Starting Out In Excavation

kid creole

what kinda entry level jobs does excavators and graders have to offer?


how much knowledge and experience can i except in two months?

have any of you been certified as an operator?


what do ya'll know about http://www.atsn-schools.com/???


seems expensive to get certified a an operator $15,000.00????
how necessary is it?

how do excavators charge for they re work?

how do i know I'm hiring a good excavator?


lotta questions i know so thanks in advance for even lookin at em

Glasshousebltr

I don't pay much attention to certification when it comes to equipment operation. If a fella doesn't know squat, it will show quick, I just stand clear in the mean time.

Bob

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Bob

kid creole

stand clear funny

rino1494

what kinda entry level jobs does excavators and graders have to offer?

-shovel and a rake


how much knowledge and experience can i except in two months?
-You can learn alot in 2 months, but how you use your knowledge is what counts. It does take years to perfect and no operator is perfect. There are alot of egos in this business and everyone thinks that they are the best. They may be good, but somewhere, there is someone better.

have any of you been certified as an operator?
-nope


what do ya'll know about http://www.atsn-schools.com/???
-nothing


seems expensive to get certified a an operator $15,000.00????
how necessary is it?
- Not worth it IMO. You are better of starting as a laborer and learning as you go.

how do excavators charge for they re work?
-re work ?? Do you mean "their" work ??

--By the hour, yard, foot, load, etc.. You need to know what it cost you to actually run a business and what it takes for you to make a profit. Without know any of these, it is a sure path to disaster.

how do i know I'm hiring a good excavator?
- Ask around about the person, somebody has to know him and if they are any good.

__________________
Life is hard. It is harder when you are stupid

Uncle Sam wants YOU....to speak ENGLISH

dayexco

what kinda entry level jobs does excavators and graders have to offer? unless i see in a resume they've been operating machinery, and have references to back it up, they'll start out as a pipelayer's helper. when time allows and conditions exist, i throw them up in the seat and see what they have.

how much knowledge and experience can i except in two months? depends on your desire to learn

have any of you been certified as an operator? no


what do ya'll know about http://www.atsn-schools.com/??? nothing


seems expensive to get certified a an operator $15,000.00????
how necessary is it? personally, i look for ability and desire, and after 20 minutes in the seat. i'll know in that time whether or not i have an operator i can groom or not

how do excavators charge for they re work? every scenario's different, the only time i go hourly is on repair work
how do i know I'm hiring a good excavator? ask for references

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someday, i'll be as patient as Nick.

kid creole

THANKS Glasshousebltr,rino1494 and dayexco.

ok first of all lets get to my motivation for wanting to do this and maybe from there i can get more expert advice. we are building homes in the Charlotte NC area.

these homes are to be built then lived in by us(2 years) and then sold. i believe that the grading and excavating of these homes will be very costly.

i also believe that this type of work is more forgiving of mistakes. i guess my question is could any of you go in the field "green" for around 2-3 months and come out and excavate your own land? and would it be worth it financially?

we would be renting equipment in the beginning and possibly purchase midway through development.

i have 14 years of industrial construction experience including operation of forklift,drought and cherry picker. but not enough to say i'm an operator.

rino1494

Not when you have DEP after for erosion, someone swings a boom into some power lines, somebody rips out a gas line or a trench caves in on someone.

Personally, for what you want to do, you are better just hiring someone to do the work. I think it you would be better off cost wise anyway. What would happen if you score up the dipper cylinder after banging it off a rock. Do you have $4,000 to repair the cylinder ?

__________________
Life is hard. It is harder when you are stupid

Uncle Sam wants YOU....to speak ENGLISH

dirtdiggencat

i dont intend to be naughty here but,,,, most mistakes in this field are not very forgiving,,,, son you may even get one of your party or yourself killed tryin to cut cost with what appears to be zero experience here.

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SiD
________________ Everyone goes home, Every night. ___________________

kid creole

THANKS rhino and dirtdiggen
just moving earth around fella's..i'm very safety conscious and yea zero experience but about to have 2-3 months.

equipment will be rented..

I'm not gonna kill anyone I've been in extremely more dangerous situations than civil construction.

not just chosen this to save money this is the only residential or commercial work i would like.

i really appreciate your feedback.

rino1494

haha.....how's that sanitary line coming along

__________________
Life is hard. It is harder when you are stupid

Uncle Sam wants YOU....to speak ENGLISH

dirtdiggencat

my point exactly rino!!!! RoTFL!!

__________________
__________________
SiD
________________ Everyone goes home, Every night. ___________________

PipeGuy

Hmmmmmmmmm?

__________________
Fortunately I keep my feathers numbered for...for just such an emergency. -Foghorn Leghorn

tgeb

Well I briefly hired a man who had gotten all his training from one of these "operator training academies".

He was a real nice guy and they taught him very minor basics, things like check out the machine every morning, grease it every day, clean the tracks that sort of thing.

He had a commercial drivers license, thanks to them, so he was legal to drive a dump truck, but had no experience. (no, he did not drive mine)

They ran him through a training course that essentially showed him how to use the controls on such a wide variety of equipment that he had little seat time in any one machine.

He did not even know the concept of, when you raise the bucket on a skid loader, you had best roll the bucket out, or cover you balls! cause you will get a surprise in your lap!

I worked the fella for a couple weeks, when I could be right there, showed him a few tricks, but in the end I let him go.

I have had operators work for or with me that have years of experience and yet some do not know something as simple as how to keep a ramp into a hole in the ground level.

Some of the things we do to save time, or save the machine, take years to learn. Sometimes decades, hell, I'm still learning. This is not the sort of thing that can be learned in a 6 week stint from someone who may have absolutely no practical experience about the subject.


Good luck

And oh yeah, what PipeGuy said.

__________________
Tom

www.gebcon.com

kid creole

well thanks for your advice.
i don't know what pipeguys advice or response means??

ill look into it further.. prolly just learn from the guy we hire might be ready on the third home we build.

PipeGuy

In part it means get the proper insurance and keep the policies current.

__________________
Fortunately I keep my feathers numbered for...for just such an emergency. -Foghorn Leghorn

kid creole

THANKS pipeguy already got that covered .if any body gets decapitated by a backhoe were insured. anything else you would like to add??

Cully

if any body gets decapitated by a backhoe were insured. :eek

I'm sure that persons family will find comfort in that. Please let us know where and when you are planning to do your excavation so that we can stear clear of that area

kid creole

well already explained the work was to be preformed in Charlotte N.C.???don't intend to really hurt anyone cully? just responding to pipeguys meaningless advice. as for as your post goes ???again meaningless....
THANKS to TGEB,DAYEXO and RHINO. we will figure it out as we go..

dirt diggler

It's not really about knowing how to run the equipment.

It's knowing how to accomplish whatever you're trying to accomplish. See what I mean?? An operator who knows how to run a piece of machinery is fine --- but an operator who can also visualize and understand what you want done is who you need.

I'm tired -- did i say that clearly?? prolly not

In other words --- I can sit there and move a pile of dirt around on a backhoe. Does that mean I can go dig a house foundation?? NOPE!!!

See my post in the "General Discussion" section --- "Monday Morning Quarterbacking"

one of my "lessons learned" have been --- "if you realistically should not be doing it yourself --- sub it out"

kid creole

thanks for the info dirt.