The traditional role of an excavator was to dig trenches. There have been times when all an operator did was dig mile after mile of trenches – sometimes deep, sometimes shallow. The laying of pipes around the nation has been important for our development. Whether it’s waste water, fresh drinking water, or services such as power, gas, or cable TV – without an excavator to dig the trenches we would still be struggling along using man power.

Today, while excavators can be found in diverse roles such as mining, forestry and dredging, their expertise still lies with digging trenches. The modern excavator is very different from those of 20-30 years ago. Today, they use lasers and GPS to help guide them; the operator sits in air-conditioned comfort, often with a cd player and two way radio for communication. Excavators can now dig trenches to within the finest of measurements, and in a quarter of the time of the older equipment.

While the work may have become easier, that shouldn’t undervalue the skills of the operators. Yes, you can be trained and work ready in as little as three weeks, but your training doesn’t end there. Like most heavy equipment, once you have completed your basic heavy equipment training, you are ready for a life time of on-the-job training with every situation holding some sort of lesson.

As our population ages, the real problem in the future may well be a shortage of skilled operators. If you have considered a career in the heavy equipment industry, who not look a little closer at excavators. Operators are amongst the best paid heavy equipment operators and there is rarely any shortage of work available.

The mining industry has some of the best paid operators when it comes to heavy equipment. However, getting a start in that industry can be difficult, especially if you’re raw with no skills or heavy equipment experience. Excavators and excavator training can be an option to opening the door to a mining industry career.

Excavators are used widely across many industries. When we think of excavators, most people think about the machinery used to dig trenches for pipe laying. This has been the traditional role of an excavator, however, they are used far more broadly than that. In fact, excavators have been modified in specialist equipment and if you visit some mining sites, you would be stunned by the equipment in use. As an example, take your regular excavator – increase it in size tenfold, and you have one of the smaller excavators used in some open cut mines. To say they are huge is an understatement. Yet many of those operators started their careers as humble excavator operators, digging trenches on new housing estates.

To get into the mining industry, you need experience operating standard heavy equipment like excavators, bulldozers and loaders. To gain work and experience operating this machinery, you need to have the proper base training. Heavy equipment training should cover a range of machinery – this has a number of benefits to graduates including providing a much wider range of jobs to select from. Being multi-skilled is also one attribute that is preferred by many employers.

If a well paid career in the mining industry sounds attractive then look at heavy equipment training as a starting point. Follow this up with employment as an excavator operator and over time you will develop the skills necessary to gain employment in the mining industry.

Excavators – they were once considered to be great at digging holes in the ground, particularly trenches for pipes. These days, excavators can be found in a variety of workplaces and digging trenches has become just one of many tasks they can perform. One of the best places to see the variety of jobs an excavator can perform is on a demolition site.

Demolition jobs have to be every big kid’s dream job. While we like building things, just watch your kids – they take great pleasure in pulling them down again only to start all over. Demolition work, however, is not a kid’s job. In fact, it’s a serious job that requires precision and care with safety of paramount importance. Excavators often play a major role in demolition jobs because of the variety of tasks they can perform.

Attachments are what allows an excavator to be versatile and while pulling down walls is a major part of their job, using attachments such as claws and jackhammers means the excavator can move and break up large sections of a building. It can be an interesting experience just watching an excavator rip up a concrete building block – they can certainly make short work of the task.

You will find excavators at work in a variety of jobs. The mining industry relies on them as does construction. They can be used for river and creek dredging or widening, forestry and, using smaller versions, landscape gardening. To become an excavator operator is not as difficult as some believe. Three weeks of heavy equipment training will prepare most students for entry level employment opportunities. On the job training using a variety of attachments will soon see proficient operators offered more challenging roles such as demolition work.

If you’re interested in a career as an excavator operator, contact ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools for more information on course dates, financial assistance and post-training career services. The opportunities are there for those ready to take them.

Excavators are one of the core vehicles that most heavy equipment training programs cover. There is a reason for this. Many of the skills, terms used and processes extend across the complete range of heavy equipment. By learning these components, you will have the beginnings of a solid foundation in heavy equipment operations.

For most people, an excavator is nothing more than a trench digger. This may well be a major component of an excavator operator’s working life, but it is certainly not the only component. Excavators are also used in material handling, demolition, general grading and landscaping, heavy lifting (for example, the lifting and placing of pipes), river dredging and mining, just to name a few. When it comes to trenches, the skills required go far beyond just digging a hole (or trench). Excavator operators need a rounded knowledge of how to dig, service and back fill a trench; how to load material onto trucks; and related skills such as benching and sloping.

So, while an excavator may be used primarily for digging trenches, those skills can be transferred to other vehicles. For example, the principles of demolition, general grading and landscaping can be applied to most heavy equipment. Skills such as backfilling, benching and sloping can also be applied to most heavy equipment vehicles used in construction.

If you are interested in finding out more about excavators, their role in construction, and how to become an excavator operator, contact the nation’s leading supplier of well trained heavy equipment operators. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools operate training schools in a number of locations around the nation with heavy equipment training programs commencing on a regular basis. Excavator operators are well paid compared to many other careers and the opportunities are there for new operators to join the workforce.

Think excavators and you probably think ditches. However, the modern excavator does far more than just dig ditches. You will find excavators at work on rivers doing dredging work, in forestry plantations, in the mining industry, in road and rail construction and in general construction. Wherever there is earth moving involved, you’re likely to find an excavator or it’s cousin, the backhoe.

Excavator training is not really a difficult course to get through. They may look like technically complex machines, and from an engineering point of view, they are. From an operators point of view, operating an excavator is only a matter of learning what the levers and pedals actually do – get a grasp of that and you’re halfway there. Of course, you also need to learn other components such as safety, basic maintenance and how an excavator performs in different soil types.

It only takes three weeks to complete a heavy equipment training program that includes excavator operator training. At the completion of the three weeks of training, you should be proficient in a number of machines including bulldozers, graders, loaders and excavators. Once you have completed your training, the most important part of your career begins – on-the-job training – and that lasts a lifetime.

Does operating an excavator sound like a career for you? If so, contact ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools for details on our next training course and the location of the nearest training school to you. Excavator operators are well paid in today’s workforce and their careers are interesting and involve a lot of variety – the one thing you won’t be doing is digging ditches all the time.

Excavators are used in a wide variety of industries and the job prospects for each industry is varied. Although the majority of operators tend to work in construction, there are other industries that also rely on competent operators. Some of the industries and their prospects include:

• Government – government, particularly local government can be reliable employers. The demand for heavy equipment operators can be in season. Prospects are still strong in this sector.
• Highway and Heavy Construction – prospects remain strong in this area.
• Mining – prospects fluctuate and although mining is a year round activity, vacancies can be seasonal.
• Logging – prospects are fairly weak in this industry. Excavators are not widely used and the competition for the few vacancies can be strong.
• Quarries – this is another industry where vacancies are few and competition strong.
• Water Management – vacancies in water management are moderate, however, employers in this sector tend to target operators with a lot of experience.

When you first look at that sort of scenario, you may feel that working as an excavator operator could be risky. However, it should be remembered that the two biggest users of excavator operators are the construction (including roads, bridges and highways) and government where almost 80% of all operators work. The mining industry uses excavator operators although they are often upskilled to more powerful and larger machinery.

Generally speaking, if you are looking at a career as a heavy equipment operator and the role of an excavator operator appeals, look to the general construction field first. Most other sectors demand operators with two or more years experience across a range of activities. Sectors like the logging industry also want operators that are highly proficient in the use of excavator attachments. It’s an interesting career working as an excavator operator, and one that can be well paid as well. Heavy equipment training is the key to opening the door to this career.

We have mentioned in the past that excavators are for more useful than just digging trenches. Large excavators can do a number of jobs including an involvement in mining. Smaller excavators are also useful for many different jobs. In the last week there has been a lot of activity around the world involving excavators – some of the news isn’t what you see or want to be involved with while others are a sight to see.

One area that excavators are used in is rescue operations. Despite their size and power, excavators can be quite gentle when used with experienced hands. There have been two situations recently, one in Taiwan involving a landslide and another from the sub-continent also involving a landslide. In both cases, people were trapped in trains or vehicles under tons of dirt, mud and rock. Excavators were called in to quickly remove the debris so rescuers could get in.

Closer to home, excavators were hard at work, in the middle of night, demolishing a large bridge in Portage last weekend. You can see the photos of the excavators at work here. That would have a sight to see, in the middle of the night, in pouring rain, a pair of excavators virtually eating their way through this large overpass bridge – the whole area lit by large flood lights.

Of course, it takes a considerable level of skill to complete these jobs but I can guarantee one thing – the operators involved in these tasks all started with some sort of basic training. Heavy equipment training is the core to being a successful excavator operator. At ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools we design our training in such a way that you leave us with the skills and knowledge required to start work immediately. If you’re ready for work, we’re ready to provide you with the skills.

Sometimes we downplay the role of excavators and their work digging trenches. After all, digging trenches doesn’t really sound interesting. Mining, demolition and other jobs can sound far more interesting; however, there is no denying the important role that excavators play in servicing our nation. Today, when a new housing estate is being built, most of the services to each home are there because of the work of an excavator.

Waste water leaving the home; fresh water, electricity and telephone going in to the home; they are all provided using below ground connections. Those below ground connections are there because of the expert work undertaken by excavator operators. If you think about it, digging trenches is more than just digging a hole. The trench needs to be accurately dug so that all connections meet where the plans indicate. If they don’t, repairers will have problems in years to come, locating the pipes when required.

Trenches for waste water, fresh water and electricity (and often gas) are normally dug at different levels. Working as an excavator operator means you need to work as part of a team, be able to read and follow plans, and be able to operate with precision. This requires skills and experience. However, all excavators start somewhere and that is where heavy equipment training plays its role.

By undertaking a professional heavy equipment training program you develop a set of basic skills that enable you to work as an excavator operator. Over time, you will develop skills in certain tasks to the point you could be called an expert. This may well be digging trenches and helping to deliver services to our new homes. Excavator operators – without them our housing would develop at a snail’s pace!

Sometimes news stories have ramifications that go beyond the initial story. An article in the Equipment Trader Online magazine from early March discusses the proposed move by Caterpillar of their excavator construction arm from Japan to the States. That, of course, will be a big plus for local workers in the manufacturing sector with production expected to triple. What does it mean for local excavator operators?

Local production could lead to an increase in the number of excavators being sold and with it an increase in the number of operators required. Local production should lead to lower prices, or at least more competitive prices. With local manufacturing, parts and servicing, their products will certainly create greater interest. There is a real possibility that Caterpillar will also require a small team of operators to test equipment as well. That could make for an interesting job, trying all the new models before they hit the market.

Excavators are becoming extremely versatile in the number of different roles they can play in construction. They are by no means restricted to just digging trenches these days. For operators, staying up to date with the latest in technology is almost a necessity and online magazines like Equipment Trader Online (its appears it will be free from May 1) can be ideal places to see what is happening in the world of excavators and heavy equipment in general. Of course, you could just keep coming back here as well.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools have always kept an eye on what is happening in the world of heavy equipment and the new technology that is being released. Our heavy equipment training courses are designed to ensure that graduates are able to move straight into employment after graduation with most graduates having long and successful careers. If a career as a heavy equipment operator sounds interesting, contact us for details on training options available.

Excavators used be rather boring machines. Their role predominantly was to dig trenches for pipelines and there is nothing worse than doing the same thing day after day. Today’s excavators are very different to those old machines and a career as an excavator operator can be rather interesting.

Don’t get me wrong, an excavator’s main job is still to dig trenches. However, with new tools that can be attached to an excavator, there can many different tasks. I recently saw video footage of an excavator with a grabber attached – these are like a three fingered hand that opens and shut. The excavator tore apart a recently retired war plane. Within an hour, that plane had been reduced to a pile of scrap. By the way, I am not talking about a small fighter, I am talking about a large reinforced army transporter.

That is the power that an excavator operator has at their disposal. Imagine what sort of damage it could do as part of a demolition team, or breaking up concrete or rock! The range off attachments is broad and includes augers and jack hammers, just to name a few.

To be a successful excavator operator you need two components. You need good solid training in the basics that then provides a platform to build on. You then need a job where you can develop those skills and learn the intricacies of some the attachments.

We at ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools can help you to lay that solid platform to build on. Our heavy equipment training is comprehensive and undertaken over three weeks. This includes both in the cab and in the classroom training. As for a job, there is plenty of work available for heavy equipment operators at present. When you start your training, consult our career services department for advice on how and where to apply for that first job – we are all there to help you start your career.