Earthmoving equipment experience??

[pb02]

Anyone have any experience or licenses for backhoe and excavators?
I'm thinking about getting tickets for both of them, I have a little bit of experience in a backhoe but was just wondering about the licensing and what the work is like out there for people that work with these machines?
Cheers.

[Interceptor]

ask your local tafe, i know mine runs machinery courses, but unless you have decent levels of experience, nobody cares about the tickets..... been there done that

[LUXO_8]

im also keen on getting those tickets....
any info would be appreciated

[AMT]

Go for it I have my frontend loader ( any size) and skidsteer (bobcat) tickets which i got through work and there well worth having...

[pb02]

The only licensing and instructor centres that I've found are the western part of Melbourne. MADNC 8 I believe there is a course in Geelong. I'm from the South East and was hoping to find one more local.
nhanst, how is it working day to day on these machines?

[Pedro]

Originally Posted by Interceptor

ask your local tafe, i know mine runs machinery courses, but unless you have decent levels of experience, nobody cares about the tickets..... been there done that

I had operated dozers, scrapers, frontend loaders, etc. for years and was once working at the Peko mine site at Tennant Creek in N.T. when there was an influx of unionists. I didn't have a ticket so the gestapo had me thrown off the site. So my advice is to get that ticket ... it could save your job.

[Interceptor]

pedro, mines are a bit of a different kettle of fish, but what i was trying to say was that without decent experience on the machinery you're ticketed for, people dont want to know..... loads of experience and no ticket..... no problem, most employers will help you get your tickets.

[JBonDSS]

pb02 - if you find something in the SE, I would also like any details, as everything i have found is over the north west,

I am thinking of leaving my current job mid next year & getting into skid steer & small excavator landscaping.

[rodderz]

I was in a bobcat/excavator for 7 years when I was working for a boss, I got my bobcat then excavator/backhoe license through Northern Tafe, other tafes may do it as well if they do

The test is easy as pie, it's all common sense with a few tricky ones thrown in, the answers of which are given on a study manual you get before the test. Then you basically have to do a few simple manouvres to show you're not half stupid.

You'll get the hang of a machine after a full day and then get better and better with time, until it's almost 2nd nature to use the controls

As for work availability, try out the civil works guys constructing roads and doing the pipes etc in new estates, they frequently have vacancies as they go through a lot of staff. Otherwise you can register with a company that finds you work with people who have machines but no operators

[pb02]

I´ll post up any info that I find but everything so far I have found is country or west of Melbourne. I´ll try a few tafe´s and see if the local ones have any courses.

Thanks for the responses guys.