need a good tip.

[Haddy]

Kieran

It's good to see young guy's who are keen coming into the industry . If you have done 7 years " operating " excavators under 10 ton , you will be fine . You would have learnt alot operating them , maybe more than if you had started on bigger machines . Here in NZ they are mainly called diggers and the "operator" is a digger driver , even the good ones !!! Haddy

 

[lectro88]

yes your right, ive picked up alot of tips from old posts.

ive been told iam a good operater and i always get hired but iam constantly looking for tips because the one thing i like about my job is no matter how long you have been operating i think that you are always finding out new things and tricks, either operating or maintaining your machine.

Well said.
And you are amoung the Best of the Best when your on this forum.
The folk on here have helped me SOOO ! Much ! and I can't thank them enough.
From wrench turning to pics. of places I'll never see or jobs I could only dream of being on And monster machines I lust for seat time in. Pointers or Tips/Secrets of the trade as you have asked for... It's All right here.

And may I add a belated welcome as well.
And best of luck. Happy digging.

 

[Kieron]

hey haddy, your right about starting off on the under 10 ton excavators, iam so used to operating the jerky shakey little machines that when i got on that 20 ton komatsu it was like heaven lol. so much easier and more comfortable.

 

[Kieron]

just had a look at the website and the firm looks smart. is it a good firm to work for?

 

[Randy88]

Question people of NZ what do they call a backhoe operator, the rubber tired backhoe with the bucket on front if an excavator operator is a digger driver? Just curious not that its a big deal and how about some other names for dozer, wheel loader, skid steers, haul trucks and a lot more, what is the wording there for those types of machines and the ones that operate them?

 

[Haddy]

Randy , interesting question . I worked on the Wheat harvest about 10 years ago in your fine country and somethings are very similiar somthings not so . Ordering breakfast was interesting the first few times , you have so many ways to cook eggs !! Millars Genuine Draft was easy to order and went down very well !!! . Generally we don't have tipping here but works well if you ask me , no service , no money . Backhoe's are reasonably rare here , just don't seem to be many around , why ? , don't know . I quess they are backhoe operators . Dozer is a bulldozer but could be a tractor depending on who you are talking to as wheel tractors are tractors too . Loaders are loaders , skid steer are normally called bobcat even if it is a brand name and it does annoy me , haul trucks are haul trucks . Generally operators are drivers and they don't anal if they get called a driver . If I think of anything else I will post it . Haddy

 

[Randy88]

Thanks for the information, what years did you run the wheat harvest and in what states did you run in Haddy? Did you operate combines, grain carts or drive the trucks? I can about imagine what a difference there was in terms used by the crews, I too did it back in the 80"s and even then they did things in their own world I'm from here and a hard time to sometimes understand the lingo or slang that was used, a spanner took me almost two months to figure out, some of the places we ate at none of us ever figured out what some of the things were on the menu's. And I gotta ask did you eat at any Dairy Queens?

 

[Haddy]

Back in 2000 . We were based in North Dakota , working for Altendorf's , Jan Altendorf was running the harvest and was good to work for . I got down as far as Edin in OK , across to just out of Denver , and alot of other places in between . They employed 30 NZer's and we had a great time . I spent alot of time transporting combines , tractors , and grain carts around . Did alot of truck work , a little grain cart work , only a day on a combine . We ate at all sorts of places , I have no idea if any where Dairy Queens but I do remember the name . We were working with amercian's so there quite a few on the harvest and if you were not laughing about something by the end of breakfast it was a very sad day !!!!

 

[OExcavating]

keep bucket quit,clang and bang is sure sign you dont know what your doing,old machine or not.sometimes it happens but keep it to a minnimum and dont swing the boom to move stuff ,hard on bushings ,and KEEP IT GREASED!! Keep the cab clean and tobbacco free.good luck and stay confident in what your doing and you will do fine