Hey everyone in this video we're going to show you how to operate a wheel loader check this out.
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ok everyone this is going to be our beginner level how to operate a wheel loader this
is a second one it's 20 20 we thought we'd redo our original one that's a few
years old so this will be again very entry level for someone that's never got
very little hours in a wheel loader first things first we've already done
our pre-op inspection we've got a separate video on that I'll link up
above and then I've also I already know the site I'm digging at so obviously you
want to know what your area that you're into make sure there's no underground
utilities overhead things like that so with that said we're gonna go ahead and
get in the machine now first things first most important I'll cover is three
points of contact for any heavy equipment make sure your three points
contact all equipment the doors will generally lock open what you don't want
to do is try and climb up when then this thing is kind of free like this because
you're gonna either wind it will blow it or you might pull on a handle there so
these things will lock open so you know it's locked like that and then three
points of contact getting up and in in to equipment and then the release
there's always a release that's right inside the doors there swing that around
okay first things first seatbelt
I've had plenty of videos always wear your seatbelt I know a lot of operators
that do this will not don't listen to them it's your inner protective cab it's
only gonna protect you if you're actually secured to it so after that key
I'm gonna turn this on
always give the system a sec to boot up make sure there's no issues everything
is good turn on now today we're running a Komatsu W a 270 wheel loader now I as
you've seen in other videos I'm really I try and keep it somewhat brand generic
because the controls are very similar they overlap so I'm gonna show you this
machine however read your manual for whatever machine you have just to make
sure and then yeah we'll go to the basics here so I always like to cover
the safety pieces first so some of the things I always talk about first of all
the cab you show how I lock the door shut I like to operate with a sealed cab
these are climate-controlled but definitely making sure doors locked shut
windows closed it's up to you you can these doors can operate with the door
lock to open and somehow uppers for that or they maybe have windows down just to
here outside which can be a benefit for cleanliness too I like to keep them
closed just to keep the air and you don't get all the dust and everything in
here I'm sorry you saw a seatbelt make sure that's on usually there's an
armrest there on the side and then just making sure your parking brake all those
features are operational they're gonna generally start with they'll be on they
won't start if they're engaged during like that
so on the Komatsu is a red p on the dash right there and i've got the switch
right over here that's my parking brake that means the machine won't we roll
anywhere and then you get a lockout lever on the right side here this is for
the joystick so the joystick won't operate and there's a little red
indicator on the - lets me know that's not operate the one thing about wheel
loaders though is even when the machines running even though the parking brakes
on this thing will still spin so I tell a lot of people be really cautious I've
seen operators come up someone might walk up to a machine and because the
parking brakes on they think they're safe and then someone grabs us or bumps
it obviously if you're standing outside the machine it's easy to get someone
thrown off machine so make sure that you know the steering wheel is still alive
now again I'm gonna go over I'm not going to go over all the individual
controls just again each machine's gonna be a little bit different
but on this one on this Komatsu machine my quick attaches here that's to detach
the bucket we're not gonna cover that in this video I've got my lights there I've
got a ride control right there come on Suze climate controls right here on the
right these blue panel which is up here on my dash then below is my menu options
if I need to cycle through anything there on the steering column itself this
is going to be the shifter and you can see over here forward neutral reverse
this is how I'm gonna how I shift it this is my speed selector that's gonna
I'm going to show you the two different ways to drive it but this is one way
that we primarily use your rights got your turn signals headlights and then
you got wipers down on the right then coming back on the right your blooming
bucking controls gonna be a boom which we'll go over that in a sec on the
joystick itself there's some other you can actually shift on these as well so
that's one and then I'm the right over here there is a this is a throttle for
when you're in first gear it's a kind of almost extreme low is what I call it but
it's really if you're in a I cannot say I don't think I ever use it I'm usually
if I'm in one here I just what's that but you can set this to a very finite
little speed if you need it and then I've got my traction control I've got my
shifter selection things like that and excess bucket or fork so there's some
other buttons under get to know your machine it's basically the what I'm
trying to say there now as far as the other piece then just making sure
mirrors are set so there's mirrors outside your cab there's mirrors inside
and then you get a backup camera most of the newer machines are gonna backup
camera which are helpful because even if I look over my shoulder there's a big
old engine right back behind me it's tough I can see farther out but I cannot
see directly down so it's always good to make sure all those features are working
so with that said I'm gonna go ahead and gauge the Machine now foot pedal I
usually just use the right foot on for a new operator or really anyone if I can
they're right next to each other it's kind of operates like a car throttle and
a brake the two brake pedals you'll see they're connected this is not like a you
know some backhoes or tractors you operate one operates left side the other
right that's not all we load or works so these are connected you'll see they both
move it that's why I recommend just using the right foot some operators are
used to using two feet and if you are that's fine as well
so we're gonna break I'm going to take cycle that part
can break off and then cycle my joystick on so I'm just gonna start with my
joystick now this is a single joystick design you will see some loaders have
two joysticks one for the boom and one for the bucket I prefer when they have
just one single joystick it operates a lot like a skid steer or a lot of other
pieces that just run single joystick on the right so on this the boom there back
and forth there's a boom if I pull back this is gonna raise the boom up so
pulling it back raises the boom up once I'm up I'm gonna go ahead and show you a
bucket dumping here wall up so I don't hit the ground if I go to the right it
opens the bucket if I go to the left closes the bucket and if I push forward
it brings it down so that's as simple as it is the boom is back and forth left
and right is your bucket control the other piece to that some of these which
you might have seen the auto level so if I get these the bucket relatively level
the machine will hold that angle if I pull straight back so you'll see it's
actually raising and opening the bucket it's doing that automatically with that
said I always recommend knowing manually how to do that if you need to curl and
raise but the thing that protects you from - if you have a really full load
you don't want to curl this all the way up and be up above you or you're gonna
dump material over the back of it so you don't want to do that the other thing
let me show you what so if we just dump right there a lot of the newer machines
will have returned to dig or return to scoop whatever you want to call it and
that's if I just take this left joystick and I just go like that
it's gonna bring it to level so it's gonna auto bring that back so that's
really helpful if you're doing a lot of repetitive going into a pile and doing
it back and forth you don't to manually adjust that now the other piece on this
joystick you'll see there is a shifter on the right this little yellow switch
for Kamat so you actually have to engage it to use it it only let you choose on
the switch one you're either you're either shifting on a steering column or
on the joystick now a lot of operators you know if you've been doing this you
probably it is kind of simple to have it all on your right
for new operators though anything we do out here we try and really dumb it down
because I don't want your brain to get overloaded with too many different
functions so we like to keep it simple that's why left hand is driving right is
right hand is boom and bucket it just makes it a lot easier for us but again
you'll get used to one way it doesn't really matter which now driving position
you always want to be low and tight so that means right above the ground now
this machine will if I put this down I can actually dig drive with the bottom
of this thing in the ground so you want to make sure you're off the ground a
little bit you know maybe a foot or so I usually recommend driving position is
this boom stone or the buckets owner that's right below the dashboard the
steering wheel you want to go see out over this I don't want to be driving
with this thing up in the air where I can't see obstructions in front of me
things like that so you don't want to be too in the
middle you don't be any higher because your center of gravity is an issue and
then you don't wanna be all the way in the ground so I usually aim to have this
right below and then if you're fully loaded you're gonna have the bucket curl
then to hold that so that's your right joystick now left is steering with this
they are articulated in the center so with the wheel loader they stay actually
there's a center pivot point right here in front of the dash that is where this
machine pivots it's right here in the center of the machine this can be for a
new operator it just takes some getting used to because typically you drive your
car your front tires are the only things that turn one way or the other and
that's not how it works a wheel loader the reason that can be awkward is if I
start turning left right now my machine my face my whole body is actually going
to the right very subtly but it's happening so it can take a little bit of
getting used to is knowing which way that machine's going now steering is
here on the steering wheel i the steering wheel is most smaller
machine tool have this the larger II start getting a larger wheel loaders
they'll actually have there will be no steering wheel it's on your left it's a
joystick that goes left to right that does the exact same motion those are in
the bigger machines and they're big even more common they're a lot more less wear
and tear on that human body by doing this motion all the time so you'll see
those more and then our shifter is on the side of the steering column we've
got four it's three clicks forward neutral reverse and then my speed
settings here I usually start at 2 just to keep it
again for is if you're in the open if you're going long distances on a road
but you're gonna wanna be able to adjust that up or down there so those are all
the different controls now it's talking about going into a pile coming up to a
pile we're gonna do one scoop bring that down now you just want to make sure that
your blade is level so that the challenge with a wheel loader is you
can't see your blade edge up front there so on our training the machines we use
on this site you'll actually see there's red lines on the top of it those are
actually those indicate our blade angles so if you don't have red lines just know
there's always a place right on the top of the bucket that's gonna match the
blade as the same thing so this one again I can see I'm gonna go down
sometimes I can touch the ground I usually like to be a foot or so above
the ground or inches I should say and then you're gonna drive into it now the
key to scooping a bucket is you don't just go in and curl the bucket we're
actually gonna go in once I feel it kind of stop what you want to do is you want
to be raising the boom at the same time and while you're driving forward what
that is doing is transferring that load you're actually pushing down on the
front tires to give you more traction you're pushing it down that's why you
want to make sure you're maintaining forward motion with that said you do not
want to spin your tires it adds extra wear to your tires it also creates a big
rut there the challenge on our site we're extremely sandy here so it's we
almost always end up spinning our tires so just want to be careful but I'm gonna
I'm giving it some throttle here I'm going in I can see my tires are starting
to spin a little bit I'm raising it up once I get up to about my - that's what
I'm gonna start curling it pulling back at the same time and you should end up
right around your dashboard you don't want to necessarily keep raising it up
with that tire spin it's that's probably one of the toughest parts to get really
good at sensing your machine again our an area it's great for training because
this is probably the most soft material we're on a sand that's really easy to
spin the other thing in the traction control here that's where you could have
just go down to a lower this is on auto traction control if I put down too low
it'll actually limit how much I spin once I do that put it in reverse
look over my shoulder I got my backup camera as I'm going back that's where
I'm gonna start bringing it down so you always want to drive with it right below
the the dash and then I've got it curled up all the way so I don't end up losing
material and then I can drive this thing all the way around whatever way I'm
gonna dump this one right back at the same spot and then as you drive forward
you so I'm driving low and tight to the ground that's key the only time you're
gonna get a lot of trouble in the wheel loader is anytime that punk gets up
above your head these machines a wheeled machine has
four points in contact they're extremely top-heavy if you start going up and
start maneuvering a lot I'll show you that in a second that's where the
machine gets tippy now as I pull this back you'll see that Auto levels curling
that bucket away from me which is a good thing and then I drive up now you'll
notice I'm gonna drive my oh you don't wanna lay your tires drive up the pile
at all you go up high enough so you have enough room to clear when this bucket
opens when I open that bucket it's gonna come down about another four feet but
the thing I want to show you is this machine like you can see the sway right
now these machine this is where if I were to start driving up this this is
where it can get a little hairy that's why you do want you don't want to do any
of this positioning while you're up I don't want to do a hard reverse that's
how you end up flipping over a wheel loaders you want to be try and keep the
base relatively level that's why I'm not gonna let my tires drive up there and
I'm going slow after that I'm slowly opening it you can
pull back at the same time if I need to and I'm dumping it all the way sometimes
if you have material it might stick you might bang it a little bit to bang a
material out and then all I can do if I want to do that Auto curl it's gonna go
to return to dig their return to scoop and then I can click reverse
to park the machine what you want to do put it in neutral always rest that
bucket flat on the ground you don't ever want to leave any tool that you have in
the air at all Park it flat I'm gonna lock out my joystick there I'm
gonna put my parking brake on make sure I have a solid red Pete let it idle
usually it's 20 30 seconds the newer machines they actually recommend you
don't leave idling very long and I'll shut that machine off door releases on
the inside of that handle three points contact coming out everyone that's our
beginner entry level how to operate a wheel loader I hope you enjoyed it leave
any tips or tricks below if you're an operator would love to hear from you
appreciate you watching we'll see you next one