buy heavy equipment from the company.

They can simplify the process:-

Buying heavy equipment which is undoubtedly a very expensive piece of metal may not be a simple process as what many may perceive it to be. Different kinds of customers may have different issues and it may not be possible for the heavy equipment manufacturing companies to go through the issues of the customers in detail. If they find anything fishy, without further investigation they may reject the sale. Thus the buyer as well as the seller both are at equal loss. In such a situation, a broker can step in and look into the matter. There are area specific brokers who can sit down with the potential buyer and explain the formalities and eligibilities of buying a construction equipment. He will also check in advance if there are any possibilities of the sale getting rejected. He will go through the documents and then approach the company. Since he has studied the case, he will be in a better position to take things from there and process the sale.

Can clear the legalities involved:-

While processing the sale of heavy equipment, they come in several legal stuffs which a normal construction business owner fails to understand. At times, he may not even be bothered to read the terms and conditions of the heavy equipment company and may just go through the verbal communication. Later he may find himself in a tight spot leading to more complications. In such a situation, a broker comes handy. Since he understand what legal problems may arrive in future, he informs the buyer about it well in advance and ensures that he does not do anything that can lead to unwanted problems.

Understanding the need of the buyer:-

This is perhaps the most important aspect why a buyer needs a broker. Many of the time, the buyer may not know which heavy equipment he should be buying. He may not completely understand the requirement of his project and may end up in a haphazard purchase. A broker on the other hand can spend some time with him going through the project he has and understanding the kind of heavy equipment he should be buying. He can then advise him the machines he should buy and simplify things for him.

 

 

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Volvo wheel loaders

The heavy equipment that can be used as a supplementary to excavators in terms of lifting the dirt and moving it from one place to another are wheel loaders. They are more or less like an excavator with the only exception that they can’t dig deep inside the earth. But that does not mean that they can’t be used at all for any sort of excavation work. Wheel loaders can also do a bit of excavation but may not be as useful as an excavator which is built for excavating earth. However, they are still proven to be very useful heavy equipment when it comes to lifting dirt or debris. It has a bucket that is attached to the front of the machine and when the machine is moved in the forward direction keeping the bucket on the ground and allows it to drag, it tends to carry all the dirt in it. Wheel loaders are more commonly seen in mining sites as they have to deal with lifting lot of dirt for which they have huge demand for this machine.

Almost every heavy equipment manufacturing company manufactures wheel loaders but there are some who have managed to make their name in the international arena and amongst them one is Volvo. Volvo is a renowned company when it comes to heavy equipment and they specialize in manufacturing wheel loaders. They claim that no one can produce a wheel loader as better as they can and this claim of theirs has also been tested time and again and every time they have proven their worth.

One of the top features of using a Volvo wheel loader is the kind of comfort it gives to the operator. The person working inside the cabin can really work in ease and can make the most of his working hours without having to pay lot of stress of his body. A comfortable environment inside the cabin also gives him lot of confidence as he/she knows that there are very limited chances of him making an error. Though he/she needs to be careful while working but the ease in the cabin more or less really works out for him.

Volvo wheel loaders are also known for being fuel efficient equipment. Today, the major challenge that every owner of a construction company experiences is the rising cost of fuel. It has become a nightmare for many and they all want machines that are high in fuel efficiency keeping intact the quality of production. It is particularly this machine that solves this big of problem of theirs. Moreover, it also has an outstanding capability of lifting heavy materials with ease thus making it the first choice of mining and construction companies over machines of other companies.

The after sales service is also tremendously delightful. Firstly, problems happen quite rarely and in case if there is any issue with the machine, a call to the customer service of Volvo will ensure that it comes to an end. Their engineers/mechanics will be at your place trying to fix the trouble and making it the machine that you always wanted to work with.

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Want to know your machine – Make good use of training manual

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We all want to pursue a stream that promises us with a good career and simultaneously have sufficient income so that we can have a pretty descent standard of living. This is the desire of every person and which is why we all take special care to choose our career path wisely. One such industry that gives its people a promising career is construction. There are huge requirement of skilled men in this part of the industry. Right from engineers to laborers, all need to know their bit with precision and therefore it is a no brainer why many see a good growth prospect in this industry and every opportunity to fulfill their dreams.

This sector usually have high requirement of operators who can work with the heavy equipments with ease. It is to be remembered that heavy equipments are not so simple to handle and there is every possibility of an accident occurring if the operator does something wrong on his part. It is therefore very crucial on the part of the operators to know what they are dealing with and befriend the machine, know it well before they go full-on with it.

Training is an important component:-

Practice makes a person better but something that comes before practice is proper training. Firstly, you should know the different aspect of a machine and then you put your hands on it. Heavy equipments are usually complex piece of metal and it takes time for one to understand it completely. You may have to go through various courses in order to know a machine that has various new gadgets in it. For instance, if your company has bought a machine that was used in the military and whose functions are absolutely alien to you. You probably do not understand much about the levers and buttons installed in that machine. This is when you need some training so that you get to know which switch does what.

It may not be as complex as it may look but it is still a new thing for you to learn. You can go through the training manual of machines that you are not aware of and understand it well before you put it to use.

Online training videos are great help:-

It sounds tedious to go through every page of the manual to understand the different features of the equipment. However, if you get a DVD that contains the training video, it will be of immense help to you. You only have to hear the things that you need to know. You may already know few things that is being shown in the video and you may want to skip that part. All you have to do is hit the fast forward button and move to the subject of your interest. Other than this, most of the training videos are free of charge. So you can just view them on YouTube for free and improve your skills.

Keep some money for contingency – Don’t spend lavishly on buying heavy equipment

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Doing a business, one has to play with infinite risks. Because in every risk there lies opportunities and one needs to see those opportunities before they see the risk. No wonder one should also analyze the risk involved but that does not mean that he should avert from taking risk and forego those chances. Averting risk will also lead to losing of those opportunities that comes by it. Therefore it is said that one who takes more risk has more chances to earn but he should be careful enough to understand his risk appetite and that if he could sustain after taking that risk.

As far as the construction business is concerned, one needs to take special care when it comes to gaining momentum. At times he will be flooded with work but he should be careful to choose them keeping into consideration his ability to complete them on time and also the kind of heavy equipment he has in hand. Construction business will give you enormous opportunities to make money but it does not take much time for the tide to change. You won’t be able to figure out when the industry takes the beating and you start losing work. Well, this is the time when you will need the money that you have earned during the years to sustain your company. You can’t rely on your investors as they will also face the brunt of the market and will be short of money.

It is therefore very crucial that you keep a contingency fund while you are doing well in your business. Always keep on adding some money towards the corpus and make it look like a healthy sum so that the time you need the money you should not find it short of your needs. Another very common mistake that many owners of construction companies make is that they go on a buying spree. They keep on buying heavy equipment without even thinking if they would need it for any of their existing projects. Well, they are not aware of the possible danger that they may encounter. Any dip in the construction market will have a direct impact on their business and they will find it hard to keep it floating. Then they will begin with various cost cutting measures which was probably not required had they managed a contingency corpus.

Buy heavy equipment only when you see a pretty strong reason to back it or else it will turn out to be futile to go for such investments. It makes no sense to buy machines now at a higher price and then proceed with distress selling. So when the pasture is green for you, save as much as you can for days that might not be a comfortable one for the construction industry and buy heavy equipment only when you see a strong need for it. Analyze the situation well before you take a call. Do not fall prey to fancy gadgets and machines as you may not even need them in the first place.

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Make your heavy equipment worth for resale

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Many believe that heavy equipment has a good resale value but it mainly depends upon how you have used your equipment over the years. Ideally, heavy equipment is a long lasting thing and it does not require care round the clock. On the contrary, if proper maintenance and servicing is done at regular intervals then it will certainly last for years without any problem to its owner. Nevertheless, knowing the nature of the machine, many owners tend to use it in extreme rough conditions without even bothering to service it. Now that takes the toll on the machine and from there it starts giving problems. The owner needs to understand that if he wants the equipment to work properly then he also needs to take some effort in getting it serviced on a regular basis.

It may be simple to get a resale value for the heavy equipment but it is also important to keep your machine worthy to get a good resale value. If you want to list your item for sale you have to describe it well in the advertisement and must mention if there are any defects or issues with the machine. You should not skip that part and move to the next. The prospects would like to know more about the item before they make the decision to buy it. In case, if your machine is not up to the mark then you may not write good about it and that will deter prospective buyers to move away to the next listing listed by another seller. Though you are getting the viewership, it is not ultimately helping you to close the sale and it is all happening because you have not taken good care of your machine.

Employ a qualified operator:-

It makes more sense to pay more and hire a qualified operator who has good amount of experience under his belt and who can understand the machine better than anyone else can. Hiring a newbie may not be very beneficial to you in the long run as they may learn to drive the equipment and get the work out of it but will not understand if there is anything wrong in the machine and will only report it to you when it completely gives up. Hiring a newbie may cost you less as compared to an experienced one but down the line you will get to know the difference. Therefore, it is better to be cautious and spend a bit more rather than being sorry.

Give it to a mechanic once in every 2 months:-

Your machine may not need any maintenance work every day or every month but you should make it a point that you get it checked by an expert mechanic at least once in every 2 months. That will only help in increasing the longevity of the machine and when you feel that you want to upgrade it by selling the old one, you can expect a good price for it.

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How to protect your heavy equipment against theft

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A construction business gives a lot of importance to its heavy equipment as they understand how crucial it is for the smooth running of the business and which is why they take every care to ensure that it works fine all the time. They take necessary steps to keep the equipment well maintained, service it at regular intervals and if they see a need to replace any of the faulty part with a new one, they do it immediately. But there is one particular thing which not all big construction businesses give due importance to and it is protecting their heavy equipment against theft.

There have been a lot of instances of theft in many parts of US and the number is simply rising. The cops are also having a hard time to get hold of the gang who is into this. So it becomes the responsibility of the owners to take utmost precaution of their equipment when it comes to theft. Please do not consider it to be a trivial matter. There is a parallel industry operating who are into selling stolen machines at a considerably cheaper rate. The modus operandi is fairly simple. They first lay their eyes on machines that are not sufficiently guarded. Once they have identified such equipment, they do a thorough study of the zone and chalk out a plan to get it out safely from the zone without letting anybody get a sniff of it.

Let us now talk about the solution. First and foremost once you buy heavy equipment, ensure that it is registered with National Equipment Register. They are the organization that preserves the databases of heavy equipment. So in case if your machine gets stolen, you can raise an alarm and let the cops know about it. The cops will then get the relevant information from the National Equipment Register’s office and will find it helpful to track down your machine.

It is also crucial to do a background verification of all your employees. It is not that your employees will steal the machine but they can turn out to be an accomplice. The gang ideally will first send one of its members to your company and will get employed as a laborer. But his main intention is to know how well you guard your equipment and will try to draw loopholes. Taking benefits of those loopholes they will hatch a plan and execute it before you even get to know anything about it. Therefore, doing stringent background verification is way too important.

You got to keep the jobsite well-lit at all times. Thieves can make good use of darkness and can steal away any heavy item. They are smart and therefore you got to be smarter. If possible, install heavy duty cams all around the jobsite whose visuals shall be monitored inside the security cabin so that they get to know who is doing what with the machine. Following these basic steps can help you in a big way to keep your heavy equipment safe.