We often discuss some of the more unusual jobs that heavy equipment operators can be called upon to do at times. Excavators have a role that is important in our society, a role that most of us will require at some stage, yet a role we will not care about at the time. I am of course talking about our final resting place. Mini excavators are often the equipment of choice these days when it comes to digging burial plots.

It’s not a subject we all want to discuss – but then, it is a job that is required in our society and someone has to do it. If you have ever seen an empty burial plot, you will be struck by how precise they can be. Rectangular, straight walls and perfect corners. That actually takes precision work by a skilled operator to achieve that finish – skills that can take quite some time to fully develop.

When developing any skills in life, the end result will almost always depend on the platform that you are building those skills on. If your original training has been poor then no matter how much practice and experience you get, you are only reinforcing a poor skill set and bad habits. Quality training provides a solid platform from which you can build skills to a high level.

Employers know this already. When looking at resumes, or interviewing applicants for a vacancy, one of the questions they want answered is ‘where you did your training’. If your heavy equipment training provider has a poor reputation you can forget the job. If your training provider has a good reputation then your chances of securing the job increase dramatically.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools have a solid reputation for delivering good quality operators that are ready for the workplace. Excavators get some of the interesting jobs – like digging burial plots. Are you interested in becoming an excavator operator? Contact us if you are.

One of the more commonly seen yet unusual uses of an excavator is on the back of a barge helping to dredge the floor of a river. They are more common than people realize with many excavators permanently attached to the barge – that is their life’s work. For an operator, it can be one of those ‘cushy’ jobs.

Sitting on barges, the excavator’s role is no different than digging a trench on land, the only difference being the trench is under water. The mud is scooped up and dumped into another barge, the water-based version of a dump truck. The work is relatively easy with the biggest danger being bridges and underwater cables.

Despite being an easy job, they are hard to come by since they can be very popular amongst operators. The skills required to operate a barge-mounted excavator are no different than those required to operate a land-based excavator. Standard heavy equipment operator training is all that you require together with a reasonable amount of experience.

If you are considering a career as an excavator operator then you will be entering a field that can be interesting and varied. Excavators are no longer restricted to just digging trenches; they operate in a wide range of environments including my favorite, demolition. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools offer a comprehensive training course that prepares graduates for work in a variety of fields. Our training is accredited and recognized nationally. This means your training credentials qualify you for employment as a heavy equipment operator across the country. If this sounds like a career for you, contact us now to discuss your training options.

Yes, you read correctly. Dancing excavators. I write this post, not so much to highlight the fact that excavators can dance, but to highlight the precision of the excavator operators. In one video, whilst the excavators don’t appear to be that big, when you have an excavator bucket and broom traveling at speed, it will do some damage when it comes into contact with something.

Precision comes from experience. However, that experience is based on the initial training that an excavator operator receives. If the initial training is poor, then the on-the-job training skill development becomes so much harder. In fact, many new operators walk away from the profession because they cannot cope, and they reason they cannot cope is because they have had such poor training to begin with.

A well trained operator will be confident (without being cocky) when taking control of his/her equipment. The more time they spend using that piece of equipment, the more confident they become – in fact, an operator soon learns to trust instinct as much as anything else. That is a skill that does take time to develop.

Good quality training starts with the selection of a training organization. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools has a long history of providing quality excavator training that is relevant to today’s workplace. We pride ourselves on providing our students with a solid platform of skills and knowledge that enable them to quickly gain on-the-job work skills. In effect, our quality training helps an operator fast track their career.

If you are looking to develop the skills similar to those shown in the video, contact us at ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools and we can discuss what options are available in becoming a heavy equipment operator.

Excavators come in a variety of sizes these days. From giant lumbering beasts to compact units that can get into some pretty tight places. Not only are they available in a range of sizes, they also have a wide range of attachments, making them extremely versatile machines. Gone are the days when an excavator was only useful for digging trenches – show me a hand tool and I can almost guarantee there is an excavator attachment to match.

Despite the range in sizes, the wide variety of attachments that an excavator can use, learning to operate one is not as difficult as it sounds. In fact, you can go from zero to a competent operator in as little as three weeks. Not only that, but along the way you could also pick up operator skills in bulldozers, graders, backhoes and loaders.

Exposure to a range of equipment during training helps you appreciate their power and their limitations, important knowledge when you are working as part of an earth moving team. The main role of an excavator is still to dig trenches. Their attachments help them to achieve this quickly without having to call in other equipment. However, they are not restricted to trenching.

Excavators have been used as part of demolition teams, in the mining industry, and in very different roles such as removing silt from the bottom of rivers to make them deeper. The role of an excavator operator is varied, challenging and well paid.

Does a career as an excavator sound interesting? Find out more by contacting us at ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools to see when our next heavy equipment training program starts.

It may be winter and the ground may be frozen solid, but if a trench is needed, the excavator is the machine for the job. Frozen ice may be too hard for the bucket, but excavators come with a range of tools that can used, including ground breaking picks. They say that backhoes are versatile, but so too are excavators.

Backhoes are versatile machines and often a lot easier to use when it comes to tight spaces. However, for every attachment that a backhoe has, an excavator has an equivalent. Where the excavator often excels is in in pure power. Size for size, the excavator can often exert a lot more grunt so when it comes to icy ground – call in the excavator, they are muscled up and ready.

Excavator operators are often multi-skilled as well. If you can operate an excavator then you should be able to transfer some of those skills to the backhoe. The reverse is true also. If your original training is undertaken through an accredited training company then there is a good chance you have been trained on both – and the loader as well.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools train their students across a range of heavy equipment that includes excavators and backhoes, loaders, bulldozers as well as graders. These are the main machines used in excavating, construction and mining, the major users of heavy equipment operators. For those looking to enter the field of heavy equipment, we have new heavy equipment training programs starting all the time so the wait for the next course is always minimal.

If you are looking for a job operating an excavator – you need the training first. Contact us and we can discuss your training options and what is needed to become qualified.

Backhoes were once the machinery of choice when it came to ‘light’ excavations. These are jobs like shallow trenches, foundations for houses and landscape gardening. Backhoes were smaller, lighter and more flexible than other heavy equipment – they could go in, get the job done and be out again in next to no time. This preference is now being challenged by excavators – albeit mini-excavators.

Where a mini-excavator does lose popularity is in the area of flexibility and the fact that mini-excavators still rely on tracks rather than wheels. However, some mini-excavators are smaller than the smallest backhoes so flexibility doesn’t enter the equation – that just leaves those tracks.

Backhoes have a real advantage having wheels rather than tracks – they can drive quite quickly on public roads. Excavators, with their tracks, are still slow in comparison. However, despite some of these negatives, mini-excavators are gaining in popularity and it is at the expense of backhoes.

With this trend, what should you specialize in, backhoes or excavators? I’ll let you in on a little secret – you can do both. Backhoes, excavators and loaders all complement each other when it comes to skills. Yes, each piece of equipment is operated differently. However, sometimes those differences are not that great. With a backhoe, you have the combined skills of an excavator and a loader.

To gain these skills you need to complete a heavy equipment training program such as that offered by ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools. Our training program will provide you with experience on a range of heavy equipment including backhoes, excavators and loaders. Our training programs are nationally recognized, which means your skills upon graduation will be recognized nationally. Excavators may be trying to take over from backhoes but they will never do it – if they do, you will have all the skills necessary to operate either one – and a loader as well.

Excavator operators need a keen sense of placement in their environment since the job itself takes them and their excavator right to the edge – literally. If you look closely at this image, another couple of feet and the excavator would be in the trench rather than creating it. Knowing where you are and, just as importantly, knowing what is happening under you are crucial when it comes to safety.

Depending on the soil type, any excavation has the potential for the edges to collapse. As an operator, you should be ‘feeling’ the ground under you as you work. For experienced operators, it becomes second nature. It’s a little like ‘feeling’ the road through the steering wheel when driving a car without even thinking about it. Excavator operators do exactly the same except instead of road it’s the area around their machine.

It is hard to teach people how to interpret sensations that are felt through the hands, feet and seat of the pants. What we can do is provide training time in the operator’s seat. Being able to ‘feel’ the ground really comes from experience. The more time you have in an operator’s seat, the more attuned you will become with the machine and your environment. However, without the right basic training, the only thing you’re likely to become attuned to is sitting in the bottom of that trench.

At ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools, we strongly believe in using a two-pronged attack when it comes to heavy equipment training. Safety and other issues are generally taught in a classroom situation. Learning to operate an excavator, for example, is done by sitting in the operator seat and doing the work yourself. Of course, we guide you and provide instruction on which levers, pedals and buttons to use, but you get a feel for how the machine works by doing the operating yourself.

Do you like living on the edge? Become an excavator operator and do it almost every day.

Excavators have become popular equipment on demolition sites, especially those that come equipped with long reach arms. By using the longer reach, an operator can pull down walls and clear rubble while keeping the cab (and the operator) safely out of harms way. Excavators also come with a variety of attachments available, attachments that can make the demolition of a building over and done with in quick time.

Working on a demolition site can be quite different to working on a construction site. Often, explosives have been used to implode the building. This means that walls and other strength areas will be much weaker and susceptible to collapsing at any time. Excavator operators have to maneuver carefully through these areas so the building can be demolished in an ordered and orderly fashion.

Operating an excavator involves a high level of concentration. It also requires a basic set of heavy equipment operator skills – skills that can be further developed over time to a point where working on a demolition site is standard for the operator’s abilities.

Gaining the basic knowledge and skills to operate an excavator isn’t really difficult. In as little as three short weeks, ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools can have you trained and ready to start work as a trained heavy equipment operator – even on an excavator. As for the demolition team, it may take a little more experience before you can start demolishing – but it certainly sounds like a lot of fun. Every job has it’s up side, for excavators, it has to be the role of demolishing old buildings.

The demand for heavy equipment operators is steadily rising with forecasts for 2010, indicating a much heavier demand in spring and summer, especially when it comes to excavators and loaders. Bulldozers and graders follow closely with other heavy equipment operators also in strong demand.

Excavator operators will be in heavy demand in spring with new building projects scheduled for spring starts. Excavators and bulldozers are the two machines generally called in first for a building project. Many projects have already had the clearing preparation completed and ready to turn the soil. This involves excavator operators and, to a lesser extent, loaders and backhoes.

Foundation work and service trenches is the area that will see highest demand although road construction will create a demand across most areas of heavy equipment. Excavators also play a role in road construction – this is why the demand for excavator operators is expected to surge – both areas of construction requiring operators at the same time.

Undertaking a heavy equipment training program early in 2010 is advisable if you are looking to enter this field, particularly if you are considering specializing in excavators. The number of operators in the work place has diminished over the last 10 years. Many older operators have left the profession whilst others have simply moved on to other trades.

Excavator operators will be in demand in 2010. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools are gearing up for a busy year training new operators to meet this demand. If you are considering a career change and moving into heavy equipment, contact us to find out what training are available in your area.

It seems the next big trend in heavy equipment will be excavators and their attachments. More importantly, some of these attachments can do the work of other more specialized equipment. Using the attachment can reduce costs and reduce time. According to GradingAndExcavation.com – a trade magazine for graders and excavators:

The right crushing, breaking, and pulverizing attachment paired with an excavator or loader creates a powerful, portable, and profitable green machine that is ideal for demolition, in-place recycling, and reclamation.

An excavator that can dig up an old road then, by switching attachments, break up and crush that asphalt would be a huge plus to contractors. The crushed asphalt can then be reused as a base for the new road surface. Recycling at its best. Excavator operators that have skills using these attachments will be in high demand as more contractors realize the huge cost benefits of multi-tooling their excavators.

It is not just road construction that is starting to use this technology. Concrete breaking and crushing is another area which is becoming popular for onsite recycling. Perhaps the biggest impact will be felt on new housing estates. Here the material, including rock, that is dug out is crushed down to a suitable size to reuse on the site. This is removing the need to truck out this material and, in some situations, truck in replacement soil. There is a similar situation developing with demolition sites where the bricks and mortar are being crushed and reused on site.

Learning to operate an excavator is the first step and to do that, you need to undertake a heavy equipment operator training program. Once you are skilled at operating an excavator, you can look at many of the attachments that are available and start to gain some skills using them. Excavators and their attachments are becoming an important component in the recycling of building materials. Learn to use them effectively and your skills will be in high demand.