How to Operate an Excavator; a Primer

Yea it's like that, the only way to tell which way your going to move is to have your walking motors behind you then the controls are correct,,sticks forward to go forward but if your walkin motors are in front of you then yes they will be backward pull the sticks to you to go forward...I always look down at the inside of my tracks, and the motors have a bolted on cover that will tell you if they are in front of you or behind you.

The best way to learn is to just get out there and do it well atleast thats what my boss did to me anyways.

honestly i have operated quite a few machines before starting the program and i can say that the thing is John deere excavators and bachoes may have different controls. compared to cat and others. keep that in mind. i like the deere controls better

Great video!
Thanks

cool...I am about to start a course in Canada..anyone know of more training videos like this one? on the controls of various equipment?
thanks

cool video. question. how come you have to pull the levers back to go forward and push the levers forward to go backwards. are all escavators like that. couldnt you just turn the cab around and it would be opposite

I personally like standard excavator controls but I've only ran backhoes with the "retro" four stick case controls.. Although not as comfortable as probaly the joy sticks like they usually have in some other machines..

AWESOME!!!

I want to take my 360 License, CPCS Card for machines over 10 tonne but here in the United Kingdom I have to pay over £2000 thats $3897.
I cant afford it. Major Bummer.

You will really enjoy running an excavator. It's like living a video game.

Thank you sir very helpful video, god bless

awesome video! i'm going to school for this in the fall and i'm really excited. i will be learning how to operate one of these rigs soon. thank you for the video.

If you like this video, make sure you do a youtube search for Yellow Metal TV and make sure to go check out the website. It's awesome for anyone into heavy equipment...

I actually have met a few operators (usually about 20 years older than me) who still prefer Case controls, with four standard levers, instead of joysticks. One operator told me that he had ordered (or was going to order) a new machine with the retro Case controls.

I remember seeing an old, abandoned excavator (I think it was a Hi Hoe), that must have had six or more levers in the front of the cab. The thing looked like it was from the '70s or maybe '60s. It was just rusting away on a hill side.

I ran a Hitachi EX120 about 14 years ago that had the stick and swing on the left, but to move the stick in and out you had to move the lever to the left and right. To swing left and right the lever needed to be moved backwards and forwards. I ran it for a couple of years, the pattern just seemed normal to me.
I think there are also some other very odd patterns about in other parts of the world.