A Tale of Two Mechanics
BY AsphaltPro Staff
At Brannan Sand and Gravel, Denver, Colo., the equipment in the field has a force in the shop keeping it in top condition. Employee Juan Martinez recently graduated from a trade school with training specifically to be a mechanic. Alonso Depaz works alongside Martinez as a mechanic also, and both have taken the initiative to learn a little something more than traditional shop-talk. These two followed Consultant John Ball into the field to learn how to pave.
Martinez and Depaz are tasked with caring for the company’s paving and truck fleet. In fact, Martinez began his career doing oil changes for the trucks. As he took on more responsibility, he wanted to know more about the paving equipment he’d be working on. It’s one thing to know the front of the hopper on the paver needs to be replaced, but it’s another thing to understand why it needs to be replaced and why a heavier, sturdier rubber could be used for the repair.
Think about it.
The front of the hopper gets torn up when a subcontracted haul truck backs up to it with a trailer hitch that cuts in and rips a chunk out. The mechanic in the shop doesn’t necessarily realize that’s how the front rubbers get all messed up. All he sees is the paver with the problem. Martinez and Depaz went into the field to see how the front rubbers get all messed up. Now they have additional knowledge that will help them when machines come in to the shop.
Consider the items that can fail on a piece of paving equipment. Tow point cylinders can leak. Depth crank screws tend to wear and become loose, so new ones must be put in frequently. End gates can get bent during heavy use so the mechanic must fix those immediately for a smooth paved edge. The mechanic who goes out to the field for one repair should have that extra knowledge that low pressure in the tires will give a “wiggle” to the drive. If he checks the tire pressure—make sure it’s 35 pounds—while he’s already out on the project, he can proactively prevent a problem. If the crew has a tracked paver, he can double-check that the tracks are lined up equal and get the cable lined up, too. Now that Martinez and Depaz have been out to the project, they’ve seen first-hand that the tracked paver that’s off even a little bit can steer to the left or right, giving the paver operator a difficult day and a better chance at missing bonus on a project.
How about the rollers? Scraper bars can’t be bent—they have to be touching to be effective. The water pumps and nozzles on the spray bars have to be functioning and clean. After watching the rollers and talking to the operators, these two mechanics understand now the importance of keeping the drums watered/lubricated so there’s no chance of material pickup. Does your mechanic in the shop understand that each and every nozzle has to be clear because material pickup will mar the mat?
Another item that these mechanics have now learned from the operators in the field is the importance of the machine indicators. These small devices—sometimes with simple bulbs—can get overlooked at the end of repairs in the shop if the mechanic doesn’t know how vital they are to the proper operation of the machine. Extensions have match height numbers that the screed operator must be able to see and “match up” to the main platform. Other items such as the crown indicator, depth crank indicator, tow point indicators wear out frequently and get torn off during the heavy duty work of asphalt paving. If the mechanic doesn’t know the importance of those indicators, he won’t know how vital it is to change them out or have new ones on the shelf in the shop to replace them.
How about the “extras” on paving equipment? Martinez and Depaz learned more than what’s important to replace and fix on pavers and rollers. They talked with operators about the additional safety and efficiency items that operators like to have in place on machines. How many safety directors have told mechanics to put strobe lights on the paver’s operator platform, only to find the light blinding the operator? That’s not going to happen at Brannan Sand and Gravel because these two know not to place the strobe at eye level, not to place it right beside the operator.
These mechanics know to point lights at the endgate, at the guide bar and into the hopper to illuminate these areas for the paver and screed operators. They’ve fashioned magnetic lights that can be moved and directed as needed.
For Brannan Sand and Gravel, the company is fortunate to have two mechanics who are vested in learning more. They want to step it up. They want to make sure the items they work on are the right components to fix at the right time. They want to know “what’s the priority?” They came up with the idea to go into the field and learn more about paving to enhance their effectiveness and the company backed them on that.
For day-to-day activities, Martinez and Depaz typically stay in the shop. They don’t stay with the crew in the field fulltime. They get called out to the crew when needed. Sometimes they’ll go out with the crew in the morning, at the beginning of the shift for the first half hour to hour to make sure everything is up and running perfectly for a smooth shift. That’s where they’re going to be a step ahead. Then they’ll go back to the shop to perform daily duties and be ready for a call-out.
To take care of daily duties, the company keeps daily maintenance sheets, which we’ve shared in this department before, and will share in the future. When something looks “off” about a piece of equipment, the operator should notice that during his pre-shift walk around and should mark it down on the daily maintenance sheet. He needs to make those notes above and beyond what the mechanic is fixing so everyone knows when something might be coming in. The maintenance sheet serves the company in three ways:
- It lets the operator and mechanic detect what is wrong.
- It gives the mechanic the opportunity to order the part if necessary, or locate the part and tools for the repair in inventory.
- It gives the mechanic and foreman on the job time to schedule the equipment’s downtime for repair, based on when the part will be available and when the machine can be out of service.
Notice that the maintenance sheet allows the mechanic, operator and foreman to communicate and schedule the repair before it’s an emergency that causes a ruckus on the project. With mechanics that understand the paving process and operators who know their mechanics are part of getting a quality product for their clients, the entire team at Brannan Sand and Gravel has the structure in place to keep equipment up and running smoothly.
This article was prepared in cooperation with John Ball, proprietor of Top Quality Paving, Manchester, N.H.