Skid Steers
December 25, 2022 2023-02-12 8:59Skid Steers
Skid Steers
A skid steer, sometimes called a skid loader or wheel loader, is a compact, multipurpose piece of construction equipment often used for digging. It’s maneuverable, lightweight and its arms can attach to different tools for various construction and landscaping jobs.
The skid steer loader will either have four wheels or two tracks. The front and back axles automatically synchronize their movements, but drivers can operate each separately from the wheels on the other side of the machine.
The wheels remain in a straight, fixed alignment and do not turn. To turn the device, a skid steer operator needs to increase the speed of the wheels on one side, making the wheels skid or drag across the ground as the device rotates in the opposite direction. This steering function is what gives the machine its name.
Learn in the classroom:
- The primary components of skid steers
- Common operating controls
- Skid steer instrumentation
- Attachments
- Prestart inspections and preparations for use
- Preventative maintenance requirements
- Safety issues and guidelines
- Startup, warm-up and shutdown procedures
- Maneuvers
- Basic operating procedures
- Common work activities and how they are accomplished
Hands-on practice:
- Proper prestart inspections
- Maintenance and housekeeping
- Startup, warm-up and shut down procedures
- Basic maneuvers that include:
- — grading
- — removing stumps and boulders
- — steering
- — changing attachments
- — loading a dump truck
- — maneuvering on slopes
- — utilizing a fork attachment for moving materials
- — properly load and secure a skid steer for transport
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
