Tag Archives: heavy equipment

Use stickers and paint to give a new look to your heavy equipment

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Do you run a construction business? Regardless of small or big, you must own some or the other heavy construction equipment, right? Well, just like others, you too will have to encounter the problem of the heavy construction equipment being old and worn down after continuous usage for years. However, the worn down appearance of the heavy construction equipment do not affect the performance of the machines. In that case, replacing the machine or buying a new one is not at all a solution or an option. What should you do in that case?

What are the problems that you face?

Before you think of giving your heavy construction equipment a makeover or refurbishment, it is a must that you know about the problems that you will have to face with them.

  • In most cases, the heavy construction equipment loses its colour. This is because these machines and tools are exposed to concrete, cement, mud and dust and many such hard particles that can wear off the paint of the equipment. Despite cleaning the equipment regularly, you will find that the paint is not staying for long.
  • Yet another difficulty that the equipment operators face is that the machines and tools within the equipment lose their tags or instructions. Hence, new operators have to face trouble with understanding which button or lever indicates a certain function.
  • Structural damages are some of the most common damages that are caused to the heavy construction equipment. When your heavy equipment suffers this damage, it will require serious repair. Otherwise, it might lead to serious accidents.

Giving the heavy equipment a new look:

If your heavy equipment has undergone these troubles, it is a must that you choose some refurbishing techniques to give your equipment a brand new look. This is something that you will have to do carefully, so that it does not cause you too much of cost.

  1. Paint the equipment:

 

One thing that is a basic and must be done once in a while is to paint your heavy construction equipment. Your equipment requires occasional paint, as this enhances the beauty of the equipment as well as increases the life of the equipment. The reason behind this is that the paint for the heavy construction equipment is strong and protects the heavy metal bodies of the equipment. Hence, be it the weather damages or the concrete or cement damages, the paint will protect the equipment for long.

  2.  Use stickers:

 

Stickers are something that can always give a new look to any of your vehicles and other personal assets. However, when it comes to the heavy construction equipment, using stickers is a great idea. Not only can the stickers give a new look to the equipment, but they can also help you to revive the indication and instruction labels. As these stickers can be easily customized, you can make the stickers as per your requirement. Even the sticker that boldly expresses the name of your construction company can be used on the equipment.

So, what are you waiting for? Give your equipment a new look with the simple stickers and paint and get rid of the old and wearied look.

Veteran salesman should be supportive to the newbie

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No wonder doing a sales job is one of the most difficult jobs one can do and it becomes harder when you do not get much support from the people who have been doing this job for years. It is pretty obvious that the young guns will definitely look for some sort of support from the older guys and this will what help them to climb up the ladder in life. Selling heavy equipment is considered to be a tough man’s job and not everybody can take the agony of persuading clients to purchase a thousand dollar stuff which the sales guy himself does not know much about.

The new ones will certainly not have much idea with what they dealing with but the tenured guys know how to crack the deal and which machine is used for what purpose. They kind of try to know the requirement of their client and then pitch their product. But the newbie will not be able to do that effectively. He may possibly speak everything about the heavy equipment that he has learnt from various sources but when it comes to comparing it with the client’s requirements, there are high chances that he might get completely bowled.

Give veterans a team to mentor:-

Every newcomer to any business needs a mentor to guide them. Here the veterans can play the role of a mentor and guide the new sales guys to glory. There are lots of tricks to a successful sale that a veteran sales person learns during his years of selling heavy equipment. He can share a bit of them and check how the guys are incorporating those tricks in their sales activity. Right from cold calling to fixing an appointment to making a successful sale, he needs to check that the guys are doing well in their job. In case, if someone is having a hard time and is dealing with some issue, he can jump in there and try to fix the problem. If required he can accompany the person for few appointments with different contractors or construction companies and show him the right way to sell heavy equipment.

Talk one to one with the new guy:-

Talking one to one with the new guys is a crucial point that the veteran should take into consideration. Not all are brilliant salesperson and some needs that extra nurture to develop into an excellent sales guy. More to this, not everybody understands heavy equipment the way it is and therefore there is a need of someone who can explain them about machines in simple terms. There will be no better person than a veteran who can help the young guns with their problems. Not everybody will speak up in front of everyone and they might feel more confident to speak on a one to one basis.

The beginners are full of energy and they can find ways to deal with things but what they need the most is some support from the experienced lots and once they get that, they can very well take care of their profession.

Renting an equipment can be the sole option for a financially wrecked contractor

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Construction sector can at times show you the most miserable moments that one must have never dreamt of. For a person who is not doing well and also lacks vision for the company but still manages to sustain, this only indicates that his time is up. Either he changes himself and the way he works or simply change the industry. The construction business is for people who can survive the tide and take up challenges, ready to fight any odds at any given time.

People who lacks creativity and the zeal to do something big may one day not even find their place in this sector. Well, if such a situation ever comes upon a person who has sizable number of heavy equipment, he is left with very limited options. He either has to sell all the heavy equipment at a dirt cheap rate or can rent those machines to someone who can make good use of it. In this way, he can still manage to make descent money out of this transaction.

Before one think of renting his machine there are few pointers that he needs to consider.

Get the equipment repaired:-

It would be utter foolish to list the machine on rent that is not in proper working condition. Quite evidently, no one will be interested in taking a machine that is nonfunctional. You need to make sure that the machine is fixed and then you list it for rent. Take the machine to an expert mechanic and get everything fixed. You may also want to tell taker if the machine has gone through any accidents and the parts you have changed. This will let the taker know that few of the parts in the machine are absolutely new and may build his confidence in confirming the deal. In case, if there are any dents or scratches on the body of the machine, you may put some stickers of your favorite characters. Avoid names and images of any players or teams as the person who want it on rent by support a different team and that will deter him to go for your item.

 

Be clear and concise of your terms:-

You may have certain terms and conditions that you want to convey to the taker. You should state all your conditions in points and check if he is ready to accept them all. In case, if you can let go few of your conditions that are not so important, you may discard them. However, the ones that you feel are way too important, you should put them in the legal document that you will prepare before you eventually rent it out. Make sure that you are clear while conveying the rental amount and the rental period which also should be stated in the legal document.

 

Renting the heavy equipment not only gives you money during your bad phase but also leaves the possibility of you returning into this business after a short gap which would not be possible in case you decide to sell it off.

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Fire Extinguishers with all heavy equipment

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Equipment that gets heated up in no time and also has fuel stored in a different chamber is more likely to catch fire. Heavy equipment work all throughout the day and become really hot even after having worked for few hours. There are high chances that the machine may catch fire and therefore there is a need to have fire extinguisher inside the heavy equipment. It also should be within the reach of the operator which means that he/she should not have to struggle to get the extinguisher the moment he/she detects the machine is on fire. The most common reason for the heavy equipment to catch fire is that the fuel tank is located just above the engine and when the engine becomes tremendously hot, the chances of it catching fire increases manifolds. Just a small spark is enough to cause a big disaster and therefore the operator should ensure that he continue working on the machine after giving some break to it.

Now as per the US department of Labor and US Fish and Wildlife Service it is sole responsibility of the employer to maintain fire extinguishers. If they are found not having one in the machine, they will be penalized as per the Labor’s Fire Protection Code 1926.150. But there is nothing mentioned in the code about the size of the fire extinguisher one should have and hence they can have any size of extinguisher provided it is rated not less than 2A and is provided to a protected area of 3000 square feet. Also the travel distance should not exceed by 100 feet.

What the employer can do before placing an extinguisher is go through the regulation carefully and understand them well so that later on he does not have to face any legal hassles from the court of the land. Simply installing a fire extinguisher does not make much sense when the person who is supposed to use it does not know how to use the stuff. This means that the operator should also be given sufficient training on how to handle a fire extinguisher. An operator will be the guy who can help himself if a crisis of this sort ever happens. He will not be able to find help from outside and if he does not know how to operate it well, it is a big danger for him.

The construction company should also put emphasis on programs related to fire fighting and should engage people to attend it. The workers in the jobsite should be trained to tackle the situation as this may save the life of their fellow workers. The Occupational Safety and health Administration (OSHA) has strictly mentioned in their regulation book that the employer has to take the onus to conduct and develop fire protection programs and should also provide for the required firefighting equipment to its employees. Construction companies are bound to follow these guidelines very stringently as it is concerns the life of his employees.

Quick attached buckets for excavators

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Men/Women in the construction business consider excavators as one of the most important heavy equipment. It is considered important for many reasons. It is not only used to excavate land but can also be used as a dozer. Other than that, you do not need another heavy equipment to pull the debris and load it on a truck. This can also be effectively done by the excavator. So when we are talking about pulling out debris from the construction site using an excavator, we should be talking about the different kinds of buckets that are attached to the machine. The effectiveness of an excavator in pulling the debris lies mostly on the types of buckets that are being used on the machine. So a bucket which is big in size and capacity can pick a whole lot of debris at a single shot and dump it in the truck.

Now we need to know a thing or two about these buckets. Buckets are manufactured by different heavy equipment companies and they differ in quality. Also the locks of the bucket play an important role while lifting the debris. If you have bucket with double locking technology, it serves your purpose. These kinds of buckets are considered to be safer as the chance of breaking the lock due to too much of weight can be taken care of. The double locking system is also instrumental in situations when the machine is working in a dirty environment. An excavator mostly has to work in such a kind of an environment. The bucket often has to get into muddy water to pull the mud out. This can damage the locking system to a greater extent and therefore it is imperative for one to check the bucket before he starts working for the day.

Other than the locking system, there are other features as well which are quite important when it comes to earth excavation. The teeth of the bucket are supposed to act as a grip and are also useful to dig deep in the ground. The sharper the teeth of the bucket the more quickly you can get the job done. Other than this, the operator also needs to check how quickly he can change the attachments. Changing attached buckets can be a problem. If the buckets are rigid to open up, it can become a problem for the guy to change the bucket. One ideally expects the bucket to open up quickly so that it can be changed with an appropriate one. if that takes too long to open up, it can also affect the productivity.

While you are shopping for buckets for an excavator, you should primarily look for the ones that are quick to attach. It should not take lot of your time. Quick attached buckets are often sold on the internet. So read the description of the bucket before you pay for the item. Websites like eBay and Amazon deals into selling excavator buckets. So one can simple take a glance of these websites and make some purchase from there.

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Role of heavy equipment on the construction sector

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One who is a part of the construction domain clearly understands the importance of heavy equipment in this domain as well as to his business. This is perhaps the reason why many big construction companies are procuring state of the art machines for their big projects. Since they understand that the only way to get the work done faster is through the introduction of highly advanced heavy equipment that they want to have the best in their arsenal. Heavy equipment to a construction industry is what a heart or a brain is to a human being. He just can’t survive without these important organs. In the same way, it is almost unimaginable for the construction industry to move an inch of progress without the involvement and participation of heavy equipment.

We would be speaking in brief about the utilization of some heavy equipment which is most commonly seen in any jobsite.

Excavators:-

No big construction project can be completed without the participation of excavators. In order to begin the construction, one has to excavate the earth to build solid foundations. This is only possible with the help of this machine. It usually digs the earth with the help of the boom that is attached to its axle in the front. It has a cabin to the rear where the operator sits and manages his affair. This may seem to be a very common machine but has a lot of importance in the overall industry which is why heavy equipment companies are always in the process of designing hi-tech excavators that will sell as hot cakes.

Wheel Loader:-

A wheel loader is the machine that is extensively used to ferry debris from one place to another. When it comes to ferrying debris, other heavy equipment can also be utilized. However, they all have their limitations expect a wheel loader. They can carry huge pile of dirt, rocks and other debris which in many ways is not possible for other machines to perform. They are also extensively used for mining and road construction works.

Bulldozers:-

You have a permanent structure that you want to bring down you will not find anything better than a dozer. It has the capability to bring down a very solid structure into rubbles. They can also work as an alternative for excavators as the attachment can be changed and so does the work of the dozer.

Rollers:-

Rollers also form an important part of the construction industry. It is crucial to have good roads for better connectivity and also for the prosperity of the country’s economy. It is good roads that become part of better transportation of essential commodities. The pain of a bad road can’t be understood better than the driver of a truck whose spine aches while he drives every mile on it. The rollers play a significant role to smooth the road and make driving better.

There are many more machines that plays an instrumental role when it comes to making the future of the construction sector.

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Get the best land clearing equipment to get optimum results

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Clearing huge stocks of debris can be a big pain for a construction company who has taken the project to build something in a place. First you got to invest good deal of time to break down the existing stuff that is standing and then once it is fallen, you got to invest another good number of days to clear the land and just in case if you do not have a state of the art heavy equipment, you find yourself into deeper problem. In this age where we seek all our work to be done in the click of a button, we can’t expect to give days to clear a stock of pile. We definitely need something that is quick and can get the work done in a day or two and should not take long. Therefore, one should always depend on the heavy equipment that can get optimum results when it comes to clearing debris from the land.

There are many heavy equipment manufacturing companies that are coming up with machines that can play wonders when put to use. But such machines are quite expensive and can cause a big hole in your pocket. Right from Caterpillar to Tigercat, they all are into producing equipment that can clear land in a day or two which would otherwise have taken a week if not less than that. Tigercat is a company that specializes in producing equipment used to clear lands in the forest areas. Land in the forest areas is very rigid and it is very arduous to clear them off. Tigercat has earned the goodwill to complete this kind of work in comparatively lesser days than any other equipment had taken. The sad part of the story is that you won’t find Tigercat throughout US. They have kept themselves small but have plans to expand and are probably on their way to enlarge their business. But for the time being if anyone wants to buy their machines, they can’t get it from a showroom in their city and have to book the stuff on the net.

Tigercat may not have all the parts of the machine indigenously built in their workshops but they rather assemble the parts from other companies and make the best equipment. The M760 mulcher is a 425 hp machine and has a CAT C-12 engine in it. While they have used CAT’s engine, they also installed their own cooling system. Thus they gave the land clearing equipment the most desirable thing that it always wants: tons of horsepower and in order to cool off the engine, a dependable cooling system. Other than that, it has all the features that are required in any land clearing equipment thus making the work of the operator simpler. The operator will not feel that the machine is new functions and finds hard to understand them. On the contrary, he will feel like he is working on a machine that’s quite familiar to him and that will make him work in comfort.

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7 elements needed for success in the construction industry

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Success is a simple word but it comes with a heavy price. We have usually seen people always running for success but it is quite difficult to get it. A person has to strive hard for years to achieve it. Some even try few shortcuts and they are also able to taste success but not achieve it. As it is rightly said “There is no substitute for hard work”. You can be smart with your work but just being smart does not help. You need to be equally hard working. People who believe in smart work can only taste success for a short while and then they fall like pack of cards. It is because the foundation on which they are standing is not strong enough to keep them on the top for long. People in the construction industry in particular have to go through a lot of hard work and patience to achieve success. Other than that, there are few others factors that are imperative for them to have in order to succeed in the construction industry.

People to people contact:-

You got to be a good communicator if you are a part of the construction industry. Most of the world leaders are good communicators. Simultaneously, you need to be remarkable when it comes to people to people contact. You should basically speak with everybody in your company. Right from the worker to the managers who are managing these workers, you should try to communicate with everybody. You should be able to reach out to them and so should they. This will earn you something very important and that is people’s loyalty.

Patience is the key:-

When you are after something, you should be patient enough. Success is nothing but just a benchmark that you draw and then try to achieve. While you are in the process of achieving it, you should remember that by rushing things you can spoil all your effort. Therefore try to be as much patient as you can.

Remaining focused:-

A few failures in our life and we tend to lose our focus. This is completely unacceptable when you are a part of a dynamic industry like construction. Here in this part of the business you just can’t afford to lose your focus. Failures teach you something. Learn from it and move on.

Be punctual:-

We are often taught to be punctual in our schools but we kind of tend to forget it in our journey of life. Your punctuality displays how professional you are with your work. It also shows your seriousness towards your business and also how much you respect others time.

Knowing your business:-

To conduct the construction business you first need to know the business well. You can’t jump into this business and take important decisions. Important decisions are taken based on experience and if you lack that, you better start from the beginning.

Learn a bit about heavy equipment:-

Heavy equipment play an important part in the construction business. It is imperative to know which machine is needed for what purpose or else you might end up buying something that is of no use to you.

Market your business well:-

Promoting your business will let others know your existence. You need to learn to promote your business in a way that it is cost effective, pretty much in your budget and connects you to people across the spectrum.

Best way to find heavy equipment

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People who are new to the construction industry and want to make a career in this sector will have to understand how the business works and what are the key components that are needed to give it a start. Once they have done their share of research they also need to check what heavy equipment they require for their project. It will be absolutely futile to go and purchase any heavy equipment and then sit and decide if that is really what you needed. Ideally, all the heavy equipment are used for multiple purposes; still there is specific work that needs special equipment. This means that not all equipment can be used for all kinds of work.

This leads you to search the heavy equipment you need to complete your work. You can hunt for machines in several ways. Few of them are listed below.

Check with the company or with the dealer:-

This scenario is generally applicable to newbie who do not know much about heavy equipment. To find which equipment will be suitable for the project, you can take directly approach the company who may charge you a bit more to arrange someone survey your project, understand your needs and then help you with few options. Once they know what your project wants, they can even suggest you few types of equipment and then you shall decide if they fit your budget. If you want you can even let them know your resource allocation for heavy equipment and they will suggest you accordingly. Same goes with the dealer but it is unknown if the dealer will take the extra effort to arrange someone survey your project and try and understand your business needs. Contacting a dealer sounds great for people who are in this domain for long and they know which equipment will do what.

Check with people in your business circle:-

This is a better option if you are pretty old in this business. Machines age out and there comes a need when they are required to be replaced. You can simply spread the word in your business circle that you are looking for equipment with certain features and for which you are ready to pay an “X” amount of money. Keep the window of negotiation open. There are always people who keep on upgrading their machine and want to do away with their old stuff. If your requirement reaches them your work is done. You only have to check if the machine is in order. Negotiate to a price that’s comfortable to both of you and close the deal.

Find heavy equipment online:-

There are plenty of websites available that are into selling heavy equipment online. You can also browse the website of the heavy equipment companies to know what they have in store and how much will it cost you. Simultaneously, you can also check the online stores and see if there is any major difference in the price of the products. Once you are done with your research and if you decide to buy it online, get in touch with the seller and arrange to pay him online.

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Do your research carefully before approaching a bank for loan

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For starting any form of business, you need capital and if you do not have capital at home or in hand, it means that you need to borrow. Now the question is from whom to borrow money. There are large numbers of financial institutions who are ready to give loans to budding entrepreneurs but each of them have some or the other condition and to meet those conditions is the toughest part. Some may not have conditions prior of taking a loan but once you have taken it, you find yourself in a muddle. Therefore before you approach a bank, you should do a proper study of all their conditions and then talk to them. If you have doubts, you can clear it out while you meet them but do not keep your doubts for the next moment as that can be dangerous.

When it comes to procuring heavy equipment, you are dealing with a lot of money and if you think that buying second hand heavy equipment will cost you less than a brand new one, you are right in a way but that does not mean that it will be so inexpensive that you may not need a loan to go ahead with the deal. As long as you have allocated enough resources to procure a machine you may skip the idea of going for a loan or else many big construction companies take loan to buy heavy equipment. They feel that it is worth to go for loan because by doing that they will not exhaust all their resources and can use it well when it is most required. They need money to take care of operating as well as non-operating expenses and they never want to go short of money when it comes to meeting those expenses.

Conditions of banks prior to loan approval:-

The first thing that you need to check before you approach a bank is their terms and conditions prior to the approval of the loan. They may have certain conditions like they can approve the loan only if your credit rating is above certain ranking or points or if your annual turnover is above a certain amount. These conditions are in place so that they are assured that you will be able to pay your debts in a timely manner. Some financial institutions may even ask for your business plans and how many construction projects you have in hand. They try to seek this info to know you have work in hand and can be trusted as far as repayment of debts is concerned.

Conditions of bank post loan approval:-

Some banks have conditions post loan approval and you need to be cautious about such banks. They may not mention everything crystal clear verbally and therefore you got to read the disclosure carefully. You may find few things that you are not comfortable with. You can raise those things with the bank and seek clarification. If you find them to be satisfactory, you may proceed or else you can always pick the next option.

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