Category Archives: heavy equipment

Tips to pick out your heavy equipment trailer

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Today, many types of equipment trailer are available in the market. Are you confused of what kind of trailer to choose? Yes, choosing the right equipment trailer is quite difficult if you don’t follow any tips, but at the same time it is also very important to get the trailer that suits your equipment. First of all, you have to determine what you want to load.  The next vital thing to consider is the weight of the loading thing. And finally focus on the procedure of loading and unloading it, and the vehicle which you are going to use to tow the trailer. If you are planning to find out the best trailer for your heavy equipment, just check out the following.

What are you planning to load?

A wide-range of trailers are available in the market nowadays that you can use to load everything starting from landscape materials to rock, to motor cycles and cars, to constructional equipment like tractors and bulldozers. That’s why, at first, you need to decide what you are going to load. If you are planning to haul a big rock to back up the landscape of your residential area, go for shorter landscape or utility trailer which has many sides and open, may incline for easier clear out of the load. For commercial site projects, switch to dump trailer which is well-known for its capacity of loading at least 8.4 cubic yards and 14000# GWR.

Enclosed and open trailers are also very common which are used for transporting old vehicles like cars, tractors and trucks usually at the same time. If you are more interested in moving two or more vehicle at a time, use large equipment trailer which will be capable of handling more than one vehicle. You should not be in a hurry while choosing the equipment trailer. Take enough time to find out the maximum weight carrying capacity of the trailer and how it will be stable. We have seen that many businessmen prefer to buy the equipment trailer for a short-term use. Considering all these factors, invest your money in buying the trailer so as to get full satisfaction on your trailer.

Unloading and loading process

Every heavy equipment type has its own requirements of loading. A top-notch equipment trailer will contain many options for spring-assisted ramps in contrast to easy hauling tilt. Many strong models from different manufacturers such as Moritz have on hand options like folding gates, 3rd ramp, steps for easier access to deck and some pull back places to protect your cargo.

Equipment trailers which have goosenecks attached with bed of the truck allow for a secure hold up. Though gooseneck trailer have many advantages, but its cost is quite high as they require a larger capacity of dragging and an efficient hitching system so as to ensure an easy installation of the gooseneck in to your truck’s bed.

Try to pick up a local dealer who is experienced in selling both new and used equipment trailer to find out the best equipment trailer for yourself.

Create a descent looking website of your construction company

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We often define ourselves through our personality, the way we carry ourselves, the way we communicate and how presentable we are in front of others. Well, it may not be so hard to have a good personality and be presentable to sell yourself to others but when it comes to selling your company to get good businesses from others; it is way too difficult job. If you are a guy who is not so technically savvy with computers and programming stuffs, you might need help from someone who knows about these stuffs and have experience in creating websites for other companies. You got to get hold of one such guy and create a website for your company.

When you are in the construction industry, you got to be far more presentable than your competitors. You need to have a website that is unparallel to the websites of all the other companies. Having said that, it does not imply that you should make the website way too appealing for others to lose interest from viewing your site. It is ideally recommended that you take some time out to check the websites designed by other big construction companies and try to keep things simple. People do not like to get into something that is complicated; so if you try to make your site look jazzy and highly upbeat, it may not go well with the viewers and you may have to end up changing the website again to make it look normal.

Try to put as much information as you can:-

A website of a company is like a guidebook that speaks everything about it. Hence, it is imperative that you put in as much information as you can in a systematic manner. Putting information in a haphazard manner can lead to confusion which will not be appreciated by the viewers. Try to keep it as simple as you can but as the same time it should be attractive and not look like you have copied some redundant website. You should mention about the different kinds of projects done by your company and also state the upcoming projects. Try to put some pictures of your work that will make the site look presentable and attractive and will also let the viewers know about your work.

Keep tabs to differentiate about your works:-

It is important to highlight the projects your company has completed for which if you need to put them into different tabs, you should do it. It is not advisable to put everything in one page. On the contrary, you should make use of tabs to differentiate your work and also put few words expressing your thoughts on the project. Try to write all positive as it can draw more customers towards you.

Hire good website designer for this work:-

Designing a website is not everybody’s cup of tea and it needs men who have undergone special training and have learnt to design websites. You should hire someone who has done work like these in the past. He can turn out to be a real job-getter for you.

Cat 140H transmission problems

Heavy equipment are prone to some or the other problems. The problems that occur in the heavy equipment can be attributed to more than one factor. You have to make sure that you keep a check at regular intervals on all the factors that ultimately leads to issues in the machine. Other than that, heavy equipment of any popular brand can develop problems over the time. Regular maintenance is very critical and one just can’t skip this important aspect. Though heavy equipment manufacturing companies work hard to produce machines that require less maintenance but it does not make any sense if one demands a machine that should work forever without the need of any maintenance work. It just does not work that way. It has been witnessed that a lot of heavy equipment have issues with their transmission which is considered to be one of the most critical organ in the heavy equipment anatomy.

Operators experience different kinds of problems with the transmission. Issues like the gears are not working properly or even if you change the gears to increase the speed of the machine, it just does not move fast. Well, when someone is experiencing this sort of problem then they should first check if the oil is good and if it is not then it is time to change the oil and then check if things are back in place. People using CAT 140H usually experiences this issue. The change in the gear does not help the machine to move faster. The solution to this problem is to get the side covers removed and clean all the trans-electrical connectors for the solenoids. At times, people are not able to move the gear beyond a certain point. Probably they are not getting the voltage in the coil which leads to this problem. The solution could be changing the coil and check if that works. Most of the time the coil goes bad due to excessive heat and it cause transmission problem.

The other ideal solution when you experience issues with the transmission of CAT 140H is to call up the service center of the company and check if they send their engineers who can fix the issue. However, if you are working in a place where CAT can’t send their engineers then you can try things on your own by going through the user manual. It does speak about various kinds of transmission problems that the machine can encounter and what one needs to do to get it resolved. It is also advisable that you take help of a mechanic who knows how to deal with the issue. User manual does throw light on it but if you are a newbie who does not know how to fix it, you may end up in a bigger mess.

CAT 140H are class machines and they very rarely encounter issues and if the issue is related with the transmission, it may take no time to deal with it but if you are on your own trying few things from the user manual will be a big help.

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How did they come up with their construction equipment names? i.e. Caterpillar, Hitachi, Case, John Deere

At some point in time in our lives, we must have wondered why the names of heavy equipment manufacturing companies so unusual. For instance, why would someone ever want the name of their company to be caterpillar? Caterpillar is such a small create and why would a heavy equipment company who has big dreams and intend to grow in the coming years would want to keep the name of such a creature. Same goes with the names of other construction equipment manufacturing companies. Names like Case, Hitachi, John Deere etc. are all examples of names that somehow do not seem to fit with the size and fame of the company. But they still have them and are doing absolutely wonderful.

In order to understand why these companies have such strange names, it is important that we take a tour of their histories and try to understand the real meanings of these names.

Caterpillar:-

Let us start with Caterpillar. It is said that this name was given by a company photographer named “Charles Clements”. It was in the year 1925, when Holt Tractor Company the pioneer in the field of heavy equipment merged with Best Tractor Company. It was then that Charles Clements cried loudly that the machine is crawling like a Caterpillar. Since then the name stuck with the company and has eventually formed into one big incorporation.

John Deere:-

When we talk about the John Deere, we actually mean the heavy equipment company that is in the name of John Deere. If we check his history he was an able blacksmith who doing pretty well in the state of Illinois. But he had taken up a challenge of using a better form of equipment to plow the tough prairie soil of Illinois. Therefore, he invented the self-scouring steel plow that made lives comfortable for the farmers of that area. However, it was only in 1837 that he successfully manufactured the first commercial steel plow. He sold that piece of metal to a local farmer who found it extremely convenient and spread the word to more people in the vicinity. He went into a partnership but that did not last long and had to come out of it. Things did not stop for him there and he continued his good work thereby producing more of such machines. He was of the belief that he will produce the best of machines for his consumers. Eventually in 1868, he incorporated his company.

Hitachi:-

Like many others, Hitachi also has an interesting story behind its name. It was founded in 1910 by Namihei Odaira. He was an electrical engineer by profession. The product that the company manufactured for the first time was an electric induction motor that was predominantly used for mining copper. The company started with its operation in a mining company located in Hitachi, Ibaraki. The name “Hitachi” also means “Sunrise”. This is how they stuck to the name of Hitachi and from there they started their journey from selling hard disk drive subsidiary to construction equipment to all over the world.

Mid range crawler dozers are widely accepted by customers in the construction domain

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Working in a small space will not allow huge equipment and you have to restrict the use to either mid-range or small equipment. When we talk about heavy equipment, it is not only about those big machines that you often see at construction sites but it is also about equipment that you see in your backyard clearing the garden or clearing the snow off the road. You do not always need a big dozer to clear the snow from the road. Imagine if the road is not that big to accommodate a big dozer, it will not be able to complete the work. In such a situation what you need the most is a mid range crawler dozer.

The demand for the mid range crawler dozer has increased over the last few years. People have begun to realize that it is not all about big machines but at times we also need something smaller in size to get the work done. This is how people have understood the importance of such machines and has led to the growing acceptability of it. Before we speak further on this, we need to understand what category of machine come under mid range and what goes above that. Machines that have horsepower between 130 to 200 hp are in the mid-range category. Anything falling short of that is a small machine and machines that have more than 200-300 hp fall in the higher range of machines.

A reports also suggest that the mid-range machines play a dominant role in the construction industry which was not the case few decades ago. However, not everybody likes to purchase high range equipment and keep themselves content with the lower version. Irrespective of the construction company being a big one or just a newbie, they all prefer mid range machines. The maneuverability of such machines are simpler and faster and are therefore considered potent for work that is meant for small range as well as high range equipment. Caterpillar’s Dave Cusac feels that though some companies want mid range machines to have hp more than 300 but due to certain technical alignment, it has been limited to the range of 150 to 215 hp.

Mid range crawler dozers have varied uses. They are not just used for single category of work but are used for several purposes and this is what makes the machine more in demand. Case Construction Equipment brand marketing manager has bifurcated the use of the machine on the basis of the horsepower it possess. According to him, the machine with hp of 130 is used for construction of roads and bridges but not into residential construction. Machines with hp of 150 are also used for building of bridges and roads but they can simultaneously spread their wings into larger jobs. Machines more than 214 hp can be used for mining, overburden clearing and similar operations. Having said this, it does not mean that these machines do not have the capability to perform heavy duty jobs.

Heavy Equipment that builds bridges

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In order to merge two cities or places that is divided by a huge mass of water, we make bridges. Bridges that are strong enough to carry the load of heavy vehicles and cars all running at the same time over it. In order to build something that needs to be so strong, one can easily imagine the kind of heavy equipment that were used to construct such a bridge. The kind of heavy equipment that one can see in a construction or a mining site may not be very useful when it comes to construction of bridges over the water but if we are building a bridge covering a small area that has more of land, then the utility of equipment like backhoe loaders or an excavator becomes essential.

Building a bridge requires deep study of the location and skilled men who can execute the work. An operator who has been working all his life operating machines in a construction site may not find this work as his cup of tea and may probably not even understand how to go ahead with a given task. It is because the kind of work he has been doing all his life is entirely different from the work that has been assigned to him.

Utility of an excavator:-

Heavy equipment like an excavator are ideally used for building bridges that does not have a huge water body beneath and it needs certain degree of excavation to be done. Excavators are usually required for building bridges. Simultaneously, it has the capability to pull out the dirt from one place and put it on the truck. Though an excavator may not be required while building bridges over a huge water body or perhaps its use is limited during the initial phase of the construction and then it is replaced by other heavy equipments.

Bulldozer is needed to level the roads:-

A bulldozer is primarily required at the time of building roads on the bridge. There are used to level the roads over the bridge. The roll of a bulldozer is also quite limited and not used extensively during the construction of a bridge.

Heavy crane bridge building machine:-

In order to build big bridges, you require huge cranes that will help to put the slabs on the face of the pillars. It is unimaginable to place those heavy slabs without the involvement of a heavy crane. These cranes are initially used to give a structure to the bridge and once the structure is formed, the slabs are placed over it with the help of these cranes. Unlike an excavator or a bulldozer which may have limited use, these cranes are extensively used during the construction of big or small bridges.

Since the making of two bridges are not the same, crane manufacturing companies have come up with different types of cranes required for the construction. Each type of crane is meant for constructing a specific kind of bridge. They comes in different shape and sizes and it varies depending upon the sort of bridge that needs to be constructed.

 

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Rent a medium range equipment rather than buying one

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Experts in the construction domain share the same view that requirement of heavy equipment are based on situation to situation. You can’t use one type of heavy equipment in every location. At times you need to change the kind of machine you are using and take something else. The large range heavy equipment can be used extensively in big construction sites which have the capacity to accommodate those big guns but if you are working in a congested site, you may not be able to make use of those big machines. At that time, you have to come down to medium or small range machines.

One of the plus points is that the medium range machines are comparatively less expensive then the bigger ones and hence one can easily contain it in his budget. Nevertheless, experts are of the opinion to rent a medium range machine rather than buy one. They see that the operating cost of the medium range machine is high and that might become a pain for you. In order to curb that issue, it will be prudent that you rent a medium range machine, use it to complete your project and then return it to the user. In this way, you do not have to worry much about its high maintenance costs other than the regular maintenance expense that will be born by you if it is stated so in the rental agreement.

The million dollar question would be how would you know who is renting what equipment. Well, the beat way will be to search it on the net. There are so many websites available that deals with online shopping of heavy equipment. You just got to key in medium range excavator or dozer or whatever equipment you are looking for. Please mention in the search bar that you want to take it on rent. It will throw you all the options it has. You then need to check which one meets your requirement. It will be better if you go through the item description well as that will help you to understand if this is what you are actually searching for. If you are finding this difficult, you can simply go to google and key in your requirements. There it will give you the link of the websites that deals with people who wants to rent their equipment.

Once you are in there, check the stuff online and if you like any, you can call them and move on for more options. In case you get a deal that you believe is the best, try to establish contact with the giver. They do have options that allow you to set up a contact with the other party. Talk to him and be explicit on your requirements. Also try to understand his clauses and if you see any room for negotiation, go ahead with it.

This is one of the best way by which you can save a lot of money by getting the equipment on rent and also fulfill your business requirement.

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The Latest Machine from the House Of Terex

As you know, Terex us one if the finest names in the world when it comes to making constructing equipment. You would be glad to know that the company has launched a couple of new models in its range of the backhoe loaders in the last few months. These two models are known as the TLB850 and the TLB990. The former is in the budget end while the latter is in the top end. According to Terex, the TLB850 which is cost effective equipment is more if a backhoe loader that is of the entry level. The primary aim of this equipment is apparently at hire markets. The base weight of the equipment is about 8230 kg. The machine is a bit beefy when compared to the 840 that weighs 7210kg. It comes with a newly designed hydraulic system with valves of central control that is closed. The new model also comes with an engine of 70Kw Perkins. The dimensions are more or less same as the previous version for this model. The digging depth of the model is about 5.39 meters. According to Terex, due to the new hydraulic system makes the operation of the dipper, boom, the bucket and the extender quite smooth.

The second version that has been designed by Terex is known as the Terex TLB 990. The operating weight of this machine is about 8248 kg. The weight of this version is not very different from the former version but the engine is of 74.5kw Perkins. The digging depth of the equipment is also about 5.64 meters. The 970 has been upgraded to build the new 990. Therefore, it comes with maximum torque which in turn makes the road and the loading performance of the machine much more improved. There has been a six percent increase in the break out force of the dipper. Operating the machine has become very easy after the simplification of the control panels. If you go for the servo models you will be able to get more foot space as the auxiliary operation models are not present.

Jon Beckley who is the product manager of the Terrex backhoe loader says that the key requirements of customers were productivity, versatility and comfort of the operator according to the research for the design of the new equipment. According to him, the designs of the new models will enable to meet all the above mentioned requirements that have surfaced at the time of the research. According to him, the breakout forces, the pushing power and the turning circle makes the new model a very productive and versatile option in the construction world. The general manager of Terex, Neal Nowick says that the 990 has been designed with new technologies and technical advances. He also says that it is one of the most significant developments as far as backhoes are in concern. Therefore, if you are considering new digging machines, these two models from Terex can prove to be an excellent option for you.

 

 

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Ask a Heavy Equipment Mechanic a question

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When it comes to the health and well-being of your heavy equipment, you can’t trust anybody but the best. Heavy equipment is a complex subject in itself and it takes ages for mechanics to learn it completely. As a matter of fact, many expert mechanics agree that they can work fantastically on some types of heavy equipment but if they are asked to work on something that they have never worked previously then they have to start with it from square one. This means that they will spend time to first learn the machine well and then only will start working on it.

This indicates us the fact that if an expert mechanic can experience problem dealing with a new machine, what will a newbie do who perhaps do not have any experience whatsoever. He may ruin the stuff if he does not get proper guidance. Therefore, it becomes very important for people who have little or absolutely no knowledge about the working of a machine to ask question to a mechanic. Alternatively, if they experience any problem in fixing a machine, it is better that they put their question in forth of a mechanic and see what he suggests him to do. It will not be wise to act without the guidance of a mechanic or else the consequence could be drastic and appalling.

We would be discussing what one can do to reach a mechanic and ask him a question or two.

Join a forum run by a mechanic:-

This is one of the interesting ways to interact with the mechanic. You will find most of the mechanics who deals with heavy equipment to be tech savvy and they also write articles pertaining to heavy equipment on their websites. You only have to get in touch with one such mechanic and if you have any question you can shoot it out there in that forum. There are chances that they might reply you with the solution. Just in case you do not see any reply, the next option would be to try and contact the person over the phone.

The contact details will be available on the website. You can fetch those details from there and probably email him first and if he wants you to call him, you can do that as well. Ideally, they will help you with some trouble shooting solutions and may even provide you a link that talks more about the subject issue. You check the link and see how it helps you.

Contact your local mechanic:-

Just in case, you do not get much help from the mechanic after having written to him on his blog/forum, the next best viable option would be to ask the same question to your local mechanic. If the question is related to some new technology that is available in the market and if that can be installed in your machine, you mechanic will at least take the effort to know about the new stuff and inform you if it is at all compatible for your machine.

Hire operators rather than operating the machine on your own

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We can’t do everything on our own. Even the geniuses of our time and also in the past were not able to find success in all the things. They have to give away.  A few things to others who could do it better than them. Similarly, not everybody can operate heavy equipment. It is not child’s play that they can just sit in the cab and start working things inside. There are lots of stuff inside the cab which are very critical and if something is pressed incorrectly, it can lead to unwanted accidents, injuries or maybe even loss of life. You may also end up damaging your machine. Heavy equipment are highly expensive items and any damage to the machine can cost you dearly. Therefore, having the right person for the job is what every wise person will want to do.

We will talk about few a points stressing why we should hire an operator rather than operating the machine on our own.

Lack of expertise:-

We may be an expert in drawing strategy which is required for the growth of the business but if you now think of operating the machine knowing that it is not your strength, you may end up inviting trouble for yourself. Heavy equipment is quite a complex subject and not everyone can learn it well. It also requires good deal of practice to master the art of driving the machine. You just can’t wake up one day and start working inside the cab. If you don’t know much about operating machinery, the cab is just not the place for you. A qualified operator with years of experience can steer the equipment with much more ease than you can think of doing. So, it is better that you hand over the work to the expert and you do what you are good at.

Operators may know when the machine needs what:-

Many a times, heavy equipment give problems that could not be recognized clearly by a layman. It is not that the machine will stop working, but will give signs of ailment. A newbie may not realize the issue but an experienced operator will understand that there is something wrong with the machine and it needs to be checked. Alternatively, the operator knows when to service the machine, when to change the engine oil and when to replace an obsolete part with a fresh one. These are things that we may easily skip but an operator will take due care and ensure that the machine is always in order.

Saves cost of the mechanic:-

An operator has wide knowledge of the machine and therefore if anything goes wrong with the equipment, he can be in a position to fix it. Calling a mechanic can be avoided if you have an experienced hand on the machine. This will also ensure that your project does not take a beating just because the machine has a small glitch in it. Any small glitch can be taken care of by the operator.

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