Becoming a Hydraulic Excavator Operator: Tips

[wildy]

if you keep on asking around for a start someone will give you a chance and if you prove to be keen and interested you wont look back... probably how most of us started out anyway!

 

[RobsonMike]

Nice thread. I can add this article that i found yesterday: How to become an excavator*operator.
Maybe it will be usefull for sb.

 

[Yellowirondude]

I had some former Marines who chose to get out and try their luck with heavy equipment. One actually went to the School in Arizona for heavy equipment. He came to find out (later told me in email) that the courses were not worth it. Class sizes of like 10-12 people with only 3 or 4 operational peices of gear at a time. LOTS of down time on that pretty big chunk of 20k. And just like previous posts stated, UTI and/or other vocational schools will "gaurentee employment upon graduation". Well, when my Marine graduated said school, off of the hire sheet he was given, 5 no responses, 3 offered less then 11 a hour and 2 required 2 or more YEARS of EXPERIENCE. Sounds like a load to me....just saying. As with the other posts previously mentioned, good luck with just going to school and hiring on as a excavator operator. I would say that respectfully of course, but time in the trenches or checking grades, is warranted and most likely will be where you end up. But with closing this post, I will post the two-liner I have used the past 8 years while teaching new operators a new type of equipment or new machine:
Slow is smooth.
Smooth is fast.

Time tested, worksite approved.

Regards,
YID

 

[halfshack]

im 32, watched alot of old boys... and il say this... all equipment is the same.. its alearn as you go, watch guys dig, ... an listen. not to people. and ,id hate to give a secret away..some hear think there opereators. ive worked with some great guys... and ive worked with........all construction equipment. you wana get somewere.... if you farmed.your on the rite track to start.. theres more to being an operator than folowing grade and chewing your cigar

 

[tripper_174]

I work with a company that has thirty to fifty excavators operating at any one time. We have been continually disappointed with grads of equipment operating schools. We prefer to hire experienced operartors or when time permits, train an employee who has worked with the company as a labourer, truck driver or some other position.

 

[Morua]

I have a poclain TCB 90 I need pictures of similar excavators

 

[Revicm]

Well, here it is right about 4:30 in the morning and I'm still reading this site.

Like a good book... can't put it down. The advice I've read on the last six

or so pages, to me, shows the level of commitment and competence... and

experience and ethics, that makes me rather proud to belong to this site...

And we do own an excavator... little Cat 312 BL. Keep up the good work

people, your combined knowledge is invaluable.

Puzzled about one thing though, and maybe, I missed it? Here on the ranch

we always thought PhD meant... Post Hole Digger...

Yep, Post Hole Digger… the only business where you start at the top and work your way down.

 

[dirty4fun]

My excavator training was buy one then learn how to operate it. Got to admit when I saw it sitting on the trailer 3 1/2 feet up in the air, it made me nervous. Mostly knowing my only experience was I had tracked an excavator was about five feet two weeks before when i bought it. My first two jobs with were tearing down houses, and loading everything to be hauled away. Nothing like having a bunch of side walk superintendants, watching while you learn to operate an excavator. The biggest mistake I made was not buying one years ago, what an enjoyable way to make money. Hope I can keep it a little busier this year, but can't complain about last year.

 

[Wolf]

So how many houses have you demo'ed with it now? Which model did you buy? Got any pics?

Loved your comments about the "sidewalk superintendents."

 

[dirty4fun]

I knocked down and hauled away three house last year. Have two to do this spring and two other buildings. One basement to dig, and some concrete to remove and place on a ditch bank. So I am happy to have that much lined up, for spring. It is a Case 2004 CX 130 with 1800 hours, with a hydraulic thumb and back fill blade. If I ever figure out how to post pictures I do have some, of demolishing and setting some steel grain pits for a farmer.

Having side walk superintendents seems to come along with doing much work in a small town.

 

[Wolf]

Glad to hear you are so busy, which is remarkable given the state of the economy.

How old are the houses you are demo'ing? Are any of them real old, and do you save any good antique stuff out of them, or is it all pretty much trashed?

Sounds like you are doing great with that Case track hoe. Nice going, dirty.

 

[dirty4fun]

The economy here has been great, it is a small town farming community. For two years I worked everyday but the holidays with only a couple days off. I have been turning down work as I was to far behind. On some weekend I help the local electrician as he is so far behind, just for a change of pace. He finally hired another full time guy, so only helped five or six weekends last year. This year I am planning on picking the jobs I want even more, and trying to take it easier, by running the excavator more, and less carpenter work.

One of the house's I tore down had logs for the rafters, with the tops hand hewn. It had been lived in till I tore it down, the outside walls were still pretty straight. The interior floors had dropped down due to a lack of support. One of the other palce's I tore down was for a church, and I tried to salvage what ever I could for them to scrap out. They were thrilled with how much they got for all the scrap, yes it cost me time, but sure made a happy customer. All of the jobs were bid so they didn't care that I spent time pulling out the newer copper and the cast iron.

I really enjoy running the excavator, wish I had bought one years ago. Still have a backhoe for some jobs, but it sits more as I would rather do a job with excavator.

 

[Jack-the-Ripper]

I waited many years to fulfill my dream of being an excavator operator. Encouragingly, there are many operators, and they all got there somehow, its amazingly fun and if wanted, you should pursue it no matter how long it takes (ask them how they got there). If you can't afford to rent or buy your own, then you probably need to find employment that will lead to equipment operation (contractor, municipal or utility, or maybe military enlistment), or befriend someone who owns equipment. I rented my first experience with a backhoe. Operating it was not a thing of beauty, and I did smash a tree I would rather have not damaged, but it was on my own property. After that, in my position as an electrical contractor, I found some opportunities to run backhoes for friends and clients who (perhaps foolishly) trusted me. Instead of joy sticks, the backhoes had individual controls, which I estimate takes at least 300 operating hours to start getting the hang of. I once heard that if you want to learn to operate, spend a few hours at the controls, then spend all the time you can afford watching professional operators. That advice has served me well. At about 55 y.o. I sold my city house, bought 60 acres in rural Idaho, and a bunch of used "yellow iron" from the "Nickel's Worth" classifieds (Excavator, Backhoe, Dozer, MotorGrader, Dump Truck, trailer). My objective was to become proficient on multiple units. Even being reasonably proficient on the backhoe, switching to the joy stick controls of the excavator took about 2 weeks of continual use before I stopped smashing my spine every time I accidentally lifted the tracks and too quickly dropped them back down. You might compare it to switching from being a proficient typist on a standard "qwerty" computer keyboard to one with some other arrangement. It probably took a year of operation before I could put the bucket where I wanted it, lift a load, and load a truck, by just "willing" it to happen, as you would when you picked up a glass of water with your hand, rather than having to "think out" each move. Learning reflex operation is part of your every day life when you are 2 years old but can be rather frustrating during your mid-life crisis. Passion and patience make it happen. All that said, if someone wanted to use my equipment for learning, the most I would let them do is either dig a hole in a large open space, or fill a truck from a pile of dirt. However you can't learn more sophisticated activities unless you can control the machine's basics. Eventually you have to master multiple movements of the arm and bucket, like when digging the bottom of a level trench. I practiced by moving the bucket in and out while keeping it level just above the ground, eventually advancing to motions like smoothly moving the bucket from ground to top of truck. On my own property I learned to dig holes and load a truck, dig stumps, carve (pioneer) a road along a hillside, load logs and "throw rocks" using the "thumb," use the hoe to unstick myself, remount a track that fell off, replace hydraulic hoses, pull down trees, level and grade using the boom and bucket for finish grading or carving a level pad for further safe operation of the machine (instead of a 6-way dozer which is often the better choice). I can envision using a computer simulation program to coordinate visual input of a boom and bucket with hand operation of joy sticks, yet you eventually have to include your body's feel of the machine. Another point is that the individual cylinders operate with different rates and forces which change as you combine the boom, dipper and bucket in different ratios. After all that, to operate independently, you need to understand the physics and dynamics of all the sites and situations where you might work. I've applied my understanding of "vector math," meaning that every force not only has magnitude but direction as well, to predict the results of my application of the bucket to any task. I agree with many of the other previous suggestions of the things needed to learn. But if you have the passion, its all fun and worth the investment of time. If you have some equipment experience and construction savvy, your money might be better spent renting equipment for seat time rather than taking a course, however this also requires some "place" to operate. A relatively cheap mini-excavator rental (the size they will use at a school) will serve just as well to learn the reflex operation of the controls (and uses less fuel). I've often thought a quarry might be amenable to learning time, although everyone is wary of legal liability. My last advice is to remember that hydraulic hoses can leak slowly or burst (I've had both happen), trapping or crushing you - NEVER allow yourself to work under something held up only by hydraulics, from car jacks to excavator booms. At 66, I now solicit tractor work and can't foresee when I will quit. It was definitely worth the wait, and I only wish I would have pursued equipment operation at a much younger age.