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Posts Tagged ‘Equipment’

Construction equipment is much like any other equipment in one sense; if you take care of it, it performs better than if it is abused. However, construction equipment typically tends to be used harder than similar equipment would be used if not on a construction site.

Another generality which can be made regarding construction equipment is its size. When we think of construction, we think of the giant earth moving machines, the oversize cranes, the trucks which haul materials and supplies to and from the construction location.

Construction equipment tends to be specialized for one purpose only. Although dump trucks collect and transport dirt and rocks, there is a great deal of difference between hauling a huge load of boulders to be used as road bed base for a interstate highway and hauling a load of paving stones from the local Home Depot outlet to the patio behind one’s home.

Important features to consider when viewing the subject of construction equipment repairs are the cost, accessibility, speed and useful life of the equipment.

The cost of the repair can vary based on who is doing the repair. Some companies find it more cost effective to hire and train their own mechanics to deal with construction equipment repairs and maintenance. Others will pay the cost of a factory trained mechanic or a qualified service provider.

Depending on where the construction equipment is sited, getting the equipment to the repair facility, or bringing repair personnel to the equipment can be a major undertaking.

The length of time required to complete the repair can be a crucial factor when down time on a job can have a snowball effect on the capability of completing an entire project on time and on budget. Sometimes even minutes of downtime because of needed construction equipment repairs can jeopardize the financial success of the project.

One final factor which is important to consider regarding repairs of construction equipment is the useful life of the equipment. Ordinarily, from an accounting standpoint, equipment is depreciated over some period of time and then discarded, either through sales or junking of the item. Putting repair money into equipment which has already reached the end of its useful life may not be cost effective.

Construction equipment range from the very heavy equipment to the portable and mobile lighter equipment, some of them with a precise description of their functions are detailed below.

Engineering equipment with a front bucket/shovel and a small backhoe in the rear combined with a tractor is known as backhoe loader. It is mostly used in small construction sites and in urban engineering such as fixing city roads.

A crawler, which is very powerful and attached with a blade, is called a bulldozer. Even though any heavy engineering vehicle is known as bulldozer, it is actually a tractor with a dozer blade.

Combat engineering vehicles are used for engineering work in the battlefield and for transporting sappers. They are mostly armoured vehicles.

A compact excavator is a wheeled or tracked vehicle with a backfill blade and swing boom. It is also known as mini excavator. The functions and movements of the machines are carried out by transferring hydraulic fluid. This makes a compact hydraulic excavator different from other construction equipment.

To compact gravel, dirt, asphalt and concrete in construction work and road laying a road roller which is also known as roller-compactor would be used.

A motorized cultivator with a rotating blade to work in the soil is known as rotary tiller. They are either drawn behind a tractor or self-propelled.

A crane is a derrick or tower equipped with pulleys and cables for lowering and lifting materials. The cranes used in construction industry are mostly temporary structures.

Dragline excavation systems are heavy equipment mostly used in surface mining and civil engineering. The smaller type of dragline excavator is used for port and road construction. The larger type dragline excavator is used in strip-mining operations for coal extraction.

In the building industry, to make foundations, a drilling machine is used. It is also used in oil wells and water wells.

An excavator commonly known as a digger is an engineering vehicle, with a cab mounted on a rotating platform or pivot, and a backhoe on top of an undercarriage with wheels or tracks.
In untamed regions which are being reclaimed for construction, a feller buncher, a machine having an attachment, which fells trees, is used.

A forklift, lift truck or forklift truck is an industrial truck used to pick up and transport heavy material using steel forks under the material to be lifted. The most common usage of a forklift is to move materials stored on pallets.

Many companies and contractors in need of acquiring new or used construction equipment often don’t have the financial resources needed to buy the construction equipment outright, unless it is a large corporation or some branch of the government. This is when the option of renting or leasing construction equipment comes into play. Deciding to rent or lease often depends on what the contractor or business manager feels most comfortable doing from a financial perspective after evaluating the many possibilities and deciding what suits their need from long term leasing to short term renting. The side of construction equipment rentals has met a positive growth since 2004, where nearly 50% of construction equipment dealers’ are offering heavy equipment rentals as part of their operation.

There are two ways most companies acquire their construction equipment, renting or leasing. Many contractors or business managers viewed renting or leasing as an opportunity to test out construction equipment at no extra cost and with no strings attached with the possibility of buying. Most often the rental would be converted into a purchase to avoid losing the invested equity. Most buyers would also take into account whether their business is flourishing or floundering, before committing to buying any construction equipment. In a case where a business has an uncertain future, the potential buyers may deem renting as the best way economically and then return the construction equipment to its owner when the job is done.

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) is the international trade and business development resource for companies that manufacture equipment, products and services used worldwide in the construction, agricultural, mining, forestry, and utility fields. The AEM has conducted a survey that predicted that in the near future, more construction equipment buyers will turn to the Internet for product purchases; as construction equipment buyers increasingly turn to the Internet for transactions, information and support.

Consequently, the rise of on-line auctions, sales, renting and leasing are made available by a variety of merchants who cater to the needs of companies and contractors worldwide. On-line merchants such as: Machine Mart, Rock & Dirt, Machinery Trader, Iron Planet, Contractors Hotline, etc. are only a few of the leading markets where companies and contractors alike can find nearly every piece of construction equipment they are looking for, from the top manufacturers such as Caterpillar and John Deere to many more. Many of these merchants offer the options of buying, selling, renting and leasing of new and used construction equipment to parts service and repair and machine maintenance. It’s always wise to investigate the background of any merchant before you place a bid or purchase any construction equipment, to ensure a good reputable stand point before entering into a contract with any dealer or merchant. It’s always wise to shop around and compare deals on construction equipment to other offers before committing to any deal.