Loading excavators, big cherry pickers, tracked vehicles, forks-best place to see how to drive them

I recently took a local job working at a tow/ equipment moving company.

After 5 days of ride alongs learning towing, heavy equipment tie down, and things like winching containers onto rollbacks, I was thrown to the wolves.

Last night I was sent to a construction site to pick up a crated crane. Got there and no forklift drivers in site (Friday night).

Dispatch walked me through starting up a HUGE forklift. I played with it for a minute and then drove it to the palleted crane and managed to load it on my bed. My first time in a forklift and it was one that steered all four huge tires.

Secured the crane with chains and delivered to another site where everyone had gone home. Dropped and tilted the bed thinking it would magically slide off. Nope. Had to chain the pallet to a pole and pull it off.

Then I picked up a monster boom crane. Somehow, I managed to get it started and drive it on my bed while raising the bucket to keep it from scraping.

This job is going to be all about moving loading and unloading everything from scissor lifts to oversized excavators.

What's a good resource to learn to drive individual equipment? By drive I mean start and move onto a bed.

Luckily, everything I've messed with has been operated via joystick. Are the ones operated with levers and foot pedals hard to drive?

Anyway, this is probably the most interesting job I've ever had.

 

Yes. I started with an OTR flatbed company thinking it would be hands on.

driving a few hundred miles, tarping, unstrapping, waiting to get unloaded was not enough hands on.

Now, in one day, I can be in up to four different vehicles, loading and unloading containers, heavy equipment, and pulling upside down wrecks onto a rollback.

This is definitely hands on and a lot of fun.

But, I realize with all this different action comes a ton of risk. I have to move slow and double check everything and pre-plan like and re-plan.

I love it.

 

A cool trailer that tilts and pulls containers: http://postimg.org/image/76n0zw02v/

My first excavator: http://postimg.org/image/n3tah0ps1/