| Author | Message | ||
     Mr_grumpy |
Got a job offer today driving a hooklift for a construction firm. Now I don't have much experience of them (2 days 15 years ago) but I know the basics & principles. So anybody give me some hints on do's & dont's. | ||
| Badlionsfan |
Not familiar with the term. What kind of stuff do you deliver with it? | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Dunno yet, building crap I suppose. Don't even know what sort of rig it is yet, just wanted to get a bit of info ahead of time. I don't think it'll be a problem, I mean how hard can it be?  | ||
| Badlionsfan |
It's a construction site full of construction workers. They should be able to repair anything you break. | ||
| Ourdee |
Work on operating it smooth not fast. Work on smooth and the speed will come. Keep the swing or oscillation out. No loads over humans. I operate a 70 ton crane, and always yeild to humans. If you have a spotter, check his work. I trust but verify and preach that to the operator anytime I spot. In the US one crane operator dies out of 1000 during a 40 year career. I do my best to be in the 999. Don't know if that's any help. | ||
| 6gears |
A hooklift is a variation on a Roll-Off style truck. You don't have to get out of the truck to grab the next roll-off container. Pretty simple to operate as long as the container is loaded properly. Unbalanced loads are a pain in the ass. Make sure you get as square with the skid/container as possible to help load it better. My exp. is primarily with roll-off trucks and winch trucks with a carry deck. | ||
| Ourdee |
I missed that one. Thought it was one of the trucks with the boom on it. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Thanks guys, 6 Gears that's the bunny, Ampliroll is the most common it seems. The job's through an employment agency, temporary work, but if I do a good job, a fulltime contract at the end. It's not ideal, but the money's pretty good, & a few months of it will please my bank manager no end (plus I'll be able to buy a newer bike, hehe.) I'm going down to the company's yard this afternoon, for us to check each other out, I have the benefit of maturity & 2 fluent languages on my side. Cross my fingers & toes. | ||
| Crusty |
Good Luck, Innes. Please let us know how it goes. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Well, here's the skinny, went to the place & saw the bloke in charge, initially wants me for skips, but when he asked me if I'd got & licence for semi's & I said yes over 25 yrs of em, his eyes lit up. The company is actually a waste recycling firm, so I'm being green & saving the planet blah blah where's a tree? I need a hug. Start 06.30 tomorrow, minimum rest of this week & next week. Possible long term contract depending on business & performance. Agency made a mistake on the pay scale though, I actually will get more than they initially said, result! Depot is about 13 miles from home, with some superb twisties on the way, trouble is I'll be running in the dark in the mornings so it'll be the Alfa for the moment. Now if it all works out, I might be able to afford a 2nd gen Stelvio early next year. | ||
| 86129squids |
Good to hear there, buddy! I gots me a good job change coming up after Thanksgiving, literally walking distance from the house, and time and a half or better for the $$$! Looking forward to a good 2013! | ||
| 6gears |
I am a Union Operating Engineer, so I get to operate all kinds of cool $hit on a daily basis. It is always fun to impress the next employer when moving to the next job. I used to work a week here, week there...I have been a regular with a local (7 miles) construction company most of this year making over $36 an hour. The company did not have any excavating work this week but put me in a Peterbilt and paid operator scale just to keep me around, LOL. I always try to keep all my certs current and add as many as I can yearly because it keeps a guy employed in my line of work. When they can call you to do just about anything and you do a good job....they keep you around. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Update. Well work went fine. Thurs I was hauling wood in 30mē skips around to the chipping plant next door, worked hard, got the lot done by lunchtime, then helped out picking up a scrap semi in the afternoon to take to the scrap metal plant. Friday, I ran all day from the yard to the local incinerator plant with household waste in a walking-floor semi. I stank like an old dustbin by the end of the day. Same again Monday morning worked like a Trojan; Then off to pick up scrap wood in the semi in the afternoon, back to the chipper. "Really great job, you've worked hard & we're very pleased, but now there's no more work for you to do." Doh! so I've been grumbling at home this week tidying the garage & doing odd jobs. Agency has just rung though, the company want me back next week for the whole week apparently, so I'll have to cross my legs & hope it keeps up. | ||
| Buellish |
What is a "walking-floor semi"? | ||
| Moxnix |
Grumpy, box left yesterday. All the post-season bits I could scrape out of a few stores. No FlexFit, so what arrives is what there was. Sorry, but it will have to do until next time. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Walking floor is usually hydraulic operated. the whole floor of the truck or trailer is made up of strips usuall aluminium & they work in sets of 3. When unloading the whole floor will move 3 or 4 inches & then the strips will move forward again but in a 123 fashion. This is a near identical trailer to the one I've been using. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcjKvTsHmQo This gives you a better view of unloading. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_LoAM8YUjE | ||
| Buellish |
Innes,that moving floor trailer is pretty cool.I don't know if we have anything like that in the states.I've seen dump trailers of 45' or so.In fact I low sided a Sporster trying to get around one on a slippery road where I worked at the time,30 years ago. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
The great advantage is you don't have to jack the whole thing up in the air to tip a bulk load & you don't need to run in the back with a pallet truck either, you just drop the pallets in pairs on the back & "walk" them up the trailer to load. Max, I'm indebted to you. |
