Category Archives: Heavy Equipment Rentals

Inspect the heavy equipment before you take it on rent

When you are buying machinery for your business you got to be sure that they are of real good quality. By no means should your business suffer for procuring items of inferior quality. It can lead to huge amount of loss and if you are a start-up company you just will not be able to bear it. It therefore becomes imperative that you check the items first and only when you are absolutely sure that the machine you are buying are of supreme quality that you should go ahead and buy them. In the construction business, heavy equipment constitute a major part of the business expense and hence many business owners prefer not to buy them and usually take a different approach. Instead of buying heavy equipment they procure the machines by renting them. Finding people who wants to lease their heavy equipment is simple these days and hence many construction businesses are following this module.

Inspect the heavy equipment yourself:-

If you are the person who would be operating the heavy equipment or you know about machines well then before you take it on rent you should personally visit the owner of the machine and insist on inspecting it once before you take it on lease. Ideally, heavy equipment owners understand the reason behind the inspection and often do not hesitate from the party on an inspection. You should drive the machine and check if its axles or the undercarriage are in order. You should make a note of all the important assessments that you have made and if you find anything wrong in it, inform that to its owner so that he can get things right for you. Heavy equipment if appears to be an old one will have some or the other issues but that needs to be sorted out before you go for it.

Change of faulty parts:-

If you like a particular machine and feel that it stands completely compatible for the kind of work you want it to perform you should go ahead with it. However, if you see that there are few parts that has gone faulty or may wear out in the near future, you must inform it to the owner and ask them to get that replaced. Also you should ensure that they replace it with a branded company whose products last for a longer duration and not any other company who also manufactures parts of heavy equipment but does not last long. You should remember that once you take it on rent and then if anything goes wrong you have to get that fixed. The owner will not take the responsibility and to a larger extent this clause will be present in the agreement as well.

Go along with an expert:-

At times we need expert opinions from people who know about the subject more than we do. If you know of someone who knows about heavy equipment more than you then it makes ample of sense to take him along with you and inspect the machine.

Heavy equipment rental business

Rental business is one such business which is not majorly hit by recession or any sort of economic slowdown. People who use the products will continue to do so no matter what is the economic condition of the country is. However, it will not be correct to say that they are not at all affected by any slush in the economy. Their business also gets affected but perhaps the impact that they feel is lesser than people belonging to other sectors.

Construction sector in specific is at its peak and everything pertaining to this industry is really doing well. Right from cement industry to iron and steel to heavy equipment all the businesses is going great due to the push it has received from the construction and infrastructure sector. People who are connected to the construction industry are having a gala time and are considered to be making huge profits. Though not all are in the same money making mode but we can definitely count most to be in that genre.

Heavy equipment rental business has gone really up in the recent times and most companies dealing in this sphere are generating good sum of profits. Hence, if you are a person who has different types of heavy equipment or would like to deal with construction machines and have good contacts with people in the construction industry then starting up a heavy equipment rental business will be most apt business for you. A person who is a mechanic and now runs his own workshop can also get into this form of business and can run it quite successfully. All you need to do is pick up old heavy equipment at lower price, give it a new look and a new life and then you list them online or you hunt for people who want to take it on rent.

Normally if you have good contacts then you need not hunt for people. They will come straight to you and you have to guide them to pick the right equipment. In order to run this business, you first have to gather few information. Firstly you need to know how and from where you can procure heavy equipment at a cheaper price. This is perhaps the crux of the case and once you know that you are sorted. Rest is all simple and you can begin the rental business. There primarily 2 ways to get heavy equipment at a lesser price. The first is by procuring machines in an auction and the second is by buying old machines at junk rates.

There are heavy equipment that are repossessed by lenders. They do so as the owner of the machine is unable to pay the debts and the lender is forced to repo it and sell it at a lower price. Once they have sizable number of machines they call for an auction. Not many have the information about the auction which results into low walk-ins. Check with the repo guys and you can expect to get some solid lead from them. You be a part of the auction and fetch as many machines as you can which can then be refurbished and leased out.

Rent a Bulldozer

When it comes to construction industry, one construction equipment that will always have its place intact is a bulldozer. Come what may you will have to use a bulldozer for demolition purpose as well as to pushing debris. Though bulldozers do not play a pivotal role in carrying debris but one can’t ignore its importance in work related to construction. This is why it must be a common sight to find a bulldozer in almost every construction site. This also gives immense scope to the ones who engages in renting heavy equipment and to the ones who wants to make a career in it. This means that a person who is into the business of renting bulldozers will never find himself out of business until and unless there comes a substitute of bulldozers.

How to rent a bulldozer:-

There are multiple ways that one can adopt to rent a bulldozer. Firstly, he can approach one such person who rents heavy equipment and check with him if he knows someone who is hunting for a bulldozer. He can drop few pictures of the machine with him and his contact number so that if someone comes up showing interest to rent a dozer, he can be contacted. Renting bulldozers via such rental yards happen more in local market where most of the people know each other. They know that is anything goes wrong with the machine then they can easily catch hold of the dealer and the dealer in turn will ask the owner to get things fixed. This can be vice-versa wherein the owner of the bulldozer can pay a visit to the jobsite and check if the machine is doing well. If he finds the person is overdoing then he can bring it to the notice of the agent. However, the latter is quite seldom in nature.

Rent it on an online platform:-

Renting heavy equipment online is the most preferred options in today’s time. All the owner of the bulldozer need to do is post the picture of the machine along with the model number and provide appropriate description of the dozer on the website for the viewers to read. This will give you the scope to let-out the machine outside your city. The shipping charges need to be decided well in advance so that there is no confusion once the deal is set. If you post your listing on an online platform you will be charged a fee and if you get a taker you have to pay some more fees for successfully renting the machine.

Reach out to prospects on your own:-

This is quite a traditional way to rent heavy equipment, however still effective as long as you get some takers. What you have to do here is spread the word out in your business circle. Let everyone know that you want to rent your bulldozer and that will ultimately get into the ears of someone who wants one. People who follow the above two methods also follow this one as he does not have to pay anyone a penny to get a taker.

 

Tips on how to run a track loader

Heavy equipment like dozer, excavators and track loaders are not so easy to run and require years of experience to understand how to deal with the machine in different conditions. For instance, if you are working on a rugged land or trying to clear trees in a forest, you will experience severe hardships to operate the machine. Simultaneously, not every machine is meant to do all kinds of work and therefore you should be depending on the best, the one that has the ability to perform the task. Operating heavy equipment is certainly not like driving a car and is a far complex subject. So for beginners, getting into something this complex without someone experienced beside you can lead you into a deeper mess. It has often been witnessed that the best of the operators had a tough time dealing with situations and they take a day’s time to complete a job that perhaps take few hours to complete in a normal situation.

We would be discussing in length on how to operate a track loader that is considered to be one of the most important and effective heavy equipment in the construction sector.

Brakes are your priority:-

When you are on the tracks of a crawler loader, you must ensure that no one gets under it. Proper functioning of brakes should be the uttermost priority of an operator. Once you slip inside the cabin, the first thing you got to check is if the brakes are in order. Try to push the brakes using your feet and see if it’s getting pressed smoothly. Anything wrong with it can have very serious consequences and also has the potency to damage the machines and injure people.

Making optimum usage of joysticks:-

Joysticks are the eyes of the machine. You need to learn how to use it optimally. In order to move the machine to your right, you need to make use of the joystick that is located to the right of the driver and in order to move it to the left, pull the one that is to the left of the driver. The joystick is also used to control the boom. The drive rods also play an important role as far as the movement of the loader is concerned. The drive rod is used to operate the tread at the bottom of the machine. The drive rod is also used to increase or decrease the speed of the tread. So if you move the drive rod forward, it tend to move ahead and pulling backwards will take the tread back. In case you want to turn the machine to your right, simply hold the drive rod located to the right of the machine and move it forward without doing anything to the one on the left. This will tilt the machine to the right.

Take help of the user manual:-

Referring to the user manual is another option one can go for. The user manual contains lot many ways and process to run the machine and especially when you get stuck on something, it is advisable to refer to the book and come out of the situation.

 

Land clearing with big heavy equipment

Land clearing is probably one of the most difficult jobs in the construction business. It takes a good amount of time to get a small piece of land cleared especially when the work is to demolish an existing construction and take the debris from there and dump it elsewhere. You need to have several pieces heavy equipment in order to do this job. Just using a bulldozer or an excavator may not be sufficient to do the entire job and in case if you want it to be done sooner then you got to deploy more such machines. Clearing land can become quite a challenging task taking into consideration the existing structure that needs to be demolished. Quite often, a contractor may get the work to demolish a big house and may be given very little time to complete the work. It becomes very crucial for him to deploy suitable heavy equipment that have the capacity to complete the work in time. It has ideally been seen that contractors get nightmares when they are given contracts of land clearing within a stipulated time. They are of the opinion that land clearing is not a job that can be done in few days. It may take a long time to break an existing structure part by part and then carry the debris and dump them in the dump yard. They also suffer from the problem of not having sufficient number of heavy equipment. Either they have already deployed few heavy equipment at some projects and can’t get them off from there or they simply do not have the equipment with them and may have to arrange it from somewhere which might take long. The machines that are typically used for land clearing are bulldozers, excavators, backhoe loaders, wheel loaders etc. Then you also need trucks to transport the debris to the dump yard. It is highly unlikely for a contractor to have all the equipment with him and therefore it becomes a challenge for him to collect all the needed stuffs and then begin the job. When it comes to land clearing that has big trees on it, it becomes all the more difficult. The contractors then need equipment that can cut the trees, make logs of them and then transport it to the destined place. In order to do this job, they need grade chain saw and staff that knows how to operate the saw. Cutting the trees requires special skill. You need to cut the tree in a way that it falls at the spot you want it to fall. If it falls in some other place, it may cause serious repercussions. So in a way, you are dealing with something very serious and dangerous. If you manage to cut the tree properly, you also got to ensure that the tree doesn’t roll over on you or any other person present on the site. A lot of safety precautions are needed to be taken when it comes to land clearing.

 

Wheel Loaders

A construction or a mining site requires all sorts of heavy equipment and it never restricts itself to just one kind of machine to take care of all its requirements. Right from dozers, excavators, back hoe loaders to wheel loaders all play a very important role as far as the overall industry is concerned and therefore the heavy equipment manufacturing companies are also paying attention to manufacture heavy equipment that are more user-friendly and cover fuel consumption. Wheel Loaders are particularly an important component in the family of heavy equipment as it is required for all major work that one can think of in a construction site.

Wheel loaders need specialized operators to operate them. These days when machines are manufactured keeping into consideration the technological aspect, it is also crucial to understand that the people who will operate them should be equally skilled in knowing how to make optimum utilization of these technologies. If they are not trained well then they might make major blunders that will be irreparable. This can also cost big to the company and any construction business owner will not want blunders happening due to employing semi-skilled operators or the ones who do not know much about the technology being used in modern time wheel loaders.

Wheel loaders also play a significant role in the mining and crude oil producing industry. They did some major work in North Dakota which the second largest oil producing state in United States. Wheel Loaders are used extensively in several oil producing companies in the state. Companies use wheel loaders with coupler it becomes very simply to switch a bucket for a fork and vice-versa.

This saves a lot of time and also ensures that the work is carried out quickly. The wheel loaders are installed with pipe forks which are broadly used for safe assembly; transport the oil rigs and disassembling them. It also includes moving pipes and many other such essential pieces of equipment that are needed to get the work done. It is estimated that this kind of work can take 2 to 4 days’ time and the timeframe ideally depends on the type of rig it is working on, the time of the year and how far the distance is between the 2 oil wells.

Wheel loaders are easily available at an authorized dealer. It may not be possible to buy it directly from the company as there are possibilities that the company may not ship the machine in that part of the state. They have several restrictions and this is why they have authorized dealers who take up orders for them and deliver the machine to the address of the buyer.

The other option is one can find wheel loaders on websites that sells heavy equipment. There the customer can expect some choices and can also go through the description to know more about the machine and if it meets its business needs. So once everything is in place, he can book the machine online and will get it delivered at his address.

Tips on how to run a dozer

Operating heavy equipment is no child’s play and it requires good deal of skill and knowledge to operate any kind of machine. People who possess years of experience can also experience tough time operating equipment and if we consider someone who has just taken the cabin, he needs to ensure that he does not bump it off to people working on the site. Construction companies usually take due care of their machines and do not let it out to a novice. It will be a big risk to let a beginner operate heavy equipment without the presence of a senior person or veteran operator inside the cabin. He will definitely need guidance that will help him to learn to operate the machine and will eventually make him a better operator.

Out of the many machines, a bulldozer is the one that has been found to be extremely difficult to operate in rough terrain. If you try to work with a big dozer in a place which has been affected by some kind of natural calamity, you will get to know the sort of toll it can have on a person. When the land is hit by a storm or a hurricane and leaves everything wrecked, you need a dozer along with other set of heavy equipment to set the place back to normal. Few basic tips one should follow when they make their way to run a dozer.

Wearing good pair of boots:-

Wearing good pair of boots is a must when you are making your way inside the cabin of a dozer. Wearing anything below average can have serious consequences. Your legs may skid from the brakes when you try to apply them and that can lead to serious injuries. In order to avoid any such misadventure, one must invest in quality boots. Along with it, it is also advisable to wear a good pair of gloves as that will keep your hand protected from heat and dust.

Make proper use of the joystick:-

The joystick in the bulldozer is the eye and brain of the machine. You give orders to the dozer by moving the joystick to the desired direction. Make sure that you know which move of the joystick will take the machine to the direction you want it to go. When you get yourself inside the cabin, check if the joystick is in order and if it is moving freely. That ensures that the machine will move smoothly at your command.

Have good control on your pedal:-

In order to slow the dozer, you should make use of the decelerator pedal. You will locate this pedal just next to the brake. You may not want to make use of the brakes too often and can use the decelerator pedal to slow the machine whenever required.  It is important to check if the decelerator pedal and the brakes are properly oiled and are easy to apply or else there are high chances of you bumping off the person that comes in your way.

 

 

Looking for a stable scraper – Caterpillar 613 Scraper is the answer

Construction companies are always in the look of scrapers that are stable; consume less fuel and deliver high performance and something that can endure the stress of work for years. Heavy equipment mean a lot to the construction companies and they are also ready to pay a good price for the right machine. It is just that they get a solid stuff that can carry on the work without giving many hurdles and can serve the business in the most reliable fashion. Scrapers are the equipment that no construction company can ever avoid. They will feel the need of a scraper every now and then whenever they have taken a construction project in hand. Therefore scraper becomes the much needed machine in the list of heavy equipment one must possess.

Scraper is ideally a big machine that is used for mining, construction, taking off the mud from one place to the other and even for agricultural purposes. Many heavy equipment manufacturing companies produce classy scrapers with all the latest gadgets in it, but how reliable they all are is a real big question in front of the users. For last many years Caterpillar has been ruling the heavy equipment industry and is considered to be one of the most stable companies of all. Caterpillar has come up with the model 613 also known as CAT 613 scraper. It is no less than the blue eyed candy machine of all the major construction companies and it has made a strong impression in the minds of the construction companies with its concrete performance and undefined reliability. The users have undoubtedly rated this scraper to be one of the best in the scraper line of machine.

The back portion of the scraper has a movable hopper and a sharp front edge. The operator only has to lower the hopper and the front edge cuts the soil and fills it in the hopper.  It keeps on doing this as long as the hopper is full of mud and then it closes the hopper with a vertical shaped blade. It then moves the soil to the dumping ground, opens the blade and the hopper is pushed up and the soil are thrown out of it. This is an ideal function of the scraper.

If we check the strength of the engine, it has up to 175 net horsepower with a displacement of 403 cu in. The fuel capacity is 66 gallon and the cooling system fluid capacity is around 10.2 gallon which would be nearly around 38.5 liter. The number for forward gears it has is 6 and just one reverse gear. The maximum speed it can have while moving forward is 21.8 mile per hour and maximum reverse speed is 2.2 mile per hour. The total operating weight of the machine while it is empty is around 15264 kg and the weight while it its loaded is around 27239 kg.

While buying a scraper directly from the company or authorized dealer, you can also expect great discounts or some real good deals. In totality, Cat 613 is the best choice one can make if they are looking for a scraper.

HIRING WHEEL LOADERS

Wheel loaders are vehicles that are heavy weight and are usually considered to be heavy construction equipment. These wheel loaders are vehicles consisting of a large fork like scooper attached in front that can be moved and bent according to the controls of the controller.

Wheel loaders are used to move objects like logs of wood, sand, stones, soil, snow, loose material like dust, pipes, iron bars etc. Wheel loaders do not drag these objects on the ground but literally lifts them up and transfers it to the designated place. These vehicles have four wheels attached to them – two for the front and two for the rear. There is a cabin for the controller who needs to sit inside and control the tasks that the wheel loader has to perform.

Once the controller guides the vehicle with the task it needs to perform, it automatically knows what to do and how to do it. Usage of such equipment not only saves up on time but also on manual energy. Instead of relying on manual labor, one can always take the help of machines like wheel loaders that helps transportation of objects from one place to the other in a quicker time.

Apart from wheel loaders being used for construction or administrative purpose, the armed forces also makes good use of it. It helps them to excavate areas or building materials while rescuing people. It helps them to remove road blocks and other barricades without having to fear harm to themselves directly while manually clearing the blockades. These wheel loaders used by the armed forces are usually created with extra protection of metal around it in order to save it from damage.

The manufacturers of the wheel loaders make sure that these vehicles fit any given terrain where it can adjust to the environment. The wheel loaders can adjust to rough terrain with rocky paths or deserts which is packed with sand. The manufacturers make sure that these heavy duty vehicles are efficient and provide ample help with its performances. With the help of technology, these wheel loaders are manufactured in a way that gives noise less support and efficiency.

Wheel Loaders are available in various sizes. The smaller sizes are used for small construction purpose and the larger ones are used for larger functions. It depends on the user and the type of task it has to perform. Tasks that do not require much effort prefer the machinery with a smaller size and the heavy duty tasks require wheel loaders in a larger size. Users who constantly are in need of these equipment need to own them and treat them as their assets. Maintenance and proper care makes the machines efficient and provides the best results. These heavy duty wheel loaders are also available on rent from several rental houses who specifically deal in renting out such heavy construction equipment. Organizations who require the services of these machines for a short time usually apply for the rental scheme of these wheel loaders.

 

Tips on how to run a water truck/water wagon

Driving any kind of heavy equipment needs good amount of carefulness. One needs to be highly experienced in operating heavy equipment if he wants to do it in the best possible way. Be it a dozer or an excavator or just a water truck, it requires high competency on the part of the driver in order to make sure that he is doing his job the right way. One has to be extremely careful in analyzing the situation on ground and need to wear all the safety accessories to ensure that he does not hurt himself or the people around the machine. If we talk about a water truck, it is used primarily in construction and mining sites to control dust. It is not so difficult to operate a water truck as it could be for operating any other type of heavy equipment but the operator has to be extra cautious while he is on it.

A water truck can also be used in case of fire. One can use the spray nozzles to spray water and extinguish the fire. So when the driver is in the process of such perilous tasks, he needs to be very careful about his safety and the people who are on the truck assisting to put off the fire. We would be discussing in brief how can should operate a water truck.

Make proper use of gears and steering:-

A water truck is almost same like any other truck used for transportation purpose. It has similar features as what is available in a normal truck. It is just that the water truck contains water inside it and it needs a spray nozzle to spray out the water. What is rather important to note is that the operator should make good use of the gears and should steer the truck correctly. The truck will not be moving at a high speed while it is pumping water out. So it has to maintain a constant speed keeping the gears consistent and got to pay heed to the steering that helps to keep the wheels in the right direction.

Do not speed up the truck unless it is absolutely necessary:-

While you are settling the dust in a construction or a mining site, you just can’t increase the speed of the truck. You have to keep a considerable pace and must ensure that you do not move fast or else the one who is spraying the water will have a hard time to cover the entire area. Other than this, if you are working on a rugged terrain, it will be just not possible for you to drive the truck at a high speed. You have to maintain the speed and keep it to a point from where you do not lose its control. Anything short of it will have serious repercussions.

Go through the user manual if you are new to it:-

A user manual is always helpful in situations where you will be driving a brand new truck. Any new truck will give you some kind of comfort issues which can be tackled by going through the user manual.