Training new Operators

[Montana_Sam]

Hello all,

Curious what some of you who have a few employees do to make sure your guys/gals all treat the equipment the same way? What we've been running into frequently is guys get in the truck, don't check the oil or tire pressure. Guys shut off the chipper, forget to disengage the clutch. Guys head off to a job, forget to grab bar oil and fuel...and so on. I'm thinking about making some type of magent chart that goes on each peice of equipment, with steps #1 through whatever, to dummy proof our operations...or a checklist for each vehicle, something like that. Decent ground guys and sawyers are getting tougher to come by, so it's hard to ***** and moan at them for not checking the oil in the truck before each day...but we need to standardize our procedures somehow.
Thanks

 

[lone wolf]

Hello all,

Curious what some of you who have a few employees do to make sure your guys/gals all treat the equipment the same way? What we've been running into frequently is guys get in the truck, don't check the oil or tire pressure. Guys shut off the chipper, forget to disengage the clutch. Guys head off to a job, forget to grab bar oil and fuel...and so on. I'm thinking about making some type of magent chart that goes on each peice of equipment, with steps #1 through whatever, to dummy proof our operations...or a checklist for each vehicle, something like that. Decent ground guys and sawyers are getting tougher to come by, so it's hard to ***** and moan at them for not checking the oil in the truck before each day...but we need to standardize our procedures somehow.
Thanks

Good luck I cant even get a worker . The ones I have used never would do things the way I showed them consistently no matter how many times I asked them to do it. Best way is to pay a much higher pay and get a real good guy not an idiot. Young military people seem good at following orders.

 

[661Joe]

Hello all,

Curious what some of you who have a few employees do to make sure your guys/gals all treat the equipment the same way? What we've been running into frequently is guys get in the truck, don't check the oil or tire pressure. Guys shut off the chipper, forget to disengage the clutch. Guys head off to a job, forget to grab bar oil and fuel...and so on. I'm thinking about making some type of magent chart that goes on each peice of equipment, with steps #1 through whatever, to dummy proof our operations...or a checklist for each vehicle, something like that. Decent ground guys and sawyers are getting tougher to come by, so it's hard to ***** and moan at them for not checking the oil in the truck before each day...but we need to standardize our procedures somehow.
Thanks

You get what you pay for. On top of that tell a 15$ hr employee to do something if you find one that is good they will pay them 25$. If not pay them 20$ see if there attention to detail gets better. With that said my ground woman and one male both make 25$ an hr plus 3% gross weekly bonus. They no longer have to be tought. The other day the newer guy still 25$ an hr filled my saw up spilled a little gas no biggie he don’t know I want to lose my **** over that gas on my saw. Day goes on I catch him filling up again spilled some again that time I jumped his ass. He apologized first thing out of his mouth was ( I didn’t think about the customers yard im so sorry) so now I’m kinda blown away because at the end of the day he could kill a little grass and my main goal is safety next quality. I like my work saws to stay nice as possible point is that employee was worried about the customer. That made me feel good about my choice in ppl. It’s hard now a days but there around just have to find them. Btw no spilled gas since lol

 

[TRTermite]

You can always give a bonus for :ATTA BOY/GAL, but tough to with hold a set pay if the employee is stressing you out.. Once you know what you have set the wage accordingly. Just a Thought.

 

[Mad Professor]

I started as a 15 yr old at a farm, besides my parents place . I already knew warm stuff up before using, farmer was happy with that.

Check oil coolant, grease everything a couple times a week.

All my stuff I couldn't afford to replace, so they got treated better. Tractors saws trucks cars mowers tillers .....

I'm still running a 40 9N I got 40 years ago, my parents 72 Troy Built, a 72 Ford LGT145............my Dad's Homie Super XL and 150 still run good too.

Kids/workers now can't fix, let alone maintain things.

 

[sirbuildalot]

Hello all,

Curious what some of you who have a few employees do to make sure your guys/gals all treat the equipment the same way? What we've been running into frequently is guys get in the truck, don't check the oil or tire pressure. Guys shut off the chipper, forget to disengage the clutch. Guys head off to a job, forget to grab bar oil and fuel...and so on. I'm thinking about making some type of magent chart that goes on each peice of equipment, with steps #1 through whatever, to dummy proof our operations...or a checklist for each vehicle, something like that. Decent ground guys and sawyers are getting tougher to come by, so it's hard to ***** and moan at them for not checking the oil in the truck before each day...but we need to standardize our procedures somehow.
Thanks

I agree with the others. You get what you pay for. We had a family construction business for 20 years and good employees were very few and far between. Most that are good enough/competent enough to be trusted and left alone on a job end up leaving for more money or starting their own business. This was from mid 90's-2014. I imagine now in 2022, $25-$30 and up is where you'd need to be paying for anyone of any intelligence and value on the jobsite. That number will vary place to place, but I can't imagine many places being under that.

At the very least I'd plan on having a well paid/compensated crew leader/foreman in each group to oversee these company policies.

 

[Montana_Sam]

Agreed. It’s tough…we do a ton of fuels reduction and thinning work…finding young guys that want to run a saw for 8-10 hours a day slashing regen pine is not easy, especially since they can pack lumber on a construction site for $25/hr and we start at $18. But there’s still some pride in the work! Lucky to have a community college in town with a thriving forestry program, so there’s a ton of young blood around eager to cut their teeth doing saw work. Running ropes and doing residential removals is a whole nother story….

 

[Parkerpusher]

I agree with the others. You get what you pay for. We had a family construction business for 20 years and good employees were very few and far between. Most that are good enough/competent enough to be trusted and left alone on a job end up leaving for more money or starting their own business. This was from mid 90's-2014. I imagine now in 2022, $25-$30 and up is where you'd need to be paying for anyone of any intelligence and value on the jobsite. That number will vary place to place, but I can't imagine many places being under that.

At the very least I'd plan on having a well paid/compensated crew leader/foreman in each group to oversee these company policies.

Your ideas on pay range is exactly right

 

[sand sock]

i remember a episode from this old house. one of the contractors had the same issue. his guys burned up the skid loader. he went out and bought a new skid loader, but wouldnt let the guys run the skid loader. if you wont do the maintanence and cut corners. you can use a shovel and wheel barrow. he let them do this for a week. then they started greasing joints and checking oil.

at some point you need to know the equiptment. every 100 hours. the engine oil gets changed. when teh hour meter zeros out at 100. you change the oil. when you hit the 50 hour mark. you check the engine oil , then every10 hours. this is atleast once per week. grease is cheap, if you dont like changing bearings. you will grease bearings.

 

[jolj]

Good luck I cant even get a worker . The ones I have used never would do things the way I showed them consistently no matter how many times I asked them to do it. Best way is to pay a much higher pay and get a real good guy not an idiot. Young military people seem good at following orders.

Never had anyone working for me use a chainsaw, I kelp seeing the "Scarface bathtub scene", but when I landscaped & yard maintenance I had the same problem. Everyone was a pro & would make me tons of money with their hard work, until I hired them. I had to tell them the same things over & over, and this was with weedeater & bowers, edger & lawnmower.
Forget chainsaws.

 

[Marine5068]

Hello all,

Curious what some of you who have a few employees do to make sure your guys/gals all treat the equipment the same way? What we've been running into frequently is guys get in the truck, don't check the oil or tire pressure. Guys shut off the chipper, forget to disengage the clutch. Guys head off to a job, forget to grab bar oil and fuel...and so on. I'm thinking about making some type of magent chart that goes on each peice of equipment, with steps #1 through whatever, to dummy proof our operations...or a checklist for each vehicle, something like that. Decent ground guys and sawyers are getting tougher to come by, so it's hard to ***** and moan at them for not checking the oil in the truck before each day...but we need to standardize our procedures somehow.
Thanks

I work in a different industry but I know what you mean because I've trained over 30 operators in my 5 years running and repairing my equipment.
We have set S.O.P.s (standard operating procedures) that I had a hand in building to help new (or tired) operators stay focused and on track.
Some are just better than others at work. We built 'beginning' and 'end of day' checklists too for them to follow, but some just pencil whip these at times.
A quick weekly meeting of encouragement may help remind them how you depend on them and the equipment to keep the job operating.
Good luck and let us know how the managing helps.