One of the mysteries of heavy equipment is the name given to a backhoe. After all, the ‘backhoe’ is just one half of the equipment, the other half being a standard loader. More interesting is the fact that the ‘backhoe’ sits at the rear of the equipment, and it’s the loader end that does most of the actual ‘driving’ around.

Putting the name issue aside, becoming a backhoe operator is a popular option for many because of the multiple skills involved, and the diversity that comes with a job. Effectively, you are trained as an excavator operator and loader operator. In fact, for many backhoe operators, those two pieces of heavy equipment are their fall back jobs should they find it difficult to find backhoe jobs.

In today’s climate, that is not a frequent problem. Many backhoe operators go to the next level becoming owner operators. Because of a backhoe’s versatility, there is always plenty of work available for owner operators, and the heavy equipment itself can be picked up at a reasonable price – certainly at a price that makes being an owner operator attractive.

To become a backhoe operator, you will need to complete a heavy equipment operator’s training program. This is a training program that exposes students to a range of heavy equipment, backhoes, loaders, and excavators included. A good heavy equipment training program will also include non-operational components such as soil knowledge, maintenance and fault finding, safety and site layouts. Those extra knowledge based areas are what makes for a well rounded heavy equipment operator.

At ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools, our aim is to produce heavy equipment operator graduates who are ready to start work from day one. Our operators have the knowledge and skills to succeed, and employers acknowledge this by coming to us on a regular basis looking for good recruits. If you’re looking for a job with diversity, then operating a backhoe certainly delivers.

Many mistake it for a bulldozer or a steam shovel, but the backhoe is one of the most important pieces of heavy equipment on any work site. It is highly versatile and needed on nearly every construction site. Due to its versatility, some intense backhoe training is required to ensure safe and proper operation at all times.

A backhoe can be recognized by its unique design. In laymen’s terms, it looks a lot like a trailer with a small shovel (the actual backhoe) on the back end and a front end loader, a wider shovel, on the front of the machine. The backhoe itself is basically a backward shovel on the end of two arms; the shovel is pulled toward the driver when digging. The arm closest to the shovel is called the “dipper” and the arm closest to the body of the machine is known as the “boom.” The backhoe is mainly used for excavating or digging; this can include landscaping, digging foundations, excavating trenches for pipes and cable and more. The loader end of the backhoe can then be used to load this material into a dump or rock truck, and then, it also can be used to smooth out these areas.

As with all heavy equipment, the backhoe is a massive and dangerous piece of equipment on any work site. As a result, an operator must show extreme caution and be aware of everything in his surroundings. The backhoe needs a wide path to operate and moves much faster than one might anticipate. It is the operator’s responsibility to ensure the safety of himself and all of his coworkers. To make certain of this, it is mandated that the operator must be given thorough backhoe training .

Christmas can be a lot of fun for many people, especially children. Heavy equipment operators, crane operators and truck drivers often get in on the act as well, playing their roll in bringing joy to tens of thousands. Every town seems to have a Christmas parade of some description, and truck drivers are often busy driving floats, for the lucky few, driving the truck that has Santa in his festive seat. Backhoes are interesting additions to many parades, their peculiar shape offering a lot of opportunities for those with a little imagination.

Backhoes are those machines you see in construction sites that look a little like a scorpion ready to strike. The ‘hoe’ part of the vehicle can often be dressed for a variety of effects while the loader at the front makes a great ‘mouth’, especially with a few well painted teeth added. Being wheeled vehicles, they operate over roads with ease and they are generally not as loud as other heavy equipment.

Of course, truck drivers and backhoes are not the only heavy equipment to make it into a Christmas parade. Front loaders are also popular – last year we witnessed a front loader following Santa’s truck, with the loader proudly carrying all the gifts that were to be handed out to children. It was certainly a different role to that normally undertaken by its operator.

Heavy equipment operators are only selected to appear in parades if they are well experienced and have safe working histories. Heavy equipment is dangerous, and parades are very dangerous areas, especially where excitable children are present – and after all, that’s normally why we have parades, to amuse the children (or the child in us).

In order to participate in a parade like those we see at Christmas, heavy equipment operators need to good skills, the kind of skills that are developed after a good heavy equipment training program. We can’t promise you’ll ever appear in a parade, but we can promise to deliver the best heavy equipment training in the country, and that’s a good start.

Heavy equipment is a field that involves a wide range of equipment. To be successful, operators need experience on more than one type of machine. With some equipment, the types of operations are very similar, it’s just the type of equipment that is different. The easiest machinery to see this in the backhoe and the loader and excavator.

It has often been said that if you can operate a backhoe successfully, you will have no trouble operating a loader or an excavator. In truth, each of these machines is decidedly different. However, they have enough similarities that if you were trained in each you would have no trouble swapping between them at a moment’s notice.

To say that a backhoe works in the same manner as an excavator is not quite right. Sure, knowledge of dirt and the way it reacts when working with either machine is the same, and the process of digging a trench is very similar. Backhoes are generally wheeled vehicles while excavators are normally driven on tracks (also known as continuous tracks or caterpillar tracks). Maneuvering each is very different, and often stabilizing is also different.

Loaders, too, are different compared to backhoes. While the process of moving dirt is very similar, loaders are often articulated while backhoes are normally one solid unit. Articulated requires different driving skills and maneuvering can be tricky if you haven’t had any experience.

While loaders and excavators are different than backhoes, the actual work involved is often very similar. Some employers prefer to use backhoes whilst other prefer two separate machines. What is important is to have heavy equipment training that exposes you to, and gives you, in-the-seat practice in all three machinery types. That will prepare you for a career where you can operate any one of those machines with confidence, and with skill.

It’s rather sad to read online newspapers sometimes, especially when you work in the field of heavy equipment training. One of the core areas of heavy equipment training is safety, and it’s easy to see why given some of these stories. To see these headlines, you would think that backhoe operations were extremely dangerous, yet in reality, operating a backhoe should be a very safe occupation. Some of the headlines from the past month include:

• Man Killed After His Backhoe Tips Over
• Orangeville Man Killed By Backhoe
• 6-Year-Old Girl Injured While Playing With Backhoe
• Gas Line Explosion In Lake Worth After Backhoe Incident
• Backhoe Gets Stuck In Mass. Ave. Tunnel

With the exception of the last news article, taking a little more care may have prevented these accidents. When a child is injured, the first question raised is related to how secure the operator had left his equipment while unattended. Severing a gas line is a team problem – someone should have had maps of the services to they could avoid any underground problems. The last point, while not a problem caused by the backhoe operator, is still an example of what can go wrong.

Undertaking heavy equipment training can help you to avoid many of these incidents, simply through the safety training that is now incorporated in that training. Safety should always be on the mind of a heavy equipment operator. Working safely in the work place demands attention to everything both in the cab and on the ground around you. Backhoes are generally very safe vehicles to operate, however, if you don’t have that safety training, you won’t know how to stay safe.

Visit a demolition site and you can almost guarantee you’ll find either a backhoe or an excavator hard at work. The two heavy equipment machines are the real jacks of all trades when it comes construction, or in this case, destruction. Backhoes have an obvious benefit – they can dig up material using their ‘hoe’ and load debris into trucks using their loaders. However, both of these vehicles have hidden talents.

If you continue to watch either a backhoe or an excavator, you may catch sight of the operator switching tools. The digging bucket can be removed and replaced by any one of a dozen or more attachments. These attachments range from augers to jackhammers, concrete breakers to pincer-like grabbers.

Operators need to develop experience at both attaching these tools to their equipment and putting them into effective use. In most cases, heavy equipment training will teach an individual to operate this equipment, and how to attach different tools. Learning to use them comes as part and parcel of the on-the-job training that heavy equipment operators go through for the rest of their working lives – yes, every day is a learning experience for every operator.

Heavy equipment training is the foundation for this ongoing on-the-job training. If your initial training is broad and covers a range of heavy equipment, your ability to learn more is enhanced. If your initial training is narrow, then your ability to build on those skills will be greatly reduced.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools offer students training in a wide variety of heavy equipment. This provides a broad-based training program that allows students to develop a wide range of skills. Once these students enter the workplace, they are able to quickly build on those skills to become well-respected operators in their field. Backhoes and excavators are multi-functional equipment so the broader your training, the more competent you will quickly become.

Backhoes are one of the strangest looking vehicles in a construction yard. They always remind me a little of a scorpion, sitting there with a stinger folded back behind them. What a backhoe offers to an operator is the combined capabilities of a front-end loader and an excavator – all in the one vehicle.

For operators who have been trained in the right environment, there is a good chance they will be skilled in all three machines. This adds a broader range of machinery to their employment options and can make a difference between being in work and having days or weeks between jobs. Being multi-skilled can make a huge difference to an operator’s career.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools offer students experience in a variety of heavy equipment including backhoes, loaders, and excavators. When a student graduates, they can choose whichever path best suits their skills (and ideals) – or they can choose to follow the multi-skilled path operating a variety of equipment.

Longer term, the two most popular vehicles chosen by operators when starting their own business is the backhoe and the loader. Of course, cost plays a big role in this decision with these two vehicles often being the lowest price in the heavy equipment field. However, bulldozers come in a close third, and they are not exactly inexpensive to acquire.

Backhoes really do bring together the best of loaders and excavators. At the same time, backhoes have challenges of their own for operators to navigate. The next time you look at a backhoe, don’t look at it as being a cut down version of a loader and excavator. They are vehicles that have a real life of their own – and in today’s construction industry, a very important role.

It’s hard to imagine two completely different pieces of heavy equipment coming together to make one. Yet, for a backhoe, the combination works extremely well. Backhoes combing the nimble work of a loader with the grunt that excavator provides when digging trenches. As a piece of machinery, the backhoe looks to be an ugly awkward beast. I once made the comment that a backhoe looked like a deformed scorpion – it ‘s a reasonable description. Fortunately, they come with the sting.

Naturally, when you combine two different machines into one, that generally requires two sets of skills. For the backhoe, an operator needs to be competent at working as a loader, steadily filling trucks, or perhaps carting materials around in its scoop. The operator also needs to be competent at working as an excavator operator. This means knowing the digging limits of your machine. It also means knowing how to change and use the wide variety of optional tools associated with a backhoe.

Although a backhoe requires two sets of skills to be an effective operator, these skills are not difficult to learn, especially if you attend a well respected heavy equipment training provider. Backhoes, excavators, and loaders are amongst the skills available through a comprehensive training program, and these skills will help to establish you in a career as a backhoe operator. Backhoe careers are reasonably well paid and demand is slowly on the rise. Do you have what it takes to master two pieces of heavy equipment?

One of the most versatile vehicles in a heavy equipment fleet has to be the backhoe. To begin with, it is two vehicles in one – the front is a standard front end loader and the rear is a cut down version of an excavator. Because it has two tools, it can do a wide range of jobs. Backhoes can also be quite nimble so they can work over a variety of terrains. Their large heavy treaded wheels also help, even when the weather turns sour.

To become a backhoe operator you need to learn the skills of both a loader operator and an excavator operator. For this reason, heavy equipment training programs that introduce students to a variety of machinery are more important than programs that train an individual in a single vehicle. The skills learned across that range of equipment prepares the student well for a career as a backhoe operator – it also provides the student with more options once they have completed their training.

You will find backhoes working everywhere from home construction sites to large buildings. They are also often used to prepare the way for in-ground swimming pools or to dig trenches for underground services such as gas, electricity, and telephone. Backhoes are also often found on demolition sites, particularly during the end stages when a site is being cleared. Backhoes and excavators have many similarities and this includes a wide range of tools that can be added to the rear of the vehicle. These tools can do any number of jobs including digging post holes and breaking up concrete slabs or large rocks in preparation for removal. The loader can then be used to help load the material onto a truck.

Backhoes are a popular choice for those graduating from our heavy equipment training programs. They are also one of the most popular choices when it comes to setting up your own small business. The wide range of jobs that a backhoe can do means it is in constant demand. Interested in a career as a backhoe operator? Contact ATS for more information on our heavy equipment operator training programs.

Backhoes – they are the backbone of many construction sites. However, I can’t think of many places where backhoes aren’t used these days. One of the big advantages of a backhoe is its versatility. With a bucket at the rear and shovel at the front, it has a wide range of applications. Backhoes also come in a wide variety of sizes – some are quite large and tackle big jobs while others are quite small and can get into some of the smallest places imaginable on a construction site.

Consider some of the work situations where you will find a backhoe:

• swimming pool construction
• digging foundations for new buildings
• digging trenches for pipelines
• demolition work
• agriculture, particularly dam building and irrigation
• cemeteries

That is a very small list of work situations. I could extend that list considerably if I also took into account the range of attachments that can be used in place of the bucket. While a backhoe is an extremely versatile work unit, operating one is not as complex as one may think. In fact, you can learn to operate a range of heavy equipment, including a backhoe, in as little as three weeks. At the end of the training, you are ready for entry level employment as a heavy equipment operator.

For operators, one of the benefits of specializing in backhoes is that it opens the door to further employment options such as loader and excavator operations. The bucket of a backhoe mimics the actions of an excavator while the shovel at the front mimics the actions of a wheel loader. If you are looking for a career in heavy equipment that offers a little in the way of variety, consider a career as a backhoe operator. Backhoe operator wages are good as are the working conditions. Your next step to a successful career is to commence heavy equipment training – are you ready?