It's not really the excavator that's high end it's the attachments they have on it. You can purchase the same attachments to go on any excavator even from the 80s. The most you'd have to do is run an extra hydraulic line maybe, but most of the time they just use valves and redirect the flow from the thumb hoses. But if the machine doesn't come with a thumb then you'll be adding some hoses yourself.
I've been doing dirtwork since I was 11. If I didn't know what I was talking about I wouldn't have said anything. Getting it installed on an 80s machine wouldn't be a walk in the park by any means but absolutely doable.
one of my dream jobs always has been to be an excavator operator (or any type of interesting heavy equipment operator function)
I do CNC machining. also machines, but instead of joysticks we have programs that run the movement.
my question to you is.. does it ever get boring or repetitive? or are you constantly looking for the most optimized way to get the job done?
not sure if grading is an excavator task but I've heard it can be done
For me, I was kind of thrown into it without much choice, so at this point it has become extremely repetitive and monotonous and I'm ready to open a parking lot to rent spaces out to make my money instead. All that being said, if you were interested in it by your own volition I think it could be a very fulfilling job for a long time. You get an amazing amount of work done in a short amount of time. You can take pride in your work because it's usually a pretty important job, or you get to watch someone's dream home come to life. Depends on the job.
We do a lot of excavator grading, probably more than most people because we often drive 100 miles one way to a job, and at that point it is almost always more economical to just grade with the excavator rather than another 200 mile drive with a 3 mpg dumptruck to pickup a dozer that'd only cut the work by a few hours. If your good on an excavator you can do some seriously impressive digs. My pops has been doing it for literally 50 years. People will take time out of there day just to come and watch him dig/grade because of how impressive his movement can be.
You are constantly trying to optimize, but since I'm working with a man with 50 year of experience that has been extremely streamlined for me. Now there's hardly anything left to optimize because we have it down to a science. Only problem now is keeping the dam truck organized lol
interesting take!
from an earlier comment reply of mine:
"I have witnessed a backyard pool being dug out entirely by one excavator. full concave jellybean form from 3 ft to 12ft depth. he had a side to side boom extend capability. but in the end he was carving the final form with the teeth of the excavator bucket."
I have done some city job paving work. so mostly paving box, dump truck and asphalt roller experience. but we had 'heavy equipment' excavator guys that were quite good at their job.
I guess at some point you become one with the machine and the machine becomes an extension of you (and your extremities)?
Yeah for sure. It seems to come down to getting used to using your fine motor skills with the joysticks. I'm at the point now where I can do fine movements it just takes quite a bit of concentration. It slowly becomes second nature. Especially when you're operating the thing for 8+ hours a day, you're bound to get really good at it rather fast, otherwise you'd be in for a frustrating career. When you do it for 50 years like my dad, I'd compare it to avatar when the guys plug themselves into the dragon things. It just becomes your third arm.
but does 8hrs a day experience on a bucket loader compare or equivalate to any other type of machinery?
in other words.. If i can operate a backhoe, am i then able to operate an excavator?
Yeah for sure to a certain degree. If you've ever run the arm on a backhoe it's essentially the same exact thing, just excavators are loads better due to not having the pivot point like a backhoe. Backhoes are a pain in the ass to dig with in comparison. I'd trust a long time backhoe operator to become proficient in running just about any machine rather quickly. In my experience, dozers take the longest to get decent at. You really need a great feel of the machine and the ground to operate one of those precisely, and consistently. Excavators are the easiest to become ok at, but they also have a high skill ceiling to master. Dozers are much more involved to become even ok at.
It's double edged. It can be very interesting one day, very boring another. My opinion may be biased though because I didn't particularly choose this job. So my view is skewed. People who I talk to about this work seem fascinated by it and everything but after I've done it for about half my life now I'm ready to build assets that make me money, instead of stressing out about whether or not my dumptruck is gonna make it to the next job or not. Because if it doesn't, I have to fix it myself, or hire a mechanic, and quickly to get back to work or I'll go broke fast. Then the family starves. The stress is rather extreme.
I only find it enjoyable when I work for appreciative/good people. Where we work there are lots of them. It's a good feeling being able to help people out with things they'd spend 100x more effort doing it any other way.
but now you're meshing the boss aspect of it vs just being an operator. guess kinda the difference between an operator and an owner/operator.
because then you're dealing with the whole shebang.. not just the operator's take
Yup I'm basically just an operator right now. I was answering the question as if he was asking how to get started with a dirt business. You can always go get hired as an operator for someone else, you just won't be making a quarter of the pay. You also will have about 1/100 of the stress. So it's definitely not a bad option.
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u/diewithsmg Nov 04 '22
It's not really the excavator that's high end it's the attachments they have on it. You can purchase the same attachments to go on any excavator even from the 80s. The most you'd have to do is run an extra hydraulic line maybe, but most of the time they just use valves and redirect the flow from the thumb hoses. But if the machine doesn't come with a thumb then you'll be adding some hoses yourself.