Words: Steve Fechino
Some of the readers do not get to do fieldwork all winter, so the work will begin shortly. Most good companies have foremen who have been with the company for long periods of time; they can do the work, schedule deliveries and manpower, and keep up with the reporting. Depending on what part of the country you are in, the wages for masons greatly vary. This is one factor that can control how much small equipment you have on a job and if you have a shop mechanic to repair it. Why? Higher rates for the tradesman equal higher burden and support numbers for the overall company. Why is this even being talked about? If you are a small company and rely on your field crew to do maintenance on their equipment and or they do not have multiple extras, then if something goes wrong at 9:45 a.m., they will be expected to keep it running so production can be met. Most of what is in this article is an example of some of the things that I learned the hard way; in a few cases, some are examples of what a few great mentors taught me.
Here are a few ideas.
Springtime brings in new employees, and that is a headache since the labor pool is so tough to pull from, but it also brings folks who may not have experience who are using the small equipment, possibly a bit improperly or pushing the limits of the tool.
During the job site weekly meeting or the monthly foreman meeting, a topic of small equipment and tools could be mentioned, and small maintenance could be taught for the field. Here are some examples.
- Teach the employee how to clean a filter properly each morning and as required during the day, including removal, installation, and when to replace. It is easy to just keep using the tool till it gets hot and burns up or performance is so poor that there is no result from the action.
- Quickie Saws, mixers, generators, and other small engines. Spark plugs need to be changed periodically, have the correct socket readily available, and check them at least once a week. Friday at lunchtime is a great time because it gives you time to get a new one installed before the end of the day and the start of next week.
- Small two-cycle engines, if they do not start, do not use either. Starting issues have a big range of reasons; teach the field how to check the fuel bubble and fuel lines. They can be a pain to fix, but a set of small screwdrivers and needle nose pliers can get you going when the air ratio is compromised from a bad fuel line tubing.
- Electrical cord inspection is important, and you already know why. Many areas of the country will not allow you to repair the end of the cord if it is damaged. If it is allowed, it is simple: a regular 120-volt cord has three wires: green, which is the ground; white, which is neutral; and black, well, this is the hot one, and it can bite like a stray cat. If you can put a new end on the cord, it is simple: strip the wire ends to about 3/8-inch, green goes to the green screw, white will go to the tin screw, and black will attach to the brass screw. This is standard across the board. If you do change the plug, some plugs have a collar that keeps water and debris out from the cord side, and you can easily forget to put it on the first time you wire the plug.
- I hope the lifts we use on the jobs, for the most part, are newer and more dependable than in the past, but I cannot say for everyone. The first job that I worked on had a lift. We had to check the engine oil, hydraulic oil, and radiator water every day. We did this on Friday mornings before we got started; if we needed anything, my old boss would pick it up when he went to get our checks. He was a really good foreman, and he really knew how to keep a smaller operation running smoothly. It only takes five minutes to do and can save the engine. It is worth the time, believe me, on this one.
- If you still have tires on your mixers and you pull the tire off so it is easier to dump, take a green trash bag and double it before you wrap it around the lugs and bearings. Even though you may not ever tow a mixer, this will keep the equipment from unnecessary damage.
- Gang boxes are part of every job; keys to the locks can be hard to keep up with, but that is a good thing. Rotate locks once in a while to keep the most honest employee with a key from temptation. Years ago, I had a gang box where an employee slowly helped himself to a few grinders over the course of several nights, well more than the cost of a few locks.
- The last thing that is a quick and easy lesson is to have a bad scaffold board somewhere on the job to show the new guys what to look for; it does not need to be full size, just a few feet. This may seem unnecessary if you are using all new boards or if all the scaffold is rented, but sometimes a new person just needs to be told what is damaged and what is still safe, or they may not say something.
When we were kids, we would put beeswax on our boots and set them by the fire so it would sink into the leather and give us a little better chance of dry feet on those muddy weeks. It does not matter what you use; it is just time to get ready for the mud as you enjoy the scaffold without winter protection.