Most people, when they think of heavy equipment, they think of those large machines they see on construction sites. And generally speaking they are thinking yellow. Yellow of course is the traditional color for the Caterpillar breed of heavy equipment.

Over the years they were certainly one of the most popular machines and for a long time they were the leader when it came to capabilities.

These days Caterpillar are not the only manufacturer around – in fact they are probably no longer the leaders when it comes to new technology in heavy equipment.

One thing you can be assured of in this day and age, no matter how old or new these heavy equipment construction machines are, once you learn how to operate one of them competently, you can hop into any other with ease.

Heavy equipment operation is fairly standardized these days. Get the right training and you have a career for life. The right training – check out ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools for our quality no fuss heavy equipment training.

Operating heavy equipment requires certain skills that can be difficult to teach. Skills such as coordination – particularly hand-eye-feet – are formed during our early years of life. Other skills include a natural affinity with all things mechanical. Being able to check oil, water and perhaps bleeding a diesel line can be very handy skills – if you have that natural mechanical affinity then these skills will come to you quickly.

If you don’t have these skills, it is not too late. You will just need to work a little harder. Sometime the best starting point is learning to operate something a little smaller such as fork-lift truck or, better yet, a tractor.

Tractors are thought of as farm equipment and that is where a great proportion of them live, however modern tractors can have so many attachments you sometimes wonder if they are ‘just a tractor’. If you can develop skills such as mechanical aptitude and hand-foot-eye coordination by driving a tractor, you can then move up to larger heavy equipment machines.

To learn how to operate a tractor or any other heavy equipment, visit ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools – your career starts with that first move.

Not all heavy equipment is actually – heavy, but they can be mean looking little critters. Look at the mouth on this one.

It may be on the small side but a piece of heavy equipment like this can still pack some grunt and get the job done. This one can be used for loading awkward items like rock, timber and piping. The front is detachable and can be replaced with a bucket amongst other attachments.

What many people don’t realize is that it can take just as much training to learn how to operate one of these as it does one of those huge monsters that you see in the mines. In this case, you have a variety of attachments that an operator needs experience in using.

Heavy equipment comes in many different shapes and sizes. The small machines a perfect for those that want to establish their own business. If you are successful you can start to add other pieces of heavy equipment to your fleet. This of course helps to bring in new work. If your successful you will end up being the employer rather than an employee.

Whether it is a small machine like the one in the photo or a large piece of heavy equipment like a bulldozer or grader, you need to start somewhere and that start is in gaining the skills to operate a machine. A heavy equipment training schools specialize in training individuals on a range of equipment. Get the training and there is plenty of demand for your skills.

Being part of team can be a lot of fun. It also takes quite a bit of coordination and control. Knowing exactly where your fellow workers are is so important – if only for safety sake.

These guys are working together on a large site – you can see how close they are. Another foot either way for the one in the middle and they are likely to become a tangled mess of metal and dirt. If you fancy yourself as a top gun dozer operator then perhaps you should look into some training.

At ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools we can get your career off to a great start through professional training and post training job placement services. Once you have completed your training and got a little bit of experience – you too could be working as part of a close knit team like they these guys.

Learning to operate heavy equipment is not that difficult – I wont say it is easy either. There are many different levels of training with each level designed to teach you certain skills. The also form the backbone of the next level in training.

Comprehensive training in heavy equipment operations is required to perform well in any given situation. At ATSN Heavy Equipment Training Schools with try to provide that level of training. Students are taken through three different levels.

Level 1
Level one introduces a student to heavy equipment and concentrates on safety. Heavy equipment includes backhoes, tractors, loaders and dump trucks. There is also an introduction to reading with blue prints and other site related documentation.

Level 2
Level two builds on level one and focuses on scrapers, rollers and bulldozers and their function with heavy earth moving. Once you have completed level two you will have a fairly good knowledge of heavy equipment operations.

Level 3
Level three builds on those skills introduced in levels one and two. Level three looks at advanced operational techniques including finishing and grading. Once you have completed level three you should be ready to start work and get some experience in the real world of heavy equipment operations.

The key to good training is the way each component is introduced and then steadily built upon. Rather than throwing you in with a sink or swim attitude, you are gradually taken through each of the levels as you gain confidence and an understanding of the capabilities of the heavy equipment.

Heavy equipment training can be easy once you accept that every training component is logically timetabled to provide the best possible training – and it all starts with you.

You can get training on heavy equipment in a lot of different ways. You can go and jump on a machine and learn by trail and error – if you survive. You can learn from an old hand who can stand alongside you and teach you everything he knows – including his bad habits. Or can get accredited training from a professional group of training instructors.

What makes accredited training more important than those mentioned? One aspect of accreditation that many people don’t understand is the standardization that occurs to maintain that accreditation.

This means that all training schools with the same accreditation for the same training program will have the same outcomes. Everyone is being taught the same information and this is generally a standard set by the industry itself, in this case, the heavy equipment industry.

It is important to find a training establishment that is accredited to teach the skills required to be a heavy equipment operator since this will mean that you have the standard of training and skills base required to work in the heavy equipment industry.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools are accredited to delivery training so can be assured of receiving quality training that meets the needs of industry.

You have to wonder about the mentality of some operators. Of course, accidents do happen, but if you take care and you are aware of your environment then these accidents wont happen. Check out this heavy equipment operator:

Obviously wasn’t taught how to operate his equipment by ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools. Get the right training first then hope aboard your heavy equipment and stay safe.

Have you ever seen a piece of heavy equipment with two seats in the cabin? No! Didn’t think so. It is extremely difficult to ‘teach’ someone how to operate any equipment. We can teach you safety features, and we can teach you basic maintenance, teaching you operate is a different story.

The real issue is not so much what we teach, but what you learn. When it comes to heavy equipment you will learn more by doing than by watching. Once you start operating the equipment we can provide advice on what you are doing right, what you are doing wrong, and what areas you could do a little differently. You job is take the advice as part of a lesson, not as a form of criticism.

In education, there is an old saying that goes something like this:

“The teacher is present when the student is ready to learn.”

In other words, unless you are willing to learn, a teacher is useless – we cannot teach a brick wall to do anything. This is very true when it comes to heavy equipment. We provide you with the opportunity to learn how to operate the equipment. We cannot help you at all unless you are ready to learn, not from a blackboard, but from sitting in the seat and doing.

For some students, it all comes naturally. For others, they need to keep practicising until they get it right. Operating heavy equipment is a combination of eyes, hands, feet, and, believe it or not, your backside. You need to feel the equipment – become one with it. You will soon learn that what you feel with your hands and feet is what is happening now. What you feel with your backside has already happened.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools give you every opportunity to learn to operate equipment. If your ready to start learning, we are ready to start your learning.

Track Loaders are very similar to bulldozers and can undertake similar jobs. Bulldozers really just push and cut, they cannot load the material into a truck. Track loaders are a combination of a front end loader and a bulldozer.

The tracks gives it some grip and function in muddy, slippery areas. The loader function allows it to scoop up the material and empty it into a waiting truck just like a front end loader. The track loader’s bucket is generally a little smaller when it comes to capacity.

A good example of a track loader is Caterpillar’s small 939C track loader which offers a single lever joystick for easy control off both speed and direction. The smaller size also provides for a small turning radius. The Caterpillar 953D model is larger and features a redesigned operator cab that keeps the focus on comfort for long work shifts. The 936C is Caterpillar’s choice for general purpose work. It can do clearing, stripping of topsoil, contouring, grading, dozing, backfilling, carry materials and truck loading.

Track loaders can often be found in the waste handling industry. The Caterpillar 953C is geared for this type of work. In landfills it can be found feeding waste to the compactors, spreading, shredding and leveling and at transfer stations, the work is often sorting, crushing and loading.

You can consider a track loader as a cross between a bulldozer and a front end loader. You can start your career in this industry by getting quality training as a bulldozer operator.

The best recommendation that any business can get is one that comes from their own customers. In our case, it comes from former students who have successfully completed their training and gone on to great careers in the heavy equipment industry.

Training is only half the story. We can provide the world’s best training but if there is no work available then you are not going to be able to refine your skills and gain the experience required to move on to high paying careers. At ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools we not only pride ourselves on the quality of the training, we also do our best to help students into careers – and that is one of the most important aspects of our business – seeing you succeed.

The demand for skilled operators is growing each year and the range of industries requiring these skills is also growing. Whether you work in the mining sector, agriculture, construction – and this is such a wide field – there are jobs ranging from road construction, farm, housing development and commercial construction, finally area such as shipping and ports and perhaps even military service.

If you are interested in a position in the heavy equipment industry then check out what our former students have to say at ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools.