Category Archives: construction equipment

Construction workers are more prone to risk during extreme cold conditions

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Incidents of accidents have become very common in a construction site and in spite of taking corrective measures by the higher department, these incidents are simply not willing to cease. At some time, it is the workers fault as they skip to follow the safety parameters and go to do work without the safety accessories, thus putting their life at extreme risk. At other times, it is sheer negligence that needs to be blamed for such accidents. The sad part is after experiencing so many unfortunate incidents, the construction workers and the higher management has still not found a way to tackle the menace. Ideally, one can’t adopt a mechanism that will alert them about a possible danger other than being cautious about it. It has been seen that most of the times, construction workers tend to work carefree and gets themselves hurt or killed.

During winters, the situation is worse. Workers have to work on icy roads where there are high risks of slipping while working and this may lead to major accidents. They may also not be able to foresee a possible danger and may go straight into it. Overall, winter is a big pain for both the construction companies as well as for the workers with no real solution around. There are few tips that one can follow to minimize the incidences of accidents happening in a construction site during winters.

Educate the workers about safety parameters:-

In order to save the valuable lives of workers, they should be educated about the safety parameters that are followed by the company. Not many workers may know how to use the devices when there is an emergency. You can’t expect them to know everything right from the very beginning. They need to be trained and should be explained about the various safety rules that one should follow. Concurrently, they should also be trained in how to save one’s life by giving mouth to mouth resuscitation, providing first aid to a fellow worker, emergency numbers to call etc. Once all the workers are trained in this, the number of casualties may decline.

Prevention is better than cure:-

There are workers who unknowingly risk their life to complete a given task. They skip to follow the basic rules of safety and in this process hurt themselves. We all know the saying “Prevention is better than cure”. However, we hardly walk on what we know. This is something that should be stopped. When a worker is given a dangerous task, he should be equipped with all the safety amenities so that in case he falls off the machine, he has something to save his life.

Very cautious while working in the snow:-

While you are working in the snow, there are high chances that you can get deceived by seeing everything white around you. You may fail to see a danger and if you are in a hurry, you may invite trouble. Therefore, you should always work in ease on the snow and take utmost care of your as well as your colleague’s safety.

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Heavy equipment rental prices

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Heavy equipment can always fetch you good price irrespective of them being new or old. If you wish to sell it or let it out they always have a value attached and can prove to be a good source of income. Moreover, you will always find takers for your machine. Renting heavy equipment has been a viable option for people who do not want to completely do away with their equipment. They may need the machine later but may not see any temporary use of it and therefore they decide to rent the machine and earn some money in this process. For people who want to rent their machine should be aware of the existing rental price and can’t ask for an amount that sounds to be extravagant. They have to first do a proper research on what others are charging for similar equipment and accordingly he/she can quote his rate.

Knowing the correct rental price has often been a challenge for the giver. Your machine may not be that old and is quite efficient on the jobsite. You are quite unsure of the rental amount that you should put on the machine as you fear that you might either over price the item or may leave it underpriced. In order to know the correct rental price, you can approach few rental houses that work exclusively in this department and gather information to know what price you should be renting the equipment/machinery.

In case you do not wish to take help of any external 3rd party company and want to work it out on your own then the most viable choice would be to check out few websites that deals with renting heavy equipment. However, this process can be quite time consuming and you should do this only if you believe that you can devote your time and energy in gathering all the information required to know the correct rental price. Once you have started browsing the websites of companies that deals with renting heavy equipment, check out the listings of people who have posted their item on the website. Go through the description as that will suggest the quality of their machine and the price they are quoting on it. You will be able to identify if your machine is better than theirs and if you should be quoting a higher price.

It is also important to understand if the takers are ready to take the item at the quoted rental price. There could be many people who must have listed their item without even trying to know the correct rental price. Therefore, check the profile of those members who have successfully rented their equipment. It is only through them that you will get to know the correct rental prices or different sorts of heavy equipment. Once you are sure about the price, you can simultaneously register yourself on that website and post your machine. If you have more than one machine to rent, you can state that on the description so that people who are looking for multiple machines can find you appropriate enough and will go ahead with the deal.

Selling construction equipment is tougher than selling any consumer durable item

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Many people consider the profession of a salesman to be one of the most difficult profession and they have valid reasons to counter it. The important question is why anyone would buy anything from a person that they have not seen or have not known before in their lives. It is very difficult for anybody to trust a person they are not familiar with and it becomes all the more difficult if the salesman is trying to sell things whose brand is not a known one.

There is still scope to sell a consumer durable product to a person but if you are dealing with selling heavy equipment your customer horizon gets further contracted. It is not everybody who will require buying heavy equipment. As long as the person is associated with the construction or mining industry, it makes sense for him to give his time listening to the talks of a salesman trying to sell heavy equipment but other than that, it would be a complete waste of time to pitch the product to people who have nothing to do with these industries.

Product knowledge should be up to the mark:-

Remember when you are dealing with heavy equipment, your product knowledge should be real good. People selling consumer durable products need not be that thorough with their product knowledge because just by creating the need for the customer, he can make the sale. Using the same tactic in case you are selling heavy equipment will definitely backfire at you and will never work for you. So, it is prudent that you do your own research about the product that you are trying to sell and gather as much information as you can that can be pervaded to the end user.

Selling is an art and by practice you’ll master it:-

It has never been easy to sell anything to anyone. Selling is an art and it takes time for one to master it. You got to meet as many people as you can and try to sell them your product. As far as selling construction equipment are concerned, your customer market gets contracted to people belonging to the construction segment. You got to reach them and try to make sure that you fix an appointment with them. Meeting them in person can make a lot good to you in learning how to sell stuffs to people. You can also take your senior along with you. Someone who is good in selling heavy equipment. Check his style, his posture and the way he speaks. You may not adopt everything he does but should pay attention on the way he speaks to the customer.

Do not lose heart if you fail to sell:-

You got to be strong mentally especially when you are failing to sell machines to people. Not everybody will need what you are selling at that point in time. They may keep your number with them and may call you when they feel the need. It is important that you always move to the next person and try to pitch the product in a better way.

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The Proper Ways of Preparations for Bad Ground

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The construction industry frequently suffers from various problems that result due to the poor conditions of the grounds that are often overlooked. It goes without mention that the affectivity of all construction equipment will rely heavily on how the condition of the construction grounds are. If you need to drive a heavy machine in the construction ground, it is very important that you make sure that the ground is strong enough to withstand the force and the weight of the machine. At the same time it is very important to put pads or cribbing under your feet so that the load could be spread out while deploying stabilizers or outriggers. This is a very important step as far as the reduction of the bearing pressure of the ground is concerned.

It is to be noted that a lot of problems regarding bad grounds could be avoided with proper planning. Therefore, it would be quite important to have a thorough knowledge of geology as well as soil mechanics. It is important that all the essential information regarding the construction ground are gathered and analyzed. Identification of the exact conditions of the ground is going to play a very important role in this regard. However, there are various other aspects such as the source of the information, verification and legal liabilities that have to be considered as well. It is also very important that the amount of money and time that is to be invested for the investigation of the site so that the ground conditions can be explored. Ill prepared grounds can be very dangerous for construction.

It is highly detrimental to take decisions based on assumptions in the construction industry. It is true that a lot of experience can bring the ability to judge certain situations. However, two situations are hardly the same and so it is important to run the tests on the ground conditions on a more applied level in order to ensure safety. Misinterpretations of assumptions can be simply asking for accidents in construction sites. It is not very unusual for operators with ample experience to be inexperienced or not so familiar with outrigger mats and the science of it. a good guide would know when to pick wood over plastic or why it is better to go with pads that are 100mm thick as compared to 50 mm ones.

It is important to stick to the guidelines so that you can construct with ease and safety. However, it would be not be wise to rely on any source that you find on the internet. Among a few important documents on the subject the following is a trustworthy source: Ground Conditions for Constructing Plant is a practice guide that has been developed by the UK Strategic Forum for Construction. Although it is at a developing stage at the moment, you can get the final version by the end of the current year. Although some of the issues pertaining to legalities are quite specific to the readership of the UK but the guidelines on engineering and physics are universal.

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Equipment Safety Tips

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Heavy equipment being such an important part of the construction industry, it can be said with no doubt that one needs to take good care of the machines he possess. He can’t just play around with things because if machines fail to function when it is supposed to, he will be into some real serious trouble. Therefore it is important to say that before the start of any project, check the health of your heavy equipment and if you find something not so correct, you better get that fixed first and then put them to use. Concurrently, one also needs to follow quite religiously the safety procedures when it comes to their heavy equipment. When safety procedures are followed it only lengthens the life of the machines making things more comfortable for you.

There are innumerable incidents that get highlighted on a regular basis that happens due to not following all the safety tips leading to heavy losses to property and at times even to life.

We will be discussing few heavy equipment tips that we all can follow to keep our machines healthy and simultaneously incur less cost on the repairs and fixtures.

Get good trained men on your machine:-

You should realize that you are dealing with big heavy machines that can turn dangerous if not operated by trained men. Give it to a newbie and he will make a big mess out of it. Therefore, it is of immense importance that you let your construction equipment to be operated by trained men who have sizeable experience in dealing with such huge stuffs.

Communicate with people around you:-

When you are working on the machine, it is imperative that you keep on communicating with people who are around you. It would be foolish to assume that they will understand your next move and will move away from your path. They may be engrossed with their work and if you fail to talk to them and ask them to move away you might find them exactly on your way and that might lead to some serious eventualities. Get your walkie-talkie out or 2-way radio so that you can ask people to get out of the way. Do not make a situation where things will become difficult for you to take care of.

Check your machine at the end of the day:-

You might be working very hard all day along and do not get the time to check if everything is ok with the equipment even though you get a slightest of hint of some problem. In a situation like this, you should check the machine at the end of the day and see what could be the problem and if it is a serious one try to report it to the people in charge. The repair team will take it from there and will fix whatever issues it had.

Regular maintenance is the key:-

This is perhaps the most critical and also the most ignored thing. Due to enough load of work, regular maintenance of machines can be easily forgotten. However, that will make matter worse and therefore try to get some time out of your busy schedule and ensure that you service the machine on a regular basis.

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Heavy equipment safety topics

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Since we consider heavy equipment to be the most important tool in the construction business, we should also give some importance to the safety of this equipment. It is undoubtedly because of these equipment that the construction industry is able to make so much money. Hence, they must ensure that they keep the machines healthy, secure and safe from any sort of hazard. Big construction companies have adopted a number of measures for the safety of their heavy equipment. The mid-size and small companies are also doing their bit in make sure that their machines are always in order.

Few very basic yet important things that can be done to keep the machines safe are discussed herein.

Machines do fall sick if not checked in time:-

Heavy equipment like humans may fall sick if they are not checked at regular intervals. They do give signs of not feeling well. It is just that the one who is operating the machine should be able to catch those signs and treat it well. Signs like too much noise from the engine are clear indication that the health of the machine is deteriorating and it needs to be checked as soon as possible. Ideally once should make sure that he services the equipment at regular interval and while the machine is being given for servicing, the mechanic should inform the owner if he finds any part of the machine as faulty. Then it becomes the call of the owner to replace the faulty part at that point in time or during the next servicing.

The mechanic should reveal how urgent it is (if at all it is) to change the part. Just in case if it needs urgent attention of the owner, then that should be communicated and needs to be replaced immediately.

An expert mechanic should be the one working on your machine:-

Always try to ensure that you get your machine checked by an expert mechanic who has loads of experience in servicing as well as repairing machines like yours. A newbie will definitely take more time to repair the stuff and there are high chances of him doing a blunder which may not happen if it is worked by the expert guy. You can generate a good rapport with the mechanic so that every time you have him working on your equipment.

Take necessary steps to keep the equipment safe from extreme weather conditions:-

Extreme weather is another cause of worry that many heavy equipment owners have. They need to treat their machines differently at different weathers. Like during summer, they need to ensure that the engine of the machine remains cool and ensure that it does not get overheated. During monsoon, they need to check that the machine is cleaned regularly or else there are high chances of huge portion of dirt making its way to the interiors of the machine causing wreckage. Winters are again a headache. Due to huge blocks of snow all over the road, it becomes almost impossible to work at a site. There the heavy equipment owners should make it a regular business of checking if the machine is in order and if there are any issues that needs to be sorted with immediate effect.

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Construction equipment manufacturing companies putting stress on producing environment friendly machines

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Innovation is the key for any industry and so it is in case of heavy equipment manufacturing companies. They give a lot of importance to innovation and work relentlessly to make better products for the end user. They understand that in order to survive in this industry, they need to come out with products that are little different from others and especially when they have already established a brand name they do not want that to get ruined. Recently, their focus is to produce machines that are environment friendly and the reason they feel they should be putting their focus there is because of the tremendous increase in air pollution.

Air pollution has been a major cause of concern for everybody and more so to the owners of the construction companies. Many construction workers are falling sick due to inhaling toxic air and many are coming up with various kinds of serious respiratory ailments. They just can’t afford to lose their workers to such respiratory ailments and hence they are also looking forward to machines that are eco-friendly. Construction manufacturing companies are already in the process of producing machines that runs on gas and not diesel. What they came to know through various surveys is that diesel machines are major contributor or toxicants in the environment and if they can be replaced by eco-friendly machines then that will make things far better for everyone.

Government is setting laws to reduce release of intoxicants:-

Governments of many countries are also aware of the menace diesel run machines are causing to the environment and hence they are also making laws that could prevent the release of toxic gas in the environment. They have urged to the construction and mining companies to take due notice of this issue and to act accordingly. These companies on the other hand have moved to the heavy equipment manufacturing companies and specified their demands to them. It is quite evidently going to take some time for them to produce bio-friendly machines in large numbers especially when there are still some small companies that would prefer to work with diesel run machines. They say that they do not work on a larger scale due to which they do not do more harm to the environment. Government is also not going too strict with them but is keeping a close watch on what the big companies are doing.

Will save a lot of money that is otherwise used to buy diesel:-

Construction companies spend a fortune for buying diesel to run their machines. If they switch over to environment friendly machines, then they save a lot of money that they otherwise spend on buying diesel. The price of gas required to run such machines are not much and hence the day is not far when most of the construction companies will demand for these kinds of machines. Though the price of eco-friendly machines are quite higher than the ones that run on diesel but still it is worth buying in order to keep our workplace safe and healthy for everyone.

Be open minded when it comes to borrowing money for buying heavy equipment

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We often find ourselves in a state of confusion when it comes to borrowing money to buy heavy equipment. We are somehow unable to decide if it will be at all the right decision to borrow money from a financial institution as they will charge higher rate of interest and it may take a toll to repay the loan. On top of that, we also have to see that we have sufficient money to run the business. One who undergoes this situation will definitely see this to be tricky because he intends to buy new machines but taking a loan for that is what keeps him confused.

There are few tips one should take into consideration before they think of buying heavy equipment by borrowing money.

Study your financial standing well before your think of any procurement:-

Knowing your finances well is very important before you go with the decision of procuring heavy equipment. If you see the need to purchase the machine is quite immediate and you do not have sufficient reserves to buy the stuffs and run the company at the same time then you should consider options like renting the machine or for buying used ones. This will ensure that you have the much required machines and also keep up with your work. You only have to pay the monthly rent if you take it on rent and return it once the contract expires. Simultaneously you can also strengthen your reserves so that you can at least afford to pay the down payment the next time you think of procuring the equipment.

Study the financial institutions that lend money for business at affordable rate of interest:-

It is crucial that you do a thorough study of financial institutions that are willing to lend money for business at affordable rate of interest. At times, banks come up with various schemes which do not run throughout the year. It is kind of one time offer where they lend money at attractively lower rate of interest. This is done to specially attract businessmen to borrow money from them. You only need to check if they have any hidden cost attached with the loan. Most banks offer money at lower interest rate but they also charge high closing costs which becomes quite problematic for the borrower as he feels cheated after the deal.

Repayment plan should be in place:-

Once you are done studying the loan scheme of the bank and have decided to borrow money from them, the next important step would be to form the repayment plan. You have to ensure that you keep the installment money aside from all the recurring as well as non-recurring business expenses. For that, place a strategy well in advance where you have a contingency or a back-up plan in place. If things go wrong you know you can still survive with the money you have kept in the contingency reserve.

 

It’s better to use used equipment than investing in brand new machines

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If you have ever looked inside a construction site, you will come across various sorts of heavy equipment. Machines of all sizes and use are available and all seems to be brand new. Construction companies take immense care in maintaining their machines to keep them looking new. They also believe in investing their money in buying new equipment rather than buying it second hand. The new machine cost them thousands of dollars but it also ensures that the user gets all that he wants from the machine. Be it efficiency, accuracy, performance and low fuel consumption, they may get it all in that machine and therefore they often sell off the machine that gets old in the system. As far as the big construction houses are concerned, they can be better off with buying new equipment; however there are companies which struggle to keep their business running. They may not afford to buy new equipment whenever they desire to buy one.

For new businesses it is prudent to use used equipment rather than blocking their finances in buying new machines. Before they buy old equipment, they need to check if the machine is in proper order. Only when they are content with the quality of the machine and are sure that the equipment will deliver when it needs to they should go ahead with the deal.

It has been that many small construction companies who struggle with their businesses put away the idea of buying new machines and hunt for sellers wanting to sell their old equipments. The reason it is better to invest money for a new construction company in old machines rather than buying new ones is that they do not get marked down in the most important component of their business and that is taking care of their finances. Buying used machines helps them in saving a good chunk of money for future business requirements. Newbies experience lot of financial hardships in their initial phase and those who successfully make the right decision survive. It becomes extremely important for new businesses to understand their requirements and their limitations and do not get carried away by the likes of big construction houses.

Another challenge that often comes across new businesses is getting their loans sanctioned. They find it extremely difficult to get their loan approved by financial institutions especially when the loan amount is high. Therefore, if they decide to buy new equipment, getting the loan for it will be very difficult. However, buying used equipment will not become a huge debt on them and they may find institutions that will provide them with the loan amount.

It is not difficult to find sellers in the market. A buyer can make use of platforms like online sites that specifically deal in selling used heavy equipment. Buyers can check such sites and can expect to get a real good bargain there.

The unbeatable advantages of using modernized excavators

Probably everyone is acquainted with the name ‘Case’ in the field of construction. The big manufacturers of heavy equipment like LLC and CNH America make extensive use of hydraulics to pass on the power to the machines used in the construction sites. The use of hydraulics is nowhere more liberal as compared to the recently modernized compacted excavator CX55B. Its hydraulic cylinders with long feat provide a greater area of work – maximal depth of digging 3.91m.

Advantages of using modernized excavators

Hydraulic excavators are used for propulsions, braking, steering and beating speed of the cab. To accomplish the steering, the crawler adjusts the speed of the individual tracks. This single feature helps it to rotate on its center by forwarding and reversing the tracks. The engine of CX5B’s rambles a single pair of axial-piston pumps of flexible dislocation, each pump having a highest flow efficiency of 15 gpm. One can use half of the flow to carry out the auxiliary tasks which is almost 30% more as compared to the earlier model. In addition to this, optional second-rate auxiliary hydraulics can run apparatus with numerous capabilities or add a fixed circuit.

To go on with the work of propulsion, the excavators use dual-speed axial-piston motors. When the speed is low, the motors can turn the vehicle with the highest torque of speed of 1.7mph. Each motor transmit the power to a track drive sprocket with the help of erratic reducer of gear-speed. The combination of the gearbox of the motor permits the small-sized motor to hammer on the excavator with the needed torque.  The motor of CX5B in the mode of high-speed can drive the equipment at a rate of 2.9mph.

The hydraulic system of the excavator contains a total fluid of 16 gal of which only 9gal is stored in the reservoir. The reservoir’s size is comparatively smaller than the traditional excavator is. So, it becomes quite easy to keep the fluids clean in this case. The cleaned fluid of the hydraulic excavator boosts up the reliability and life of the component.

The setting of the standard relief of the hydraulic system is 3336 psig. This huge pressure permits small-sized actuators to be used which transport power identical to that of large-sized working at bigger-pressure.

The CX55B also contain a standard balanced controller of hydraulics which uses operator joysticks. A chain of the lines of pilot transfuse the feedback and input signals as compressed fluids. Though the valves of electro hydraulic are used widely in equipment of mobile hydraulic, the simplicity and authenticity of pilot’s efforts are picked up for big region of constructional machines.

Another great advantage of hydraulic excavator is that one can still operate the hydraulic works without kicking on the engines. This is possible due to the presence of an accumulator circuit which stores the power of the hydraulic. So, in case of sudden shut down of the engine, the pressure of the accumulator uses the in-cab controller to debase the attachments in a safe manner.

To sum up, modern excavators CX55B has all the advantages which makes its use more prominent in the field of construction.

  

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