How do you think operators should treat equipment?

Mix seeds and dried coffee in the bottom of the cup holder..........

It drove me nuts the first day, had crap finding its way under the swing pedals. Go to swing and have to stop, look like an idiot picking trash out.

another thing that annoys me is when people get in the machine temporarily for short time and change radios, seat adjustments, and most important the pattern changer. Get in expect my pattern and the last a-hole switched it without switching it back.

The good thing about those who do NOT take care of equipment is that it catches up with them....

And what about the operator who is a clean freak and does not grease or service- just polishes

OneWelder said:

And what about the operator who is a clean freak and does not grease or service- just polishes

Click to expand...

Time for a job change to domestic or commercial cleaning I reckon.
An operator operates a machine in a safe and efficient manner, which includes servicing and checking fluids. A driver sits on his/her behind and pulls levers until the levers don't do what they are supposed to.
If you are working in earthmoving there is always going to be a bit of dirt and dust, part of the job, and if you spend all day chasing every last bit of dirt you won't get anything done. Cleaning a machine is part of servicing a machine, when it is service time.
I used to operate harvesters and that is a hell of a dusty job but I managed to keep the machine clean (inside and out) and be ready to roll when the conditions where right, no good polishing when the crop has to be taken down.

OneWelder said:

And what about the operator who is a clean freak and does not grease or service- just polishes

Click to expand...

Ive seen those guys to ...unit looks great ...but theres not a flick of grease on it ...Why?... cause he might get dirty ...

liebherr1160 said:

Ive seen those guys to ...unit looks great ...but theres not a flick of grease on it ...Why?... cause he might get dirty ...

Click to expand...

A machine don't have to be covered with grease & oil to be properly lubricated, grease only works if it is where it is supposed to be. Don't do a bit of good when it is inside the cab all over everything, or on the glass, that glass iis NOT goin rust or start squallin if it ain't greased. Grease everywhere is also a saftey issue. Oiler fell off 375 landed on a rock softball size cracked a vertabrae lower back, last I heard still not workin.Yes I keep my machine as clean, I live in there 10,12,15, hrs. aday, 5-6 days sometimes 7 a week,8-10 moths a year. I do NOT slow down production, I am production,them trucks ain't haulin a lot of iron not movin! I do my cleanin before start time or when there is aproblem on the fill & the trucks have to stop,or the screen goes down for whatever reason. I fuel, grease And clean tracks at end of day.Also reclean glass at lunch time if conditions warrant. Nuff rantin. Must be comin down with early stages of beershymerzers, I thought I said I keep a clean machine, not that I did NOT do my job.:beatsme:drinkup

beeer ...hmmmmmmmmm

It all depends and what the company wants. If I have the time and tools it will be clean and maintained. There is no way I'm going to invest more then the occasional few bucks of my $$$ in there iron. Air freshener lol whatever there is one hand that uses it because he smokes in the cab. When I get in it it smells so strong and bad I would rather smell the smoke. Windows get cleaned every so often, but there not spotless mud goobers don't bother me. Cabs are swept when the mud dries and loosens up. As far as how it gets ran thats up to the boss the only limit is that I won't beat myself up doing it.

Like u paid for it !

I like to keep a machine in good repair. I got on a 580 one time the company I worked for let the laborers use it mostly to tote forms and such I got on it and under the mud in the floor was a sandwich bag. Like shot I slipped and fell and my foot hit the pedel for a right swing the boom was out holding a valve it chunked it. Then on if it wasnt cleaned that crew had to use a wheel barrow. We didnt have water on that job but I had a spare trailer and a 500 gallon tank and a spare pump. Every friday I would go to the river fill the tank and was all the open cab machinery and out and use my compressor to blow out the cranes and excavator cabs.
We always got to knock off 30 minutes early to fuel if we wer near the barrel or I could get there early and use my personal truck and tank and such to do it. I got double time for that. This was at Huffman. We had a run of foremen on the lower part of the job. A crane operator and carpenter got the forman job on the river site he was bad rough on the machinery. We had an old 76 Ford 600 flat dump as a yard truck and he too to it. The power steering was out and he ran it like mad We were next to a TVA site and used their ash pond levees to run on dow to the the river. he made a point to hit all the pot holes even ended up in the ash pond once. The head company mechanic had been by to help put an undercarriage on my loader and was dropping something off with the lowboy. He had alot of power over firing as he had been there the longest. The foreman came by in that F600 with only a small hand wiped rectangled spot in the windshield where he had been splashing puddles. He almost his the loader and the mechanic and ran over my small toolbox. The stopped the whole job all 100 folks and made them come watch. He gave the foreman an ultimatum hit the road or was that truck.
He said we aint got no water. and the Mech told heim theres 2 5 gallon buckets get walking. He had to walk a little over a mile with 10 gallons of water to the river and come back and was the windows then drive the truck to the river and sponge her off. From then on he dogded any type of water. Where I work out now I supply a steam cleaner and tank and we wash monthyl in the winter and weekly in the summer. I like to wash all the dust off the scraper before greasing the neck. and the trucks get well taken care of to.
The worst thing ever was I worked with a fella that was lazy he would run the hoe if something broke down big and I had to help fix it. I never noticed this man get out for a break. Then one day my 300 smelled like a urinal. The nasty b*****d had been pi##ing in a jar and had dropped it. I steam cleaned the whole inside of the cab and poured out 2 gallons of cherry carwash soap in the cab and left the doors open 3 days while I ran an old Case hoe. They fired the man after that.

Taylortractornu said:

I never noticed this man get out for a break. Then one day my 300 smelled like a urinal. The nasty b*****d had been pi##ing in a jar and had dropped it. I steam cleaned the whole inside of the cab and poured out 2 gallons of cherry carwash soap in the cab and left the doors open 3 days while I ran an old Case hoe. They fired the man after that.

Click to expand...

Lol now that takes the cake. I have seen stuff growing on food and in soda cans, bugs, mice, but that nasty.

jesus christ whats wrong with the bushes!?! or a porta potty

Haha that's gross >.< Pee'in in a jar . . I think that's kinda dumb, why not just get out and pee behind a tree or use a porta john.

peein in a jar ,,,now thats dedication ....but more in line with long-haul trucking not dirt moving ..

I was just on you tube and found these videos,try typing in (takeuchi mini excavator accident ) or (accident dumper volvo crash) , May be somebody else can attach links for videos , thanks

2 brothers from a LARGE construction company were at a jobsite where their scrapers were moving dirt. Noting that one of the operators seemed to be going fast, one brother commented on it to the other. He thought the operators should be "easy" on the equipment. The other brother told him that he likes to see them run like they are racing! The equipment is tough and they are in business to move dirt!

So to each his own I guess.

rutwad said:

The other brother told him that he likes to see them run like they are racing! The equipment is tough and they are in business to move dirt!

So to each his own I guess.

Click to expand...

There is a difference between a fast and smooth operator and a rough so and so who beats the equipment to death. The difference being one knows when to put the foot down and when to back off a bit.

There is a difference between a fast and smooth operator and a rough so and so who beats the equipment to death. The difference being one knows when to put the foot down and when to back off a bit.

Click to expand...

My dad been operating for around 25 years, sounds like a bit of advice he gave me once.

Here's a good look at what my typical machine looks like (it's my video AND my machine haha):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukjjkW8fQ_k&feature=channel_page

They don't like to wash them very often so the outside is usually grungy, not much to be done on that. Windows are done when I have time, if the trucks are on me all day then usually just the front window at break and then every couple days do the side windows/mirrors.

Inside is always spotless down to boot level. I realize that I work in the dirt/mud so the floor is swept at the end of every shift when the mud dries and can be swept out.

Unfortunately every now and then someone else runs my machine or I get moved to another machine, the amount of machine abuse at my company is sad. First two weeks we had unit 682 (the one in the video) someone bent up both catwalks and scratched the counterweight, I got it 3,000 hours later.

Video narration:

:thumbsup To your videos Vantage_TeS!

Just think of how educational it would be, if Warren had a narrated video like yours to view... about the dozer he's looking to possibly buy.

I've watched most of the vids. you have posted, and the narration basically makes the difference between night and day.

They're very informative... :cool2

Regards,

OCR