Every Construction Machine Explained in 15 Minutes
A very quick overview of nearly every machine you’ll see on a construction site
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It takes a lot of big tools to build the roads, dams, sewage lift stations, and every other part of the constructed environment. To me, there’s almost nothing more fun than watching something get built, and that’s made all the better when you know what all those machines do.
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Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6fBPdu8w9U
Video by Grady Hillhouse
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🏗Hope you don’t mind me trying something a little different. What machine would you add to this list?
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Hi Grady, I’d love to see a series of construction techniques that have moved to fully electric machines instead of gas or diesel. Bobby Llewellyn on the FullyCharged channel has covered some of the smaller ones, but what about that big gear that has moved over to cleaner power?
I’m already watching at Nebula to support, but there’s only the auto-generated subtitles; not the ones that directly come from your text. That’s a bummer for the hearing impaired. Just FYI.
Thanks! Fun video.
How about on the various compaction machines/processes such as dynamic compaction or vibro-compaction. I’ve worked around both and they are fascinating but I don’t know the science of what makes them work.
What a fun, interesting video! Great job Grady!
YouTubers watch YouTube?? Are we going to get some concrete jobs with some of the wood projects?
I’d watch that collab!
@Christopher FoxSome of Grady’s oldest videos on this channel are woodworking/lathe projects. Check em out, they’re pretty fun!
Repent to Jesus Christ ““Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28 NIV
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The precision those operators can achieve with such massive machines is truly impressive!
This started to feel like a children’s book in the best possible way with how you kept up the pace and succinctly explained each machine
I spent 20 years as an engineer at one of the “big yellow machine” companies, and it’s a challenge to keep up with all of the stuff being produced! A bit more detail on each subgroup of machines might be fun. Even I learned a bit in this video!
CAT?
My wife and I have always enjoyed your videos. Our son (18 months) is obsessed with construction equipment. We don’t really let him watch TV unless he is sick but we discovered this video today and have NEVER seen him so happy and engaged beyond seeing the vehicles in real life. Thank you for inspiring the next generation of engineers!
Similar to the bucket truck is the line truck. About the same size as a bucket truck, but with a crane arm and auger to drill and set utility poles. They are also able to transport the poles to the site as well. It’s fascinating to watch a good crew using a bucket truck and line truck in harmony to build utility lines.
I wish this had been an hour-long video that went into more depth on each machine.
Two other industries with lots of bizarre equipment that I’d like to see explained are Railroads, and Forestry.
If you want to see how steam engines and railroad equipment works, hyce (Guy who volunteers at the Colorado Railroad Museum and worked for BNSF) has a great series called railroading 101
Mining is another one that I think would make a good video!
Oh yeah, that channel is great! I was thinking more about modern maintenance-of-way equipment, much of which is baffling to the casual observer.
A special about building railroads would definitely be appreciated.
I think he should get a partner who’s more involved with the day to day business of construction than an civil engineer to co-write that episode if he didn’t already for this one. You know, engineer ivory tower and everything.
Every time Grady talks about how much he loves watching construction, it reminds me of my idea that I think state departments of transportation should set up live feed cameras of the worksites, and put them on their websites and youtube channels, and when a job is done, take that video footage, speed it up to a more reasonable watchtime, and then upload those as well. Not only would people enjoy watching it, it would raise awareness about just how much the process involves, be useful for education, get more people interested in going into those fields, and it would (hopefully) encourage onsite safety.
Very smart! It would make drivers more accommodating of this traffic jams too
Some do! You can watch a bridge being demolished and rebuilt in a few days. They make amazing promotional materials. So, the company releases them, or put them on a public webcam.
I own an excavation contracting company, and I was surprised that you as an engineer were able to basically hit the nail on the head how we use these machines.