How to operate A Digger
How to Operate a Mini-Excavator | Mini Excavator Controls
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hey everyone Randy with extreme sandbox
today we're gonna show you how to
operate our mini excavators so we get a
lot of clients out here that we show how
to use this equipment every day we
thought it'd be cool to put a how-to
video for our Komatsu mini excavators we
are not expert so I say that up front
but we can absolutely show you how to
operate them come on along first thing
it's always three points of contact when
you get in with all equipment door locks
open so you'll want to lock that open so
you have a solid handle here three-point
the contact coming up and all the way in
the first thing you always want to do is
put your seat belt on
now while the machines still shut down
the safety lock lever on the mini
excavators is basically this big arm
that goes all the way down so today
again we're showing you our Komatsu PC
35 mini excavator almost any brand has
something like this that's gonna block
the door and that indicates that the
machine is live so it will leave it up
like that and then again for the door or
lock this machine's can be operated with
the door open we generally recommend
having them closed there's a little
lever right here that basically
disengages the lock and the door so I
can shut it hey we're in there now first
thing we're gonna do we're gonna start
it up key on the mini excavator it's
right over here one click
and all the way high first thing I'm
gonna do there is an auto Idol function
on this machine but I'm gonna turn it up
turn that off just for the video
purposes it does shake our camera up
here so we're gonna leave this all the
way up to start with now just kind of
going over the equipment controls again
we're gonna leave this lock lever up
with that up you'll see the machine is
safe nothing's going to operate so it's
very important that you don't put that
down until you're ready to go with the
Komatsu mini excavator again our display
here does show us I mean typically be
looking if there's any indicator warning
lights what the fuel level is anything
else that we would need to know would be
on that display coming over to get our
climate control for these machines right
here Keith is there throttle knob was
there and then lights if we need them
are right here we already put our seat
belt on then for seat position there's
not a ton of adjustments for a mini
excavator obviously they're pretty tight
compartments but there is a little bit
of sliding the seat if you need it at
all generally I mean I'm gonna be you're
probably gonna be all the way back with
these things so that said we got a
controls on these machines we're running
in ISO which is the standard same as our
bigger machines so right is boom bucket
left a stick and swing I'll go over
those in a moment here we got our
two-track paddles here and then there's
some additional pedals on the mini
excavators for hydraulic thumbs and
swinging of the arm which I'll go over
those in a minute so now to get this
machine live again um now I'm gonna put
the safety lock lever down it locks down
now everything is live on this equipment
so there we can start one motion at a
time on this thing so again right hand
on the right joystick if I pull back
it's gonna raise my boom up
and if I go right hand forward brings
the boom down
then if I'm gonna go right hand to the
right will open the bucket in right hand
to the left will close the bucket stop
there that's our right joystick our left
is our stick and swing so if I push out
push the stick out pull back we'll bring
the stick back and then we've got the
swing so with their left or right if we
go left this will actually swing the
entire cap we go to the left or go to
the right
these controls are the same as any other
larger excavator so those are really
your standards that are gonna operate no
matter size of machine so those are the
joysticks now some of the other pieces
we have on the mini excavator the
smaller lineups of excavators have also
a I called a blade they called a
stabilizer bar there's usually another
piece right in front of the tracks
there's another lever over to the right
here
that's what's gonna operate that so it's
just pulling it doesn't go side to side
it only goes back and forth so if I pull
back on it it raises my blade in the
front and if I push it down it'll push
that plate down I'll show you when we
get started digging why this is on
there's a couple reasons again you can
use it to backfill although they're not
the best they don't angle back and forth
so it's tough to backfill using this
like a dozer blade I think the bigger
thing that we really use it's calling a
stabilizer bar because your tracks your
machines so much more compact you want
to have a little bit more of a base so
it spreads you out I can even put a
little downward pressure it makes my
machine a little bit more stable when
I'm digging so that's probably the best
way you want to use it obviously though
it's important to have that retracted
before we start driving now with our
foot controls then you've got a couple
so there's a left and most mini
excavators have and you might not be
able to see it there's little pedals
that can block these if you need it now
the left foot pedal is the phone there's
a hydraulic thumb on this machine so if
I push it up it'll close that thumb if I
push on the back of it it opens it and
generally you want to keep it retracted
when you're not using it so it's out of
the way when you're digging so that's
that
tract paddles we'll go over in a second
that's how we're gonna drive it and then
the right side is really uh it's like a
backhoe on a larger machine this will
just swing the arm so the many
excavators have two different ways you
can swing we already talked about the
cab swing that actually swings my seat
the entire machine you've also got a
feature here where you can just swing
the arms so if I go to the right with
that it just swings the arm to the right
if I go to the left with my foot it'll
swing it to the left this is handy for a
mini excavator if you're really in a
tight configuration you're trying to dig
straight like maybe along a foundation
or some other areas that are really
tight that's an easy way that you can
make some adjustments with your arm
without having you might not be able to
swing your whole cab so that's why they
use that again we don't use it much out
here to train new operators we have
enough free room that we just use the
cabs so those are all the basic controls
okay now we're gonna get into driving
first and foremost we want to make sure
that blade is up it's not gonna drive
very well with it down so I pull back on
this have it a few feet off the ground
now mini-excavator similar to the big
excavators there's two-track paddles or
there's foot controls okay every new
operator we always train them with their
hands just a lot easier to train them
that way on the minis you'll see there's
two little pieces again these machines
are designed to be compact so I'll show
you I get an expert we normally use
their feet which is how I'll do it but
I'm gonna keep my hands off these just
to show you I'm doing everything with
just my feet if I push both each one of
these controls one of the tracks like
which left it push the left one by push
on the back it goes backwards so right
now I'm gonna push on both of them
and roughly driving it right there let's
say I want to dig right around here what
I'll do now down there I usually
recommend taking feet off just so it
doesn't cause any confusion before you
dig again dropping that stabilizer over
that blade put a little bit of downward
pressure and now I'm ready today again
like any other excavator you generally
want to dig ideally straight lined up
with your tracks that especially with
that stabilizer bar it's where the
machine is most stable
you've got the largest footprint on the
ground there so you're gonna be the best
in that position you obviously can dig
at any configuration off the sides
things like that but your machine just
is not going to be quite as stable the
other piece is you know this machine as
much as it won't hit if I curl this in
it will not hit the boom arm or anything
but it will absolutely hit your blade
you'll see I can actually touch my blade
down there I can actually hit my tracks
as well so that's why it's really
important that you're never too close
off the corners you want to keep some
distance so to dig a hole I'm going to
extend that out again we start all the
way out so I've got the stick extended
you bring it down towards the ground
stopping a few feet this is where you
want to make sure your teeth are
relatively out a little bit so right
above there put it down in the ground
once it's in I'm just gonna go right
hand to left curl that bucket all the
way in raise it up and then I can spin
left or right
to dump right in there
that's fully extended the other way if I
raise this up I can bring this stick
down and in to dig closer same thing
though I want to make that adjustment so
my teeth are out a little bit put it in
the ground curl that bucket all the way
up
as I raise that up you'll notice that
buckets closer that is that stick it
controls your distance now I'm going to
push that out
and I can swing over dump it right there
now again this is we've really boiled
this down just to show one movement at a
time it's much easier for a new operator
to just focus on one joystick one
control then as you get better you'll
notice an expert will often be I'm
pulling in the stick I'm raising the
boom I'm curling I am doing multiple
three things there that's what an expert
is gonna do and even going out I can
push bulb stick out I can swing at the
same time as you get more proficient
you'll get better at practicing this so
you have multiple motions
and pushing it out again nice and slow
and easy
so that is how you dig with a mini
excavator okay so that was digging now
let's just do a little bit of back
filling on there
it's a backfill really the opposite of
digging just making sure your teeth are
out a little bit and just curling right
through it
raising that up swing it over
now the machines are much more efficient
at scooping so that's where you how you
want to do that a lot of people try and
use the side and you're gonna find the
machine just doesn't have much force
there now with that said once you get
closed and there wasn't much material
here so I can go straight into it but
it's kind of just making sure your
bucket is flat to the ground you don't
want to do it with a curled up so I'm
just gonna create a concave it's gonna
be like a little canyon there it's not
straight you want to have those teeth
flat to the ground like that and then
just coming through if it gets stuck
like that I keep swaying eyes raise my
boom a little bit and that'll slide
through again for the mini ice skaters
with the blade I can also show you how
to push it with the blade the other
piece here is you can always kind of
rake the material out away from you so
if I just go right here
I push left hand forward you'll see how
I'm kind of pushing it down this is also
doing multiple motions at the same time
always trying to make sure my buckets
all the way open so I don't hit that
joint and you don't want to dig in the
back of this bucket so you'll see right
there if I was to go down like this it's
not great for a machine I would end up
getting a bunch of dirt in there so we
want to have that cylinder closed all
the way like that and then I'm just
using the bottom of the bucket to push
material out like that
so that's how to backfill now I'm gonna
move the machine I'm gonna show you you
know two things one how to use the thumb
on it but also using that blade okay
so I just kind of reposition the Machine
a little bit so if I wanted to show
really quick how do again you saw me use
that I can use the blade in a lot of
different capacities here it is a
stabilizer but just to show you really
quickly you know I can use this like a a
little bit like a dozer blade so I'm
just gonna have my feet on the pedals
there I'm pushing forward and kind of
dropping my blade and just trying to
push this material into that hole right
there back up
and I'll try one more
I'm gonna hook it in there a little bit
and it's not the best because the blade
will not actually go left or right it
won't adjust but it will in a pinch you
can do a combination of that and using
the side of your bucket so that's how
you use the blade now the final thing I
want to show is that thumb so again I
always set that stabilizer bar it's not
a requirement depends how much your love
picking up but it is always safer to
have that down now again the thumb is
that left joystick or I'm sorry the left
foot pedal if I push that forward and
that way now I should show you I'm gonna
open my bucket first the thumb will not
go all the way so you see that's as far
as it goes
so to go any further I have to actually
bring that bucket in to really pinch it
in there so starting where they were
attracted I'm gonna we just used some
tires out here easy for training but if
I try and just get my bucket in there
curl that in so it's nice and tight now
I can pull right hand back and I've got
that thing pinched in there if I then
bring it over here
set it down wherever I need it I'll push
it out a little bit away
and I can either open my thumb to drop
this let's see if I just go like that
see how that we retracted there and I
can go back
sometimes I give too
I just won there
so again as long as I don't touch
anything with that bucket it'll stay
pinched in there then I can move it to
where I want and I can now I can just
open the bucket to if I want one second
I'm going to open my I want to do the
thumb there a little bit there is no
kind of get set up there let's try it
one more I'll try you know what I've got
a bowling ball over here I'm gonna pull
it in a little bit off and away from
this barricade so again if I get my
teeth down by it
and now I've got it locked in there so
again I can push it away
me I'm gonna put it right in the center
there
open my bucket boom
and again it's important to go ahead
once you're done with that to open that
all the way get a back-end driving
position and then if I were to want to
drive to Park pull that back up again
drive forward here
put it there again when I'm parking I
like to set that blade back on the
ground and then we always like to set
our buckets a lot of it down right
there's good to park it once you're done
it's very important to pull the safety
lock lever up again that deactivates
everything right there we'll do all that
I take my seatbelt off
I will then throttle it down and Shh it
shut that down again door latch right
there make sure it's all the way open
three points of contact if possible come
out in backwards step there step there
all the way there
that's our Komatsu mini excavator
hopefully you enjoyed watching that if
you have any questions or comments
please put them below if you're an
expert if you're an operator have any
other tips or tricks please post it
below thanks a lot you guys for tuning
in we'll see on the next episode
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