Heavy equipment operator training has many different formats with some training bodies specializing in one piece of equipment, like a bulldozer or excavator. A thorough heavy equipment program should expose the students to a variety of machinery for both practical experience and for familiarization. A student may decide to specialize in bulldozers, however, knowing how a grader works and its limitations, for example, can help the bulldozer operator when working around a grader.

Having exposure to a variety of equipment is important. It is also important to have some hands on experience in the popular machinery in use today. This includes bulldozers, excavators, graders, loaders and backhoes. When it comes to employment, these are the areas of greatest demand and the areas where most students will find employment.

Large reputable training organizations that have been around for many years have one very important attribute over many of the newer training organizations springing up and that is experience. Not so much the experience with training itself, although that is important. Their experience is in knowing what employers are looking for when looking to hire new operators – an attribute that many new training organizations haven’t as yet developed.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools have been around for over 25 years. During that time they have developed a reputation for providing industry with quality operators who have been trained ready for work – in other words, they have the skills that employers are looking for. The heavy equipment training program offered by ATS includes excavators, graders, backhoes and, of course, the bulldozer. No training is complete without experience operating any of these machines.

I keep an eye on the heavy equipment employment market watching for trends or indications of what sort of direction demand is going to take. Despite it being winter, a quick search of job vacancies for grader operators listed over 150 current vacancies. This is actually up by about 30 vacancies compared to a month ago. There is one trend that I think is worth noting if you are looking for a career as a grader operator.

The current trend is an increase in the number of vacancies listed that ask for grader operators that are multi-skilled. The predominant requirement is for grader operators with experience operating excavators and bulldozers and to a lessor extent, angledozers. I should point out that I was searching for grader operators and motor grader operators only. A look at other jobs within the heavy equipment field returned the following statistics:

heavy equipment operators – 200
construction equipment operators – 190
bulldozer operator – 61
excavator operator – 54
backhoe operator – 81
loader operator – 200
skid steer loader operator – 46
frontend loader operator- 63

In some cases job vacancies appear in more than one search result because of the way the vacancy notice was written. It is also interesting to note that loader and grader operators are the two most in demand at present. I use several different data sources to investigate job vacancies with these results only coming from the one site, Careers.org. If you search around you will find there are many more vacancies advertised online. What is interesting is that many employers prefer word-of-mouth, local newspapers and local employment specialists to help them find new workers rather than using an online source.

Extrapolate these figures and you may find as many as 300-400 vacancies for grader operators currently available. Employers have always had a liking for heavy equipment operators that are multi-skilled. Before starting any heavy equipment training program, make sure they provide training on a range of equipment. As you can see, you will be far more employable.

When most people talk about heavy equipment careers the mind conjures up images of a bulldozer, grader or perhaps an excavator. They are no doubt the big three when it comes to heavy equipment, but there is a range of other equipment that also provides for interesting and well paid careers. This equipment includes:

• backhoes,
• wheel loaders,
• scrapers,
• rock trucks,
• Skid Steers, and
• All-Terrain Forklifts.

And that is just a short list. We talk a lot about backhoes and occasionally about wheel loaders but Skid Steers, All-Terrain Forklifts, scrapers and rock trucks rarely get a mention. These machines provide valuable service in their niche and without them, we would have to resort to using hand tools of some description. Take the all-terrain forklift. This vehicle is similar to a standard forklift but it can safely transport loads over different terrains. Without it, we would be forced to break loads down to much smaller sizes to move them over the rough terrain.

Scrapers of course do just that. They scrape the surface in preparation for other equipment. Rock trucks help to remove large rocks from construction sites whilst the little skid steer is able to get into tight areas to work where no other vehicle can fit. This machines all offer interesting careers. The skid steer maybe a small machine in comparison to a bulldozer, but it is still a valuable part of the heavy machinery family.

One of the benefits of training through ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools is that students are introduced to a range of machinery. This provides each student with a broad set of skills and a better insight into how each piece of equipment fits into a construction team. Heavy equipment careers don’t sit solely with the big three – there are many other options available for you to look at.

Excavators are a part of the earth moving family but what are they exactly? Some people mistakenly refer to all digging machinery as excavators, backhoes included. This is not quite correct – excavators are machines in their own right and have distinct differences to other machinery like backhoes.

An excavator can be identified by several features. The first is a distinctive scorpion like appearance. The scorpions tail in this case is an articulated arm with a bucket attached to the end (other attachments can be used instead of a bucket). What makes an excavator different to a backhoe (the backhoe also has the articulated arm) is the platform the articulated arm is connected to. Forward of the articulated arm is an operators cab that also sits on the rotating platform.

The rotating platform of an excavator can rotate through 360 degrees. The platform sits on either a set of wheels, or more commonly a set of tracks. Excavators don’t have the same freedom of movement that a backhoe possesses but what it lacks in maneuverability it makes up for with shear digging capabilities. An excavator can dig a deeper and wider trench than backhoe over a similar period of time.

Like backhoes, excavators work in a variety of jobs including demolition, lifting and placing heavy materials especially pipes, for mining, river dredging, landscaping and of course digging trenches. You can find employment in excavators ranging from the mini excavator right up to huge excavators used in mining. Excavator training is generally undertaken as part of a broad heavy equipment training program that includes other earth moving equipment.

Heavy equipment technology is a little like new car technology. It doesn’t matter what they do under the hood or inside the cab, operating the equipment (or car) is still the same. Many of the changes we see now relate to computerized components, the use of lasers and GPS, or the addition of new tools.

The introduction of laser or GPS technology often requires a little training to operate effectively, however, the equipment still operates in the same fashion. Like a car, if you add a GPS device, you will need to learn how to operate the device. The car will still be driven using the existing skills.

The addition of tools is a different matter. Here you may need to learn a few new operator skills. Using the car analogy again, it would be similar to adding a boat or trailer – the basic operations remain the same, you just need to learn to drive with the load. With heavy equipment, the levers and pedals still do the same job, you just need to learn that new job.

Cranes are a good example of the introduction of new technology. You can add a lot of devices such as cameras and in-cab video screens, but the basic principles of lifting a load remain the same and the initial training you receive is still relevant.

When it comes to training for a career in heavy technology, it is not always possible to include every new device that has come onto the market. Backhoes and excavators have attachments that number into the hundreds. If you were to learn each and every one of them, it would probably take a year of training. Getting the basics right is the first step to a long career as a heavy equipment operator. As heavy equipment technology arrives, you undertake training only if it is appropriate. The bottom line – there is no change to your normal operating practices.

The backhoe has often been seen as a thrown together cross between a fully fledged excavator and a full size front-end loader. There is probably a little truth in it as well since the backhoe can do some of the work of an excavator using one end of the machine, and do some of the work of a front end loader using the other half.

Looking a little like a scorpion, backhoes have their place in construction, particularly when the jobs require the services of a smaller machine. Over the years new technology has made big inroads into the capabilities of excavators, road graders and to a lesser extent, bulldozers and front-end loaders. The backhoe hasn’t been forgotten with new attachments coming out all the time.

One attachment that came out several years ago really changed some of the capabilities of backhoes. There are times when a sidewalk needs to be torn up and the best machine for the job was the backhoe. However, there were times when the only way to complete the job involved damaging the areas either side of the sidewalk. A new tool called a Rototilt was introduced that completely changed the way a backhoe tackled the job. Now, a backhoe can dig up a sidewalk and cause little or no damage to surrounding areas.

This is just one attachment, there are hundreds of others. What has it meant to the backhoe? It is no longer a cross between an excavator and a front-end loader, it is a legitimate machine in its own right. Whilst the combined skills of an excavator operator and front-end loader operator are ideal, the backhoe now demands skills specific to the machine. If you are looking for a career in heavy equipment that is challenging and involves a lot of variety, consider undertaking backhoe training – it’s a career that continues to evolve and challenge operators – you will never find yourself becoming bored.

Backhoes are everywhere and range in size from small toy-like machines to huge monsters, but have you wondered how they got their name? Let’s have a look and see if there are any clues.

The most common backhoe in use today is a backhoe loader. These machines have a large wide loading scoop at the front and a smaller digging bucket at the rear. These vehicles can perform various roles with the front scoop predominantly used to move material such as sand, earth, and gravel. The digging bucket at the back (also called a hoe – now is that a clue?) is used to dig holes, traditionally trenches.

There are other types in use as well. The skid loader is a very small version of a front-end loader. However, the front scoop can be removed and a backhoe attachment fitted. The backhoes attachment works in exactly the same manner as a traditional backhoe.

Now, hang on – a backhoe goes at the back of the machine, doesn’t it? That is why it is called a backhoe. That is the popular misconception. A backhoe is not called a backhoe because the bucket is at the ‘back’ of the machine. The answer is just as straightforward, however.

If you think about the front loader or a bulldozer, they move earth and dig by scooping the dirt forward, away from the machine. Backhoes dig by moving the earth towards the machine. In other words, it moves dirt backwards rather than forwards. So, that is where the backhoe derived its name.

It is perhaps a useless piece of information unless you’re looking to work as a backhoe operator. However, you would be surprised at how many people would not have known. It would be an interesting question to put to all new students before they commenced their backhoe training – I am sure we could catch a lot of them out – unless of course, they have read this post.

While just about every construction site has its heavy jobs for which full blown excavators are required, there is no shortage of smaller jobs that backhoes can be used for. In fact, for smaller applications, backhoes are much more versatile than their larger cousin. What is the reason for the versatility of small backhoes? It is of course, their compact size.

Think about landscaping applications, where there is an enormous need for earthmoving. The average backyard does not have an entrance that would permit an excavator to enter. You can get them in there, but it often involves a great deal of disruption. Unless the job is really big, it might not be necessary. Small backhoes can fit into much tighter spaces and perform the same work on a smaller scale. It might take longer, but the disruption that this saves might make the additional job time worth the expense.

Of course, backhoes get a lot bigger than the small backyard landscaping models, and these can compete with excavators for some of the larger jobs. The excavator’s strength is that it is a mobile powerhouse. It can perform very heavy excavation jobs and demolition jobs. It is designed and built with these purposes in mind. There is and always will be a place for both types of equipment, but consider training in backhoes if you want to work outside of industries that tend to employ excavators.

If you are interested in learning more about either excavators or backhoes, please do not hesitate to contact us at Associated Training Services.

Backhoes are one of the most functional pieces of heavy equipment in existence. Sure, there are bigger pieces of equipment out there, but backhoes get a great power to weight ratio and you can take them virtually anywhere. The thing that makes backhoes so good is that they are tractor mounted, which makes them easier to drive in most situations and incredibly easier to maneuver.

Typical backhoes do not have the power of a large excavator; they don’t move the volumes of earth that a bulldozer or front loader is able to move. What they do is a little bit more precise. There are many times where you need a hole, but an excavator is overkill; that is where backhoes come in. For landscaping work, backhoes are second to none. A skilled backhoe operator can really get creative with a garden landscape.

Track mounted backhoes are popular too, but not all applications require tracks. As great as tracks are; wheels do have a few advantages in light applications. Wheeled heavy equipment moves more quickly and is easier on roads and paved surfaces. Track mounted heavy equipment can handle rougher terrain which makes it a more popular choice for heavier work.

If you are interested in learning how to drive backhoes, please feel free to contact us at Associated Training Services.

Backhoes come in all types of sizes. You will see small backhoes that are suitable for working in tighter spaces and much larger backhoes for bigger construction projects. A good training course will prepare you for operating any size.

Backhoes are Versatile

Even small backhoes can achieve some outstanding results. This is one of the reasons why there are so many owner-operators of backhoes. Small backhoes are relatively inexpensive and offer a great way for entrepreneurial heavy equipment operators to get started on their own. Even if you are not thinking about going into business for yourself, you will find there are plenty of job opportunities for operators of backhoes. You can see them at every construction site that you go to.

Backhoes are used in a range of functions, not just in construction, but anywhere that digging is required. You see backhoes in use in agricultural, mining and even demolition related applications. Anywhere that you need to dig or move material, you are likely to see a backhoe in use.

Training in Backhoes

Getting certification to operate backhoes is a relatively straightforward process. The first thing you need to do is to contact us here at Associated Training Services. We have a nationally accredited training program and schools in various locations around the country. Once you have completed your training, we can take you out of the classroom (and simulated work environment) and put you into a real workplace with our job placement program. Our training schedules come in both full time and part time options. Give us a call today and we can get you on the road to a successful career operating backhoes.