Loaders Clear What Others Leave Behind

Whilst backhoes, excavators and bulldozers do all the hard work digging and pushing dirt around, it is the loader that invariably gets the job of cleaning up after it’s brothers. Of course, backhoes have loader scoops at the front so for the purpose of this post we will include them in the category of loader. The other aspect to remember is that loaders come in all sizes, from the small compact loaders to the mighty beasts that are used in mining.

Before anyone argues the point with me, I know some loaders can also undertake a degree of digging and earthmoving, but for the big jobs, the specialist machinery is generally called in relegating the loader to cleanup detail. If it sounds like I am putting loaders down, I’m not. Cleaning up is of equal importance to any other aspect of a job.

Wheel loaders are really quite special. They are quite maneuverable and can travel fairly quickly over the ground. They can also move a lot of material fairly quickly. Loaders are probably one of the fastest machines used on a construction site. Even the larger models can move quickly. If you ever watch a loader at work you will see how quickly they can load a truck; zipping forward to scoop up material then in reverse to line up with the truck. And all done at a fair speed.

Loaders rely a lot on hand-eye coordination with eyesight quite important – you need to be sure the scoop is over the truck before tipping the load. If your eyesight is askew you could be dumping the load just short of the truck all the time.

You can undertake loader training as part of a general heavy equipment training program. This will also equip you with skills to handle backhoes, loaders, excavators and bulldozers. Loaders may do all the clean up work, but without them we would have pretty awful looking buildings.