You can go and learn to be a backhoe operator, or you can go and learn how to be a bulldozer operator, but what if I told you could learn to be both in one training program? In today’s world, being multi-skilled is a must. When it comes to heavy equipment, if you can operate a front end loader and an excavator, then you can most likely operate a backhoe as well.

What’s more important is that today’s world is changing quite quickly. Today, there may be a high demand for grader operators; next month, it could be excavator operators; in winter, the demand could be for bulldozer operators that can also handle a snow plow. What we do know is that demand for heavy equipment operators is growing – the demand for each type of machinery will depend largely on what direction new operators take. If you are a multi-skilled heavy equipment operator – you can follow the winds of change to what best suits you.

Rather than undertaking equipment-specific training, finding a training organization that delivers training across a range of heavy equipment makes logical long term sense. Your training provides the platform for you to become a general heavy equipment operator rather than the narrow single equipment operator.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools provide training on a range of equipment such as backhoes, graders, loaders, bulldozers, and excavators (just to name a few). Training includes both in-class theory and safety aspects along with in-the-cab actual operator experience of a range of equipment. This prepares you to either specialize in one area, if that’s your decision, or to become a general operator across a range of heavy equipment.

Computers have been good for a number of things. Communication, storing information, and playing games. In fact, gamers probably make up about half of all computer use in homes around the world. Serious gamers develop a lot of skills, and some of those skills actually make them a perfect fit for heavy equipment operations. If you look at today’s heavy equipment technology, there are similarities to playing games – just on a bigger scale.

There is a lot of machinery today that operates using joysticks. However, one of the biggest advantages that gamers have when it comes to operating heavy equipment is the almost perfect hand-eye coordination that they have. Admittedly, the close-up screens are not the same as the window of an excavator or grader, for example, but hand-eye coordination is still very much the same. There are many gamers that can adapt from playing games on their PC or laptop to playing on a console using a television screen very easily.

Are you a computer gamer who’s looking for a change of career? If you’re one of these people whose parents said that gaming was a waste of time, perhaps you can prove them wrong by putting those well-ingrained skills to good use as a heavy equipment operator. You can receive training and be ready for employment in just a few weeks. Heavy equipment operators have an interesting, varied, and reasonably well-paid career.

Heavy equipment operators can choose from a variety of equipment to work on including excavators, bulldozers, graders, loaders, and backhoes just to name a few. Gamers have great hand-eye coordination, working to precise measurements, and using light fingertip controls are what is necessary today – not the brute strength that was required many years ago.

If you’re a former heavy equipment operator who has been out of the business for several years, you would be surprised at how many technological changes there have been. GPS and laser technology is used in some equipment whilst many others have converted to computerized controls, especially in equipment like graders where fine degrees of accuracy are required in blade placements. In many cases, an operator from ten years ago could still operate this equipment – for others, refreshing your skills certainly wouldn’t go astray.

Where former operators may struggle is in the current safety knowledge requirements. Twenty years ago, operating heavy equipment was virtually seat-of-the-pants stuff. If you knew of short cuts, you took them, irrespective of the dangers. Safety regulations are such that seat-of-the-pants operating styles are no longer tolerated on any work site – in fact, employers and employees could be fined heavily if caught in the act.

Heavy equipment technology has certain brought this machinery into the 21st Century. Operators are now highly skilled in this modern technology, and because of that, they are much safer operators. The field of heavy equipment is now well paid in comparison to many other careers, and could be a viable choice for anyone who has worked in this field before. A short three week heavy equipment training program can help you to renew your operational skills, introduce you to some of the latest technology, and provide you with the knowledge you need under workplace safety legislation.

If you were once a highly skilled and in demand heavy equipment operator, there is no reason why you can’t be again. Heavy equipment technology has advanced, but at the end of the day, heavy equipment is still doing that same old task – digging, pushing, and carrying dirt.

Scenes coming out of the UK and Europe do not bode well for a pleasant winter for us. It was mildly amusing to watch the various equipment that had been modified as snow plows. Old tractors with dozer blades, bulldozers themselves, graders, and what looked like a modified beetle with a blade attached to the front – how that generated the horsepower required has got me. What it has done is remind me of how many operators are required when heavy snow falls do set in.

One news story showed a small village almost lost in seven or eight feet of snow. There were at least six units of machinery working to try and clear the roads of snow, and that, like I said, was one small village. I don’t know if we are better organized here, although that was unusually heavy and early snow. However, we do organize operators and equipment early with most areas already equipped and ready to roll.

The most popular heavy equipment used to clear snow, apart from dedicated snow plows, are bulldozers, graders, and loaders (either wheel loaders of backhoes). The only real requirement to operate this heavy equipment to clear snow is experience. If you have had a lot of experience working with various soils and terrains, it is a simple transition to clearing snow.

To gain experience as a heavy equipment operator, you need to gain employment and, in today’s working environment, that means being trained by respected trainers. One of the most respected training organizations around today is ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Training. While operators are busy clearing snow, that means there are opportunities elsewhere for new operators. Opportunities that will give you the experience that will one day enable you to work in areas where the community relies on you to clear the snow.

Getting a start in any career can be difficult unless you know someone in the business. Even then, employers are keen to employ the ‘right’ people for the job. If you’re considering a career as a heavy equipment operator, here are a few tips that may help you to reach your goal.

Heavy Equipment Training – research this area well. You need to choose a training business that will expose you to a range of heavy equipment, will train you to industry standards, and has a good reputation within industry. A training business that has been around for a long time generally suggests they are doing all the right things.

Select The Right Heavy Equipment – this is essential to your success. Heavy equipment ranges from small loaders through to backhoes, excavators, graders and bulldozers (and that’s only a brief list). Once you start your training, consider each vehicle carefully then select heavy equipment that you feel most comfortable with. You don’t have to settle on one type either, especially if you feel comfortable with related vehicles. For example, a backhoe, an excavator and a loader.

Seek Entry Level Work – be honest with employers and let them know you are seeking entry level work. This may reduce the number of options available to you, but employers appreciate honesty and there are positions available for entry level heavy equipment operators. Initially, don’t focus on money or the type of work offered – you are seeking experience and, hopefully, a good reference down the track. If you can achieve both, you will be well on your way to a successful career. A good training provider will help you to obtain employment so look for training providers that offer career services.

If you follow those three tips you will give yourself the best possible chance of gaining a start as a heavy equipment operator. The field can be competitive, but there are opportunities available for anyone who is prepared to work towards them. Training is at the core so select the very best heavy equipment training program available.

Loaders are not all the same although in most cases, the operating principles are the same. All loaders perform similar actions – they have a scoop style bucket at the front and it is used to scoop up material, move it to another location, and dump it. A loader can also be used like a bulldozer to spread material like dirt, sand or gravel over an area. That concept remains the same with most loaders with the exception of some of the smaller loaders that can have various attachments added to do other types of work.

It can be disconcerting for a loader operator that is used to operating a larger wheeled loader to suddenly find themselves in the seat of a small skid steer loader, for example. Rather than the bucket arms being placed at the side and forward of the operator, now they are placed behind and over the operator. The steering is also different with skid steer loaders relying on tracks which are independently controlled using foot pedals.

Training on a variety of equipment like loaders, bulldozers and backhoes can help to familiarize operators on these different types of controls. Of course, that training needs to be hands on in-the-cab training, not just a walk around and a demonstration by a trainer. When looking for a training program involving heavy equipment, ask the training organization what equipment they have and which equipment will you be receiving hands on experience with. Don’t assume that all heavy equipment training programs are the same.

Don’t forget to include ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools on your list of possible training school options. We provide training across a range of heavy equipment including loaders, bulldozers, graders and backhoes. If you’re interested in a heavy equipment career, talk to us about where your closest school is and what equipment they have available at that location.

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.

Loaders are already working away, preparing the way to spring and summer work. Spring is not that far away although you wouldn’t know it given some of the weather conditions at present. However, in some areas, the snow is turning to water and starting to run off. What it is leaving behind is often churned up mud and pot holes. Dump trucks can’t get in with fill so it is left to loaders to do the work – they at least can get across boggy ground.

That is one of the advantages of loaders, they can cover a diverse range of terrains and offer construction companies a lot of diversity. Loaders are also efficient, being able to carry large payloads with respect to their overall size. Not only can they carry these payloads, they can spread the material fairly evenly, effectively carrying out two jobs.

Loader operators are the key. Well trained, they can get loaders to do a lot of tasks, tasks that others may find beyond them. That training starts with a credible training organization that understands what skills employers need and how to train students to meet those needs safely. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools has the accreditation to deliver nationally recognized heavy equipment training. This includes training on loaders, bulldozers, excavators and motor graders.

Entering the profession of heavy equipment operations is not as difficult as most people imagine. You can start by undertaking a comprehensive three week training program that provides the skills to get you into the work place. Like many occupations, you deliver higher skills on the job – provided, of course, that you have a good foundation of skills.

If you’re looking to enter the profession then gain that good skills foundation through ATS – contact ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools now to discuss your training needs and for more information on our next heavy equipment training program.

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.

Everywhere you look there is bound to be a unit of heavy equipment hard at work. There are bulldozers clearing land, graders preparing roads, excavators and backhoes digging trenches and loaders moving what ever it is that needs moving. But which unit of heavy equipment is the most popular? Now, by most popular, I refer to most number of units sold and most number of units in operation at any one time. The answer may surprise you although on reflection, it shouldn’t. The answer? Believe it or not it’s the skid-steer loader.

I said that, on reflection, you can understand why. First, it is the largest unit of heavy equipment sold. Second, there are more skid-steer loaders in operation today than any other unit of heavy equipment. The reasons are fairly understandable too. They are cheap to buy, efficient when it comes to fuel use, easy to maintain and easy to transport. Add to that the versatility with the range of attachments and the fact their lighter weights cause little damage during operations and you have one handy little piece of equipment. It also helps that they are fairly easy to learn to operate as well.

Just about every construction yard, construction company and local government authority has a skid-steer loader. Most heavy equipment operators could jump into the seat of a skid-steer loader and operate it as well – perhaps not as efficiently as a full time operator, but they could get the job done.

Learning to operate a skid-steer loader is not that difficult. Most respectable training companies like ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools include skid-steer loaders in their heavy equipment training programs because of their popularity. If you want to get behind the controls of one of the countries most popular units of heavy equipment, give us a call to discuss your possible training options.