Category Archives: heavy equipment

Sell heavy equipment on an online portal

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Making lives simpler has always been the goal of technology makers. So the guy who brings in new tech savvy stuffs in our lives does it primarily to make things simpler for us. We at the same time have also accepted it as a part of our lives. Right from cell phone to computers, we are surrounded by tech savvy equipment right from the beginning of the day to the end of it. Similarly, our businesses also revolve around equipment that have a touch of technology in it. Technology has gone to such an extent that even buying and selling of commodities does happen without one seeing or feeling the actual product. All they do is check out the items on an online portal and then decide if they want to buy it. They pay for the product online and then it is shipped to them on their address.

Online trading is not only restricted to items that are of less value. Items that are expensive are even sold in this portal. Items such as heavy equipment are sold using this platform and it has a lot of shown positive results. People in today’s time are so busy that they lack the time to visit a store to buy machines. All they will do is check some pictures of the machine and read the description well. If it fits their requirement, they will go for it. This has become a perfect avenue for those who sell heavy equipment. There are companies who manage to buy machines at a lesser price from auctions and then sell it online. They see a huge margin of profit as they get to buy good machines at a much reasonable price and then sell it at the market price on the online platform.

Creating an account with an eminent portal is important:-

When you sell heavy equipment on an online portal, it is crucial that you select the most eminent and known website to list the machine. Do not go for portals that not many have heard of just because they charge you less for selling the item. All you need is viewership and if you list the item in a portal that not many visits the chances of the item getting sold becomes low. This will definitely not serve your purpose and you will have to eventually end up listing it in the portal that has a little high selling cost. There are some portals who even refunds the listing fee if at all the item fails to sell.

List heavy equipment and be descriptive:-

Once you have registered yourself, the next step is to list the heavy equipment. Put a quote that’s acceptable to everyone. Do not quote a price of the machine that sounds to be exponentially high. This will drive away people from your listing. Also put actual pictures of the heavy equipment and write about the machine. The model number, the engine make and other important details should be mentioned without fail. Once that’s done, you have to check your listing daily and see the number of people visited your listing. It does not take long for one to sell the equipment online.

 

Learning the technicalities of heavy equipment is not a tough business

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

It is human tendency to feel a bit excited or apprehensive to learn something new or do something that they have never done before. It is perhaps we get so accustomed to our comfort zone that we prefer to stay there. It is however important to get over your comfort zone and take some new learning in life. The same approach is also applicable in the heavy equipment and construction business. A construction worker if given the chance to learn a bit about heavy equipment, he/she should grab that opportunity with both hands and try to learn it till its core. There is nothing to be afraid about the subject. People usually have the apprehension that heavy equipment is a complex subject and it will take a lot of time to know the ins and outs of it. Well, it is no matter little complex as compared to what he has been doing but as is gets going with that form of work, he will start finding it comfortable and will no longer find it a difficult thing to chew.

Practice will make you an expert:-

An expert in a subject does not become an expert without constantly working on it. In order to learn things and master it he has to devote his time and energy, be focused on what he is doing and slowly and steadily he inches towards becoming an expert. It is no way an overnight activity and certainly can’t be achieved without being attentive to your work. In order to learn and master the intricacies of heavy equipment you need to incorporate all the attributes that is required to become an expert. You got to practice what you have been doing and ask questions to your mentor when you get stuck. After having worked for a month or so you will realize that you have started knowing much of it than you have ever imagined.

Believing that you can do it:-

Self-belief is very important when you start doing something new in life. Learning the technicalities of heavy equipment can be a little difficult but you should have the belief that you can do it. That is the confidence that every person who is interested to do something in life should have. When you believe in yourself you can get rid of the most complex situation in life and this is what you need to have during your On Job Training. Not just when you are learning heavy equipment but during every challenge that you encounter in your life that you need to sustain this self-belief.

Get a good mentor:_

You need a good mentor who can guide and help you learn the difficult part of the business. Learning the technicalities can only become difficult if you fail to ask the right question to your mentor. While you are working and are stuck at something, walk up to him and throw your question. He will help you come to a solution. This is one of the best ways to learn things quickly. The moment you come across an issue, put it in front of the mentor and learn the workaround.

Heavy Equipment Adventures

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Working with a construction company is no less than an adventure. Each day you will experience a new thing in your job. You will come across instances where you do not know how to act or react. However, you learn to deal with things slowly and steadily. For an operator, who has to work on different kinds of heavy equipment gets to learn a lot of things from he does. He finds his life to be more adventurous than anybody else who is a part of the industry. He has to work on uneven paths, at times need to dig deep inside the ground and do not find anybody else other than himself and when it comes to operate in a forest, it then becomes more adventurous for him. Dealing with different types of situations is a part of his work and he needs to ensure that he does the job diligently so that he does not end it up in an accident.

Well it was all about the real operator. Now there is something where a person who belongs to a different industry can also try his hands on heavy equipment and get the feel of an operator. All of us at some point of time in our childhood dreamt of playing with these big machines but it was told to us that this is not a child’s play and we should keep ourselves away from it. But that was a thing of past. There are heavy equipment adventures camps where a person who wants to enjoy the thrill that an operator usually does while operating a machine can get into one such camp and drive the machine. It is somewhat similar to heavy equipment amusement park but certainly not the same. It is claimed to be more adventurous than what a person can experience in an amusement park.

Take your friends along:-

You can plan out a weekend with your friends to a heavy equipment adventure site. You can speak about what kind of activities you want to do that requires involvement of your pals. The concerned authorities at the site will tailor made the activity for you as per your choice and will ensure that you along with your friends have a blast and enjoy your day to the fullest. The support guys will provide you with tasks and will instruct you as to how you can go about with it. These instructions will be given to all your friends who have to complete the task in a given timeframe. This can be quite challenging for people who have never done this before and may find it to be quite thrilling.

Perfect for corporate team building:-

Corporate companies can gift a day of leisure to their hard working employees in one such heavy equipment adventure site. Here the people of a company who perhaps work in different departments and do not even know each other will come together and work as a team to finish a task. This can be a good learning for the employees who will get to know people from other departments and will develop a rapport.

 

What are different hybrid heavy construction equipment?

When we adopt different technologies to make a single product that has added features in it, we can call it a hybrid product. We have so many hybrid products around us. It is just that we do not call it by that name. When we add new features, we in one way or the other add new technologies so that it can support those features. In a nutshell, it is the culmination or absorption of more than technology into making of a product. In the construction business, we have a mixture of hybrid heavy construction equipments as well as the conventional ones. It is evident that the hybrid heavy construction equipment are slightly on the expensive side and therefore not many can afford to buy them. However, it has been observed that construction companies are slowly and steadily adopting hybrid heavy equipment into their arsenal and it will not take long for them to completely replace the conventional machines with the hybrid ones.

Heavy equipment that are a combination of new features is the blue-eyed candy of every construction company. Construction companies in today’s time want machines that not only deliver the work in time but also conserve energy. This means that by using hybrid machines, the construction companies will be saving a ton through means of less energy consumption with optimal productivity. Therefore hybrid construction equipment are also defined as machines that have the capacity to collect, store and release energy during times of production. The look of the machine also changes and they do not look like the conventional ones. They are been designed with a whole new approach and that what makes them distinctive from the rest. Right from excavator to a graders and backhoe loaders, you can get a whole range of heavy equipment in the hybrid form.

Komatsu HB215LC-1 hydraulic excavator:-

This particular machine employs regenerative braking to store the energy of a decelerating upper structure. It uses an electric swing motor which when is put out of power it works as a generator and helps the upper structure to stop. The conventional ones uses hydraulic swing and do not have electric motor swing. The Komatsu hybrid excavator is regenerative heavy equipment. The electricity produced is forwarded to a capacitor. The power is stored in the capacitor which can be later used to power the swing of the machine or can drive the machine’s generator.

CAT Hybrid heavy equipment:-

This piece of machine uses the regenerative braking to preserve energy hydraulically. Therefore, when the machine uses the hydraulic swing motor and when the swing lever is released, the machine begins to slow down the upper structure and the swing motor is ceased to be driven by the pump. In this case, the motor is driven by the machine’s swing inertia making it act as a pump.

Hybrid machines not only save energy but also reduces carbon footprint. This indeed helps the ecosystem from getting more polluted. Construction sector is known to be a major contributor in polluting our environment and with the inception of hybrid machines this problem can be definitely tackled.

Buy Now on eBay [ebayfeedsforwordpress feed=”” items=”2″]

Contingency fund to be maintained to tackle poor market conditions

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Things are not always rosy for any industry and they all have to go through some rough patches at different phases. You try to pull out the details of an industry for the last two decades and which is doing phenomenally well now. You will be astonished to see that it has gone through several bad phases in those 2 decades and this reveals many things. First is not every industry generates profits at all times and when it experiences the bad phase, it has the potential to wipe off many companies that are associated with it. The second is the most important point and it talks about how to overcome the bad phase systematically. Now focusing on the construction segment, it is also considered to be an industry that has generated profits in huge figures and the profit numbers have been drawing more people linking up with this industry.

As we say people come and go but the one who manage to stay can become a successful business owner. As a matter of fact, staying in this industry is a bit difficult as people have mended their ways after making some money and mostly losing everything they had. So what ideally important is to stay afloat during turbulent times and you can do that only if you have managed to set up contingency fund for your business.

Normally, we set up such contingency fund to take care of any emergency in our personal lives. Knowing that the future is unknown, these funds are said to be maintained at all times irrespective how eager you are to buy a luxury for yourself. Contingency funds are never meant to fulfill your luxurious needs and people need to understand this before it gets too late for them. In the same context, contingency funds are quite important when it comes to tackling an emergency.

Keep increasing your contingency fund:-

At the beginning of the construction business, you must have allocated a certain amount towards the contingency fund. But as you move ahead in life and simultaneously in your business you need to ensure that you keep increasing the amount and save more in your kitty. While you grow your business, the risk factor also increases manifolds and therefore it becomes a must to keep increasing the money in your emergency kitty.

Do not use contingency fund to meet business requirements:-

Contingency funds are not meant to meet your business requirements like buying heavy equipment or paying wages to your employees. It is there to take care of difficult times only. You have to make sure that you avail sufficient amount to meet other expenses. However, when the business is not doing well and you are cash crunched and need to pay the bank loan perhaps that is the moment when you should take out money from the kitty. You can consider the situation where you do not have work in hand and you got to pay your dues to different institutions as an emergency one and can make use of your kitty to meet those needs.

Promote your heavy equipment business through social media

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Social media has recently turned into a much powerful source to catch the attention of millions at a single go. You can express your ideas, your emotions to people you have never met in your life and they still follow you if they find your stuffs at all interesting. Such is the power of social media that many business houses are using this as a tool to promote their business. Ideally promoting any kind of business includes lot of costs which not many are able to afford especially the ones who have just made their way in an industry and do not have a godfather to get support from. It is for such people that social media has come nothing less than a boon. They can talk about their business ideas and can share their website to mass. They can do all this for a very nominal fee. Some websites do not charge a penny though.

We will discuss few primary reasons why people feel social media is more powerful than any other form of promotion channels.

Cost effective:-

When it comes to promoting heavy equipment business, it involves tremendous cost that is attached with it. You have to create a website and need to pay money to maintain it unless you have sound knowledge on how to maintain a website. Other than that, the challenge is to inform people that you are in the heavy equipment business. Your website will give a detailed picture of your profession but how to inform people about your association with this business can be quite a challenge. This is wherein the social media steps in and allows you to connect to other users and help you inform others about your profession. You are in a way creating your brand image and asking people to give you work. Websites like LinkedIn are the most effective social media websites as far as promoting your business is concerned. You save a good deal of money while you are busy on a promotion spree as you have to pay a very nominal fee to the service provider.

Creates a platform where the giver and the doer meet:-

Social media provides a platform where the person who gives the work is able to meet the person who can do the work. So for instance, if you are looking for aggressive marketing guy to market your machines then you can just leave your requirement on the website and you will be flooded with emails or calls from people who feel fit for the job. Simultaneously, you can also pick some random profiles based on your requirement and send them an email checking if they are interested for the job.

Talk about your website on social media:-

You can’t put everything about your work on the social media website. Or else there would not have been the need to create your company’s website. But what you can do is talk about your website to people who are interested in buying heavy equipment. Tell them the different kinds of offers you can give them and if you are ready to ship it to different states.

Heavy Equipment Welders

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Fixing up heavy equipment is very critical especially when you are in middle of an important project. There have been numerous such instances when the heavy equipment has stopped functioning just because a particular part of it has gone faulty and it needs to be replaced. In situation like this, a person who knows how to cut the portion out of the machine and put the replaced part back on it plays a pivotal role. This can’t be done by any lay person. Not even an operator who works all his time inside the cabin can do this as long as he is not trained in it. Here comes the role of a welder.

The work of the welder is to cut the portion that has been identified as the problem, prepare the new part and then put it back by welding it and then eventually cleaning the stuff. These are basically the 3 steps that a welder does when he is working on heavy equipment. Other than that, there are also companies who buy used heavy equipment which are first dismantled and then installed with new parts. This work also requires welding skills and therefore the work of a welder is required by such companies.

Special training needed to become welders:-

As one require training to understand heavy equipment and operate it, in the similar fashion when one takes up the job to fix heavy equipment they have to undergo a special training on welding. The mechanics who work to fix machines are necessarily good welders but this does not mean that all mechanics know to weld. However, if you know to weld heavy equipment you have a brighter chance to become a good mechanic. Therefore, folks who aim to become good mechanics train themselves into welding machines.

Welders should know to cut things:-

Welders do not necessarily mean people who can join things but it also extends to cutting a part of a machine. Welders use oxy-fuel to cut metal. Some also use plasma for the same purpose. The most common form of cutting done is through oxy-fuel and it can be found in almost every service trucks. Plasma is however faster than oxy-fuel and can even cut an aluminum or stainless steel sheet which can’t be done using an oxy-fuel. This basic information should be known by the welders before they perform their task. Once they are done with the cutting work the next step is to sooth the rough edges so that the new part can be installed properly. Removing the rough edges can be a challenge to most welders as it is a piece of sharp work and they need to ensure that they have removed the slightest of remnants/cracks.

Huge demand in the construction industry:-

Heavy equipment welders in particular are in huge demand in the construction industry. They are usually offered high salary and someone who is experienced can demand more from the company. Package is perhaps not a constraint for the right candidate. It is just that the welder should know his work well and can complete the assigned work with precision.

How to implement a safety program

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Forming rules is to a larger extent a simple job. What is rather difficult is to implement the rules on the ground level. It takes a lot of hardships on the part of the people who are been assigned the job to execute a program. They have to work hard to explain the folks the reason why the change has been brought and what good it is for them. You will also find few guys who will not agree with the new program and will be reluctant to participate. These challenges need to be addressed and sorted out as well. When a construction company comes up with a safety program, it means that the overall employees working in the company have to now follow some extra rules which they are not used to. Bringing something all of a sudden can be a little difficult for people to accept and therefore they might not take it sportingly even if the program is for their good.

A construction company while trying to implement a safety program needs to keep certain facts into perspective and then gradually try to bring in the change.

Make it a part of their habit:-

The reason why many construction workers do not want to wear those extra safety belts is because they have never worn one and when they are asked to attach extra load on their body they might not be comfortable with the idea. Therefore, one can primarily deal with this by bringing in the change gradually and make them used to it. You can ask them to wear a bit of extra accessories but you inform them well in advance that the company is intending to provide the workers with additional safety gadgets and people should be wearing them so that they can work safely. This will bring in a sort of excitement amongst the people and they will welcome the decision.

Provide proper training before they actually start using it:-

Training your workers on following a safety program is quite essential. You may form certain safety guidelines but as long as the workers are not informed about it in advance it will not be fair enough to ask them to follow it the day you want them to follow. They just do not know what the safety program is all about and why you want them to follow it. Proper training of the safety program should be given to the workers and all their questions need to be answered so that they take the program positively and apply it on the jobsite.

Monitoring the implementation of the safety program:-

Once you have trained the workers about the importance of the safety program and have also asked them to follow, the next important thing will be to monitor if all the workers are correctly following the safety norms. In the initial stage, it might be a bit difficult for the guys to be in sync with the norms and therefore proper monitoring is required so that whenever someone is having a hard time to follow, he should be assisted and shown the correct method.

Check the UCC of heavy equipment before you buy one

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

We all buy properties and while we search for a property, we want to ensure one thing and that is if there is any existing lien on the property. If the owner of the property is paying installments to the lender then you will find the lender holding the first lien or else the title will be in the name of the owner of the house. However, if you see any more lien on the same property then you should get cautious and inquire about the other lien holder. You just can’t put your hands in a property that has multiple liens. The title of the house should be in the name of its owner and in your case the seller. Similarly when it comes to buying heavy equipment you got to maintain the same level of caution. You have to check the UCC on the heavy equipment and only if you see all is clear that you should go ahead with the deal.

Ask the seller to show you the papers:-

Once you have decided to buy a construction machine from a dealer or a contractor or an individual, you should ask if the machine solely belongs to him and once you get the answer in positive you should then ask for the papers. Go through the document and try to understand everything that is in there. Ideally the title papers of heavy equipment are not so lengthy and complex that a layman will have problem to figure out what is written in it. However, if you find something fishy in it that raises doubt you can ask him to give the photocopy of the document so that you can get it checked with an attorney or someone who has the ability to comprehend a legal document. It is only after you are completely convinced with the authenticity of the document that you should proceed.

Ample of problems with heavy equipment with more than one lien:-

If you intend to buy construction equipment that has more than one lien, you are seriously inviting for trouble. Any real property which also includes construction machineries and has more than one lien becomes difficult to identify the real owner of the property. On the contrary, every person who has a lien is the rightful owner of the property. This means if you buy the heavy equipment and pays the amount to the seller you still can’t claim to be its sole holder. People who have their liens on the machine will bug you for no fault of yours. It can even lead to legal proceedings which will further hamper your business.

Search the serial number on UCC “Uniform Commercial Code”:-

It is quite simple to identify the name of the UCC holder if you know how to browse internet. All you got to do is go to google and key in “Uniform Commercial Code”. There you will get to know if the machine has any liens on it. Other than that a bill of sale can also act as an evidence.

It is a bouncy ride to become best heavy equipment salesman

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

It is said that one should pursue the career that he likes to do. He/she should not get into something that does not interest him. Selling is one such profession where the person if he/she likes the job he can really marvel in it and if he/she does not like what he/she is doing then it can turn out to be a sour experience for him. People who are in the profession of selling often aims to become the best salesman but through their journey of selling stuffs they experience so much of hardships that most of the folks do not want to continue with the profession any longer and just give it up. The work of a salesman is indeed a tough one where he not only has to convince people to buy his product but also need to have good knowledge about the product. This means that he continuously has to work on upgrading his knowledge pertaining to the product and at the same time increase his customer base. He should be equally good with his communication skill which will help him to convince people.

Search for a mentor:-

In order to make selling heavy equipment a little simpler, you should take help of a veteran who should guide you on how to pitch heavy equipment to people who deal with it day in and out. You can’t use the same old selling tricks on everybody because guys from the construction industry are very specific with their needs and they will not budge an inch from they need and what you have to offer them. They will go for the items that best suits their business and will not see whom they are buying it from. Though they have loyalties towards certain brands and may not want to change their brand but will not buy an alternative. The veteran who is in this industry for a long time knows how to react under various situations and will mentor you accordingly. Normally a heavy equipment manufacturing company manufactures all types of heavy equipment under the sun. It is just the factor of availability of the machine in the market. The mentor can guide you on how you can avail things that are rare and impress your customer.

Do not stay low for a long time:-

At times it is recommended that people should stay a bit low when things are not working for them. They should relax a bit and then hit back. For a heavy equipment salesperson the duration of staying low is very limited. He needs to be rolling for most of the time and for that he needs to gear up his energy after every unsuccessful sale, figure out the reason what went wrong and what he can do differently the next time. Growing your connection is quite important for a salesman and therefore you just can’t afford to stay low for a long time. Bad phases come and go but you need to make sure that you are there in the news.

Buy Now on eBay [ebayfeedsforwordpress feed=”” items=”5″]