Scrapers

On any construction site, you will see a wide variety of heavy equipment, and one of the largest is scrapers. While some machines you see on sites, such as bulldozers and backhoes tell you just what they are designed to do by their appearance, the scraper, with its upfront cab pulling a large wagon, doesn’t give anything away.

Within that large, heavy wagon section of any scraper is a gated front with a blade at the bottom. With the gate open, the blade scrapes up material as the machine moves forward, forcing the excavated material into the wagon itself until it is filled. The gate is then closed, and the scraper can transport that material away to be disposed of. If you imagine a carpenter’s plane as it shaves off wood, that is the best way to describe how a scraper operates.

It is important to remember that there are several other machines that would at first glance seem to do the same job, a bulldozer for instance, but when it comes to scraping a surface nothing is as efficient as the scraper itself. The ability to scrape and remove material in one go with a single machine sets the scraper apart on site, but it betters the alternatives in other ways too.

Tasks

Scrapers are used for several tasks, most commonly for earth removal on construction sites or even in mining operations. Here, the big blade and ability to remove its own waste material make this purpose-designed machine much more effective than other equipment. In addition, unlike all other earth-moving options that require dry conditions, scrapers can easily move wet soil, which can save a huge amount of time for contractors. In fact, the scraper is particularly suited to heavier soils or other tough materials, and its efficiency advantage increases even further in those conditions.  In today’s world, scrapers have another significant advantage, offering up to a 30% reduction in fuel consumption compared to alternatives, again, reducing costs significantly for contractors.

With all those advantages, it is no surprise that scrapers, and scraper operators, are in high demand. With a skilled operator, scrapers can dig, load, haul and dump with just that one machine, whereas in the past, they may have taken as many as three machines. From volume earth moving to surface preparation on site, the scraper has proved itself a machine that can reduce costs and speed up operations. It may look odd, but it does its job perfectly.

Construction sites are full of heavy equipment, each with its own set of tools and purposes. A scraper is a good machine to have around for moving dirt, sand, gravel, ice, and other natural and unnatural materials out of the way when you need to clear an area. Want to learn how to operate a scraper?

When a backhoe or bulldozer won’t do, call in the scraper!

The issue for construction site managers is having someone on the work site who is qualified to operate a scraper. You need at least one person who is dedicated to the scraper and qualified to operate it under any conditions. When you have such a person on your construction crew, you’ll feel a lot more at ease no matter what challenges you may face.

When you take heavy equipment training from a committed company like Associated Training Services, you’ll be fully qualified to operate a scraper and plenty of other heavy equipment.

Of course, there are different types of scrapers. There are self-propelled scrapers, wheel tractor-scrapers, trailed scrapers, and more. The more of these machines you know how to operate, the more secure your job will be on the construction site.

Learn To Operate A Scraper

Why not enroll today in Associated Training Services’ heavy equipment school and learn how to operate a scraper the right way.

Why scrapers are useful heavy equipment to have on a construction site. In many ways, they are more beneficial than bulldozers. A bulldozer has a blade that is useful for pushing dirt or snow for short distances. The problem is, once the blade has pushed its limit, then you’re done. You have to push it to the side and start over. Scrapers don’t have that limitation.

Scrapers have a blade for pushing. On that note, they have something in common with dozers. But where they have the advantage is being able to pick up the load they push and dumping it into a dump truck-like compartment for hauling. Because of this extra capacity, the scraper can push more dirt in a shorter period of time and haul it off to a dumping site. Having one scraper on the construction site eliminates at least two pieces of heavy equipment but more than likely three.

Without a scraper, you’d have to bulldoze the dirt then pick it up with a backhoe and dump it into a dump truck for hauling. You can do all of that with one scraper.

Keep in mind, however, that a scraper does not have a bucket. It has a blade that forces the dirt into the wagon part of the machine. Once the wagon is full, you drive it to the dumping location.

If you want to set yourself apart on the construction site, learn how to operate a scraper. You’ll be a valuable member of the team with a marketable and valuable skill.

Bulldozers are famous for pushing dirt around. They have incredible strength for their size and are capable of pushing tons of dirt in a day. Bulldozers can make use of that strength to pull as well. In today’s video, you’ll see a bulldozer using a twin ripper to break up the ground ready for removal. Bulldozers often work in partnership with a scraper. The bulldozer rips open the ground and the scraper comes through and lifts the loose soil into its hopper to be dumped elsewhere.

In this video, you’ll get a glimpse of a scraper working in the background. Take a closer look at the action towards the end of the video. You’ll get a close look at the ripper in action, and the power of the bulldozer. You’ll see the bulldozer tracks skidding in place as the ripper gets caught, however, once the tracks bite and the bulldozer regains traction, those ripper teeth just carve through the ground.

Bulldozer operators are amongst the busiest heavy equipment operators around today. Bulldozers form the basis of most heavy equipment companies since they really do all the hard preparation work on a building site. You can learn to operate a bulldozer through a heavy equipment training school. At ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools, we include both bulldozers and scrapers in our training – in fact, you’ll learn how to operate a range of machinery, a factor you’ll welcome in the workplace as employers are now looking for multi-skilled heavy equipment operators.

Heavy equipment operators often lead dual lives. One day they are out on a block of land, all on their lonesome clearing the way for other activities. The next day, they are part of a team, working side by side with other machinery. This is the life of most heavy equipment operators. Excavators could be digging a trench for pipes one day then working loaders and bulldozers to demolish a building.

The following video demonstrates how a bulldozer and scraper work together. In the video, you’ll see the scrapers carving through dirt and taking it away. As soon as they pass, the bulldozer will move in to push down the sides of where the scraper has just been. The scraper will then collect that on its next pass. Often, you’ll have a team working together – this video also show this. Check out the double scrapers – this is effectively two scrapers joined nose to tail to act as one.

Being able to work both as part of a team and alone is an important part of the heavy equipment operator’s repertoire. When working in a team, an operator needs to know when it’s safe to move and do its job, and when it’s time to move out of the way to allow another piece of equipment to do its job.

Whilst we can train operators on how to use their heavy equipment, it takes experience to know exactly when to play your role as part of a team. Your initial heavy equipment training should include safety components that will prepare you for these roles. As an operator, working in a team is one of the most interesting parts of the job – it’s certainly never boring.

Right now, nearly everywhere in the U.S., there are roads being built or repaired. No matter which highway is traveled there is the familiar row of orange barrels leading drivers on a new path or detour. These new projects are often part of the federal government’s stimulus package, but they are also sometimes the result of local government projects that fulfill a more local need. These barrels and work sites are often an unwanted sight for many drivers, but for heavy equipment operators, this is a sign of a steady job market and good paying jobs.

Regardless of who is sponsoring a road project, there are needs that can only be met by a well-trained road crew filled with numerous heavy equipment operators. One of the most important of these heavy equipment jobs on a road crew is the road scraper operator. The road scraper is the machine used to prepare the earth for the actual road. It slices the top layer of ground in a flat, level slice that will give the road grader a better surface to work with. These road scrapers are able to perform this duty without creating the mess that a bulldozer or other piece of equipment would make.

Quality road scraper training is essential in performing this important duty on any road crew. So, an operator that wants to perform this specialty needs to be certain the training school he is planning to attend offers scraper training. The best heavy equipment training programs will offer a road scraper program, and this training will enable the operator to get a good paying job on a road crew more quickly.

A career as a heavy equipment operator can be very rewarding. For some, learning to operate basic equipment such as bulldozers, graders, and excavators is just the start of a journey that takes them through some of the more complex heavy equipment that is rarely discussed in heavy equipment forums.

One of the problems with setting your sites on more specialized equipment is the scarcity of opportunities. Because this equipment is specialized, there isn’t a big call for operators and, in most cases, employers recruit from within their own ranks, training suitable operators to handle this equipment. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t aim to operate this equipment. the opportunities do occur, and if you show a real desire to learn, an employer may well give you that opportunity.

You will often see these machines being used and wonder how an operator worked their way into that role. In most cases, it all started with basic heavy equipment and proving how proficient they are in operating that equipment. Some of the specialized equipment you may see includes:

• Paver, asphalt finisher, paving machine – This machine may have several different names, but they all do the same job. They lay the asphalt for new roads and highways.
• Roller, roller-compactor, compactor – This too has many names, and if you’re old enough, you may have heard them referred to as ‘steam rollers’. They do the same job. They compact and smooth out material that has been put down. Rollers are used after asphalt has been put down to give roads that hard and smooth finish.
• Wheel tractor-scraper – Scrapers are used to ‘plane’ the surface ready for construction or road building. Dirt is scraped from the surface and held in a hopper. Large scrapers may have two engines, one to drive the front and one to drive the rear.
• Trencher, wheel trencher – This is a specialist piece of equipment normally used to dig trenches for pipe laying. They are also sometimes used on roads to score the asphalt prior to relaying new asphalt.
• Pile driver – As the name suggests, this machinery is used to drive piles into the ground. Often found where bridges are being constructed, and for some general construction roles.

If you have a desire to one day work on specialist heavy equipment like those listed above, your first step is to undertake heavy equipment training on standard every day equipment. Once you are proficient in their use, you can then look to advance your career operating some of that equipment. ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools can give you a head start as we include scrapers as part of our heavy equipment training program.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools have 10 training locations spread around the nation. Each training school offers heavy equipment training in a variety of equipment. Each training school is different and the range of equipment available at each one may vary.

Heavy equipment covers a very broad range of equipment. Small skid steer loaders are considered heavy equipment and the range goes up to include some of the super machinery used in mining. It is impossible to offer training in every type of machinery, however, by providing a cross section of equipment in training, students gain skills in the most common types in use. This equipment may include:

• Backhoes
• Wheel loaders
• Scrapers
• Excavators
• Bulldozers
• Road graders
• Rock trucks
• Skid Steers and
• All-Terrain Forklifts

Many of the skills are interchangeable to a certain extent. What most people don’t realize is that heavy equipment operation involves many different skills. For example, hand-eye coordination is important in most jobs. However, for some heavy equipment your hands may be going in different directions. A good example is an excavator where one hand is perhaps pushing the boom out, the other hand is opening the bucket to release the contents while the feet are controlling the swing of the entire unit. This coordination is a skill that is transferable to other machinery, even if the controls are unfamiliar at first.

If you are looking at a career in heavy equipment then ATS could be a smart choice when it comes to heavy equipment training. The wide range of equipment means you will gain a good grounding of skills. Add to this the in-class training in areas such as safety, soils and site layouts and you have the complete training package.

When people think of heavy equipment, their initial reaction is to think of bulldozers, graders, excavators, and perhaps backhoes. There is actually a much wider range of machinery that is used in construction or mining that is classified as heavy equipment – you may often see it in use without having a name to put to it.

Skid steer loaders, or skid loaders as they are often called, are one example. Although small and lightweight in comparison to their much larger relatives, the skid steer is nonetheless important on a job site. The skid steer gets its name from the way it operates.

This little machine is run in four wheel drive with the left and right wheels driven independently. That means the left can be moving forward whilst the right hand side is stopped, effectively turning the machine on the spot. Because the right hand side is stopped, it will ‘skid’ through the turn.

A skid steer loader is often used in tight situations where larger equipment has no access. Although its normal configuration is with a loader attachment, there are many other attachments that can be used. These include backhoe, hydraulic breaker, pallet forks, angle broom, sweeper, auger, mower, snow blower, stump grinder, tree spade, trencher, dumping hopper, ripper, tillers, grapple, tilt, roller, snow blade, wheel saw, cement mixer, and wood chipper machine.

Another piece of heavy equipment that you may see in use is referred to simply as a scraper – since that is what it does. This is a strange looking piece of equipment – they often remind me of a strange looking insect. The machine is comprised of a scraper blade, a little like a cheese knife, a hopper, and an articulated drive cab. The machine is used to scrap layers of the surface depositing the scraped material into the hopper. Like a cheese knife, they are good at slicing even layers from the surface leaving a fairly smooth surface.

There are many other different types of heavy equipment, each requiring certain skills to operate them effectively. These skills need to be developed using the equipment on a suitable surface, or in work-like situations. Before selecting a heavy equipment training provider, check whether or not they provide training on the type of equipment you want to operate, and whether or not they provide real life training – ATS Heavy Equipment Operators Schools do.