You may have to tow an excavator from one construction site to another. An excavator on a trailer poses road challenges for the transport driver. Excavator trailer safety is critical considering the immense weight of the freight. Here are some tips for safe transportation.

Excavator Trailer Safety Tips

The most critical step is ensuring that the excavator is secured to the trailer. The chains and other fasteners you use must be approved by OSHA. Riggers must also secure all chains against the tow bar. Speaking of the tow bar, you need to be sure it has a rating sufficient to accommodate the excavator's weight. Underweight tow bars are at risk of detaching while the trailer is in transit. Continue Reading â†'

A construction site is by nature very messy. However, crew members do need to keep the workplace tidy to a reasonable extent. This maximizes safety when working with excavators, other heavy machinery, and spoil piles. Learn how to maintain a safe and clean construction site.

Use Secure Storage

You may have to leave equipment at the construction site overnight. To prevent theft and vandalism, keep smaller equipment locked inside storage containers. Even during construction, keep the equipment inside the storage until you need it.

Separate the Scraps

Construction sites contain tons of waste that you have to dispose of at the end of the shift. Different waste products call for different disposal methods. Separating scraps and waste according to type will facilitate easy disposal and recycling. Construction sites should also have both dumpsters and trashcans nearby to minimize clutter. Continue Reading â†'

Excavation projects tend to increase in the summer. For workers, this means longer hours outdoors under the blazing sun. This poses a health hazard. We'll explain how construction crews can prevent heatstroke or other heat-related injuries during the hottest time of the year. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Recognize Signs of Heat Injuries

Learn to recognize early signs of heat cramps in yourself and your fellow workers. Do you see heat rashes? These appear as clusters of small blisters. Initial signs of heat injury may also include leg and stomach cramps.

These could be signs of electrolyte loss due to sweating. We recommend scheduling regular rest breaks where everyone drinks water and rests in the shade. Continue Reading â†'

You never know what you might come across when excavating the earth. You may have heard stories of construction crew that discovered mummified remains or dinosaur fossils. What do you do if you find bones at an excavation site?

Bones Found at Excavation Site; What's Next?

Digging holes using an excavator is routine business for contractors. 99% of the time, the job is uneventful and goes as planned. However, a rare instance may occur when you discover old fossilized remnants. Do you keep digging, or do you alert city officials?

Halt all Activity

Do not continue to dig. This isn't a courtesy thing; state law actually requires construction crews to halt all activity upon discovery of bones. Do not disturb the remains or attempt to dig them out if they're still in the earth.

Report the Discovery

Notify the client/landowner immediately. Can you identify the nature of the remains? Is it human or animal? If the former, then you obviously need to phone the police or the local coroner's office. The area could potentially be a crime scene. If it's an animal, then alert the local university or state geological office. The bones may simply be a buried pet or remains that warrant analysis by a paleontologist. Continue Reading â†'

Cave-ins are one of the biggest dangers--and leading causes of accidents--in the construction industry. Your spoil-pile can be a contributor to such dangerous accidents. Are you placing your spoil-pile a safe distance from the work site?

Spoil-Pile Explained

'Spoil-pile' is a broad term that refers to a deposit of any excavated material. In most cases, this entails dirt, soil, gravel, and crushed pavement. The pile itself isn't dangerous. However, when someone leaves the pile exceptionally close to a trench, that's when the danger arises. The weight of the spoils can cause the dirt in a nearby trench to cave in. Piles that are exceptionally high can also come tumbling down, causing a mini avalanche. Continue Reading â†'

Safety protocols absolutely must be in place before operating heavy machinery--no exceptions! Aside from adopting OSHA safety practices and appointing a safety guide, you also need to service your equipment. To ensure good operating condition, do not start any machinery until you go through this excavator safety checklist.

Pre-Operation Excavator Safety Checklist

• Inspect the construction site to be sure you have enough navigating space for the excavator. The required space will vary depending on whether you're using a zero swing or conventional swing excavator.
• Verify that the safety clip and locking pins are in place before starting the excavator.
• Test the boom arm as well as the breaker and hoe pack. Look for excessive upward or downward movement in the arm. You should also listen for unusual squeaky noises.
• Check the undercarriage for wear and tear in the rollers, track links, idler wheels, and sprockets.
• Pop open the engine bay and inspect the oil dipstick. Do this every four hours of operation.

Continue Reading â†'

If you haven't already done so, please read February's post for part one list of excavator attachments. This is part two which introduces additional attachments. With part one and part two, you will have a full list of the attachments at your disposal.

Common Excavator Attachments

Plate Compactor: This attachment does exactly what its name suggests. Plate compactors compact the soil and earth, eliminating the need to compact by hand. The addition of shock mounts helps distribute the force evenly even when compacting on a slope surface.

Rippers: A ripper is an attachment that rips through tough, compact, and frozen surfaces. It does this with tremendous ripping power and rugged force not possible from manual human labor alone. Operators often use rippers to loosen the ground before removing the debris with a bucket attachment.

Trenchers: Use a trencher attachment for creating trenches in even the most compact and rocky soils. Different chain and teeth options are available to accommodate various soil conditions. Trenchers are ideal for landscaping, irrigation, and utility-based projects. Continue Reading â†'

You can't complete complex projects relying on a single excavator attachment. In previous posts, we have discussed the different types of excavators and how these machines work. This time, we want to talk about the various excavator attachments and their respective applications. Due to the numerous attachments available, this post will be divided into two parts.

Five Common Excavator Attachments

Breaker: The breaker and hoe pack utilizes a sharp or blunt drill to break apart massive concrete or stone blocks. Contractors rely on breaker attachments for interior and flatwork demolition, as well as for road repair work.

Bucket: Most laypeople are familiar with this attachment. This is the gigantic scoop with "teeth" at the end. Contractors use the bucket to remove debris, ranging from earth to the small blocks which result from using a breaker.

Augers: Augers utilize immense torque power to drill holes into rocky hard soil. It can also penetrate clay, frost, rock, and shale. Augers are ideal for creating steep holes for planting trees or installing posts and poles. Continue Reading â†'

With a New Year comes new startups. Many new contractors are taking on their first major projects. Newcomers in the industry may not be completely familiar with some of the machinery they'll be using. Consider this an "Excavators 101" post for newbie contractors and sub-contractors.

Parts of an Excavator

Excavators are composed of these following components: House, bucket, stick, and boom.

• House--this is the part that contains the engine, oil, and fuel.
• Bucket--the attachment consisting of an enlarged scoop for digging and removing debris. The bucket may be switched out with the breaker and hoe pack for breaking apart rock and concrete.
• Stick--the elongated component that lifts the bucket.
• Boom--the "neck" that connects the stick to the main excavator body

Continue Reading â†'

As a contractor, your business's New Year's resolution is simple: increase revenue while lowering overhead. You can partly achieve the latter by learning about us and renting excavators at our agency. We'll outline a few other New Year's resolutions for contractors working out of Monroe.

Contractors Should Consider These New Year's Resolutions

1. Invest in Marketing

Have you heard of the phrase "to make money you have to spend money?" This is true in any line of business. For 2018, consider creating a company website if you don't already have one. This will create new leads much more than you can acquire from word-of-mouth alone. With a website, you'll also have to invest in SEO and high-quality content. Continue Reading â†'