Excavators
December 25, 2022 2023-02-03 12:33Excavators
Excavators
What is an excavator?
The next time you drive by a construction site, look for a big machine with a moveable boom with a bucket. It’ll probably be on tracks or wheels, and it’ll probably be busy moving a heavy amount of soil, gravel, or anything else that’s a) heavy and b) needs to be moved elsewhere.
These machines use hydraulics to move the boom and bucket, not unlike how the steam shovels of yore used steam — but excavators are a lot quieter, more maneuverable, and much more eco-friendly.
What’s an excavator used for?
Maybe the question should be, “what are excavators not used for?”
They can dig, haul, and — with the proper attachments — even boreholes and drive piles. But since we’re digging deep, an excavator can be used to:
- Dig trenches, foundations, pools, or even graves
- Handle and haul material like soil and gravel
- Mine
- Dredge rivers
- Load haul trucks
And with the right kind of specialized attachment, excavators can:
- Break down other machinery when needed
- Cut trees and brush
- Create mulch
- Demolish buildings and other structures
- Drive piles and shafts
In short, they’re a jack-of-all-trades around the job site, and that’s why virtually every job site has at least one excavator on hand.
Learn in the classroom:
- Types and various uses of excavators
- Major components, instrumentation and controls of a track-mounted excavator
- Major components, instrumentation and controls of a telescoping-boom excavator
- The braking system of a telescoping-boom excavator
- The numerous buckets and attachments that can be used on an excavator
- Safety guidelines that apply to excavators for:
- — operators
- — co-workers
- — the Public
- — the Equipment provided
- — working around overhead power lines and underground utilities
- Inspection and maintenance procedures for an excavator
- Specific procedures and locations involved in prestart inspections
- Preventative maintenance requirements
- Basic startup, warm-up, and shutdown procedures that apply to hydraulic excavators
- Basic operations that apply to hydraulic excavators including:
- — excavator movement
- — boom and bucket movement
- — operating on unstable ground
- Common work activities that apply to hydraulic excavators
- Special attachments and activities that apply to hydraulic excavators
Hands-on practice:
- Prestart inspection
- Routine maintenance
- Proper startup, warm-up and shut down on a hydraulic excavator
- Basic maneuvers with a hydraulic excavator including:
- — moving forward
- — moving backward
- — making a pivot turn
- — making a spot turn
- — creating a 10 feet by 10 feet (3 meter by 3 meter) excavation at least 3 feet (1 meter) deep to grade
Our core curriculum covers 9 areas you need to know in the construction industry. The core curriculum is required before you attend any machine training.
They include:
Learn in the classroom:
- The construction industry.
- The benefits of a construction career.
- Typical career path for craft professionals.
- Ways to pursue a career in the construction industry.
Learn in the classroom:
- The benefits of safety, the cost of workplace incidents, and ways to reduce related
hazards. - Common fall hazards and methods to prevent them.
- Recognizing and avoiding struck-by and caught-in-between hazards.
- Common electrical hazards and how to avoid them.
- Personal protective equipment (PPE) and the hazards they reduce or eliminate.
- Safety practices used with other common job-site hazards.
Learn in the classroom:
- Solve basic arithmetic problems with whole numbers
- Fraction types and calculating with fractions.
- Decimal numbers and calculating with them
- Common length-measuring tools and use them to measure lengths accurately.
- Common length, weight, volume, and temperature units in both the inch-pound and metric systems and convert them into other comparable units.
- Angles and geometric shapes, as well as calculating their areas or volumes.
Learn in the classroom:
- Common hand tools and state how to use them.
- Common measurement and layout tools and describe how to use them.
- Hand tools common to shops and job sites.
Learn in the classroom:
- Various types of power drills and impact wrenches.
- How to use various types of power saws.
- The types of jobs best suited to grinders and oscillating multi-tools.
- How to use miscellaneous power tools.
Learn in the classroom:
- Components and features used in construction drawings and how the drawings are different.
Learn in the classroom:
- Types of rigging slings.
- Hardware.
- Equipment.
Learn in the classroom:
- The relationship between communication, listening, and speaking processes and how it
affects job performance. - The relationship between good reading and writing skills and how it affects job
performance.
Learn in the classroom:
- Opportunities in the construction businesses and how to enter the construction
workforce. - The importance of critical thinking and how to solve problems.
- How good social skills are applied in the construction trade and why they are important.
Learn in the classroom:
- The basic concepts of material handling.
- Common safety precautions.
- Various types of material handling equipment and how they are used.
Students will be ready to join the workforce at completion of the program. Including careers in:
- Construction
- Warehouse
- Waste management
- Retail suppliers
- Energy and Utility companies
