Moving heavy equipment can be complicated and dangerous if not done properly
When handling any job, it’s important to always think of safety first. Safety becomes even more essential when you’re handling heavy equipment and its materials. The risk rises from a simple sprain to permanent disability with a single mistake. Something wrong could easily happen when moving these pieces of heavy equipment to and from work sites. Some mistakes even happen in spite of all the best efforts.
You can avoid life-threatening mistakes. First, you should educate yourself on the types of heavy equipment. Each equipment was made to execute tasks at a large scale. From basic movements like lifting, pushing, and pulling, to complicated tasks of transporting, removing, and installing. All these movements and more have been made possible with machines for large scale operations such as:
1. Bulldozer
The bulldozer is one of your more classic heavy equipment. It pushes large quantities of landmass to your desired area. You can also use it to clear areas of large quantities of dirt or soil. Some junkyards even use these to push scrap metal onto their processing machines.
There are generally two types of dozers. The first one is a track dozer, it has tracks instead of wheels. Its general use remains the same, but it’s important to note that this type of dozer is excellent for soft soil. With the tracks, it can move around muddy or soft areas as the weight of the machine is spread.
The second type is the wheeled bulldozer. It does everything a track bulldozer can on nice solid ground. Thanks to its wheels it can move around much faster. If you’re working on decent ground, you should consider this type of dozer.
This type of heavy equipment requires special equipment to move it to and from your workplace. Thus, you may need to hire companies that move such equipment like LaPrairie Group. That way, you can take advantage of their expertise and machinery to transport your bulldozer.
2. Backhoe Loaders
The most versatile heavy equipment you could get would be the backhoe loaders. You should consider getting this machine when you have a large project that involves digging, lifting, and loading. This machine comes with a tractor, loader, and a rear hoe as its name suggests. The loader can lift heavy materials such as rocks, sand, and gravel, place them onto a dump truck or a specified area.
3. Roller
This is one of the simplest heavy equipment you could get that provides an important role, especially when you’re building something with a large floor area. The roller rolls throughout your set area to ensure that the ground is well compacted, strengthening the floor and smoothing the surface.
4. Asphalt Pavers
Asphalt pavers are used to lay down asphalt to a desired ground surface. Large construction companies use it for bridges, roads, parking lots, and even garages. These things come in all sizes, depending on the job you need. The asphalt paver doesn’t do its job by itself, as it purely lays down the asphalt on the road in your desired width. It needs a machine to bring the asphalt to it. After it lays the asphalt down, it provides a compacting effect to keep the asphalt in place. For good measure, you should always follow it up with a roller.
5. Cold Planers
Cold planers are the type of heavy equipment you should be using when you’re thinking of replacing your pavement. Inside the machine, you can see a large drum that will have ridges used to grind off the asphalt or concrete. It then pushes out the grinded material through a conveyor belt towards your desired loading machine. The great thing about this heavy equipment is that it has a built-in feature that minimizes worksite hazards. It shoots water onto the drum at a regular interval. This prevents the extreme dust and heat you normally get from grinding.
Moving Your Heavy Equipment
Now that you know the most common heavy equipment in the market, it’s high time for you to educate yourself on some tips to ensure you’re safe when transporting these machines.
1. Plan
This is the key to all of this. Without it, you’ll simply lose time, money, and opportunity. The lack of preparation results in you making costly mistakes.
2. Budget
Budget will always be the headline of any planning. You take into account how much a machine will cost for a specific amount of time of moving it. You must then calculate the cost of the materials along with the manpower. This is similar to when you’re financing your heavy equipment business. However, your budget in this situation only revolves in moving your heavy equipment. For instance, one consideration is whether you’ll hire a moving company or buy moving equipment.
3. Schedule
Schedule your moving of heavy equipment at the best time. This also means to ensure there are no accidents. Sunny days bring low risk and high productivity. Scheduling people will also reduce the number of people on site, making it easier to manage in terms of safety and even security.
In scheduling these machines, you should take note of regulations that may have changed in the recent year. Heavy machinery is generally not allowed to touch or travel on public roads. Provide ample time for transport. Considering the size and weight of these machines, delay should be expected, not to mention that some cities or states will require permits for handling large machinery and even transporting them. With proper scheduling, you won’t need to hastily work as you’ll have given them enough time to work efficiently without mistakes.
4. Study
Informing yourself during the planning stage ensures that you’re ready to handle any and all tasks forwarded to you. If you personally feel you lack the skills and knowledge to move such heavy equipment, there are numerous training and seminars you can join. Safety training is always a good idea.
5. Risk Assessment
Risk assessment is also applicable in moving your heavy equipment. All throughout the moving process, you should also assess the risk and the hazards. With moving heavy equipment, you must constantly remind yourself that risk will always be present. The best thing you can do is to ensure that you prepared for it. With risk assessment, you’ll be enlightened on the proper and safe moving of heavy equipment.
6. Communication
After the planning stage, there’s still more work that you can do to ensure safety. You should push for open communication during the whole process of moving heavy equipment to avoid any incidents. This should be done all throughout the move, from start to finish.
You should also inform your team or supervisors where you are and what time you started moving the heavy equipment. If anything arises, you should immediately inform your supervisors.
Conclusion
Handling heavy equipment can be daunting, as it requires so much manpower, time, and safety guidelines. However, you’re now familiar with the common types of heavy machinery and some safety tips when moving them. Always remember to plan ahead to avoid any surprises that can cause you and your team to panic or hurry. Never leave things to chance. If possible, you should always plan every hour of the move. Couple it with a high level of communication with your team, risk will be minimized extensively.
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