BASIC HAND SIGNALS FOR HEAVY EQUIPMENT OPERATORS || Basic hand signals construction work

[@bigdawg77]

My boss and our operator have been working together for 30 years. Seeing them communicate is genuinely fascinating, it's like they have their own language.

[@Bushguyrocks]

Three decades as a carpenter doing commercial construction, I had to learn hand signals for cranes. Most of the dirt work was done by the time I would start on a project. For anybody getting started in dirt work, your video is golden.

[@DieselandIron]

Thanks random guy (not to be confused with random internet stranger)! I appreciate the compliment brother.

[@rogergibson5172]

Pretty universal!Translates pretty well accross the Atlantic to here in the U.K

[@DieselandIron]

We just sign with a little bit of an accent? 😂

[@ronniejones8508]

Well said. Communication is very important on a construction site. It can keep someone from being injured or killed. Great job bro.

[@DieselandIron]

Thanks Ronnie! I appreciate you watching!

[@chriss8970]

Another one to signal dump truck or concrete truck drivers... tap the top of your head, means pull in forward... tap your back pocket, means back it on in.

[@DieselandIron]

Good one Chris! Thanks for the comment!

[@coreystephens1418]

For our dump trucks we point to our nose then the direction for forward, as in "nose first", and pat ourselves on the back for backing up. Cool to hear yours

[@321matt]

To let a on road or off road truck to Back up we just pat our back

[@mileschance1705]

Yer the man. Your whole series should be a must for peeps seriously thinking about being an operator. Great job bru🤓

[@DieselandIron]

Thanks miles! I appreciate the support!

[@Macro_Abuser]

People keep a slightly open first and shaking it back and forth at me. What does that mean?

[@DieselandIron]

Were you caught masturbating on the jobsite? Perhaps rollin' some dice?

[@coreystephens1418]

I know im 11 months late but bro that was a fucking good joke

[@Macro_Abuser]

​@@DieselandIron Both why?

[@neadster469]

great vid bro....know your laborer/operator then your day will be perfect in heavy construction.

[@DieselandIron]

So true, thanks for watching!

[@ConstructionMachineryChannel]

This was great, helps me better interpret whats going on at some of the sites I record at. Greetings from Chicago 👍

[@DieselandIron]

Glad to help

[@julezjewelez]

We also use a large o shape using both hands as a hand signal for pipe and knocking on our hardhat as a signal to bring rock base or gravel respectively

[@dalef1744]

Great video! Been watching some of your videos and really enjoy them so I subscribed. Keep up the great videos!

[@DieselandIron]

I appreciate you subscribing Dale! That means a lot!

[@Javs369]

Duuuuude, this video helps me out so much, I couldn't thank you enough. Might just have a few ideas of signals myself. I really appreciate it brotha ✊️

[@DieselandIron]

Thanks for watching and the comment!

[@eldonhill4840]

Interesting! Up here in WA your "water" hand signal is how we say "how are you doing on fuel" or "go get fueled up". Another one that's useful for vertical facing or digging the back wall (blind side) of a footing is making a knife hand on your body at a height that corresponds to where on the face the operator needs to cut back further, e.g. doing it at your feet would be "clean up your toe", at your chest would be "you have a hump two thirds of the way up the face", etc. And for grading, we usually point up or down with the number of fingers that corresponds to tenths for the cut/fill. Like pointing down with three fingers means "cut three tenths", pointing up with two means "bring it up a couple tenths". No idea how universal those signals are or if it's just the crews I've worked with lol, but they all come in pretty handy (no pun intended)

[@DieselandIron]

It's awesome seeing how the industry adapts to be able to communicate without talking. There are some really good and creative hand signals out there

[@eldonhill4840]

​@@DieselandIron Yep, they have to be or your ground guy loses his voice from trying to scream over the engines!

[@coreystephens1418]

Crazy that your in WA and im in FL and ours are exactly the same, we use the same "fuel truck is here / go fuel up" (which really confused me when i was green because i thought the guys were asking me if i wanted a water) and we do the same point up or down, then the number of fingers, thing for grading.

[@ConstructionMachineryChannel]

Question: I may have missed it in the video but are these signals universal to all states? Would an operator in Illinois use these same ones or would it depend on the state/region?

[@DieselandIron]

Most of these will translate. I talk about that a little later in the video.

[@ConstructionMachineryChannel]

@@DieselandIron Cool, well done 👍

[@someblokecalleddave1]

This is a really good video. Nice work. Shame that there's not a universal system that everyone conforms to across the world though.

[@DieselandIron]

Thanks for watching. We get by alright without a fully standardized system.

[@mountain2sea899]

Thanks for all the help man! Could you make a video about the tenth and hundredths (up and down)hand signal between pipe layers and line and grade guys I would really appreciate it thanks again.

[@DieselandIron]

I don't have any standard signals for going up or down in tenths or hundredths. That is getting specific enough that you should work out some hand signals on your crew that you all agree on.

[@mountain2sea899]

Gotcha thanks again for all the helpful videos.

[@kincetown]

Awesome video my man!!

[@DieselandIron]

Appreciate it brother!

[@dethmaul]

What are you guys thoughts on the -drinking out of a cup- signal for curl the bucket? Like mime holding a cup, and then tilt it toward you to spill the coffee. That's curl, amd uncurl is tilt the cup away. That was someone's signal for curl, and it was confusing me because they both look the same. The constant flicking wrist back and forth at a distance seems unreadable to me.

[@DieselandIron]

At the end of the day I always fall back on, if you and your team understand the hand signal, use it. If we've decided that rubbing my belly means curl the bucket and everyone around us is on the same page, that is a perfectly acceptable hand signal. Clear, concise communication is the most important aspect of hand signals. Just make sure to remember that your homemade signal isn't going to work universally and you need to be aware of the true hand signal for when you go on other jobs.

[@dethmaul]

@@DieselandIron True, thanks! I know to use whatever native signals are on each job site, that's a good idea. I just got frustrated with him because he'd yell at me for not doing one or the other, when both signals look the same from my seat lol.

[@paintballingfrog]

Another tremendous video

[@DieselandIron]

Thanks Sean! I appreciate the support!

[@ryanwatkins7924]

There are some basic signals. Stop. Back up. Grab. Turn. Set those and you'll be all right.

[@sinbad4693]

Hey, I have one arm and I really want to drive a off road haul truck, I’ve drove them before. I really want to travel and drive them, but I don’t know what company/people I need to get ahold of. Thank you

[@DieselandIron]

Sorry for taking so long to respond Dood! Reach out to some of your mid sized to larger dirt contractors that run large equipment and let them know what you want to do. I'm sure they would be more than happy to have a good off road driver with the labor market being what it is currently.

[@sinbad4693]

@@DieselandIron im trying to get in an operator’s union since I’ve posted this comment, hopefully it works out, thanks for the insight, I appreciate it a lot

[@DieselandIron]

@@sinbad4693 don't let your career at hinge on getting into the Union. You can absolutely start at a non-union company and still make good wages. When the opportunity presents itself to move into the Union you will have that much more experience under your belt

[@sinbad4693]

@@DieselandIron I have experience driving heavy equipment, such as a 745 cat and a 771cat, I appreciate you taking time out of your day to chat with me, it means a lot more than you think! I’m from eastern Kentucky, so it’s harder for me to find that kind of work around here, given my situation with my left arm, they say insurance issues and then just kinda blow me off, if that makes sense.

[@DieselandIron]

@@sinbad4693 I'm here to help! I'm going to call bullshit on the insurance liability. Unless you have something more going on than just your arm then there is zero reason you couldn't effectively drive an offroad truck. Are you open to moving or do you have some deep roots in your area?

[@wwhhee]

What about dumping gravel or dirt signal? I've seen one with a hand and fingers curled like a crab hand shaking left and right? Is anyone familiar with that?

[@DieselandIron]

On our jobs sand was represented with the "booger roll" where you rub your fingers together. Stone was represented by making an "O" with your hand and pea stone was an "O" with your pinky finger in the air. This is a great example of job specific signals that our crew were all familiar with.

[@jamesmucci9344]

Smack the head and rub the belly is actually lunchtime 🤣 seriously

[@DieselandIron]

Haha job site specific signs!

[@burtbrooks7731]

😂I had to jump right in the comments💪 everybody gonna have 2 cents on this 😂😂😂

[@DieselandIron]

Always! If there's one thing youtube is good for it's for letting people exhaust hot air 🤣🤣

[@burtbrooks7731]

@@DieselandIron damn right bout that bro🙄 everybody is a armchair hoe operator on here😂😂 I like your channel man I’m a operator out of the 181 OE in southern Indiana Hand signals are a good topic to touch on cause they’ll keep your ass alive and if you know how to use them will make your job ten times easier if you know your signals they teach them in our apprentice classes 👍👍

[@DieselandIron]

@@burtbrooks7731 I appreciate you watching Burt. Let me know if you think of a topic that new operators should know. I'm always open to video suggestions.

[@Umairali-is5mr]

Hey can you help me getting a paid internship? I want to seek knowledge practically. I am civil engineer.

[@DieselandIron]

I don't have any connections in that area of the business.

[@comeon_man]

Start shift Be sure your loader bucket is pinned in.

[@DieselandIron]

This should be the first thing you do anytime you switch attachments

[@dalef1744]

I seen a crane hand with a hard hat sticker that said screw you and your hand signals lol. Some home made hand signals can be confusing. Told a guy one time I didn’t know what the hell his hand signal meant other then it meant to steal 2nd base.

[@DieselandIron]

Haha ya, any homemade hand signals have to be discussed beforehand for sure.

[@lonelydude8392]

Oooo yeaaaahhh

[@DieselandIron]

Thanks for watching!

[@theSkavenger84]

I use these signals to get my wife to make me sandwiches and get me beer. They work great 👍🏻 thanks man

[@DieselandIron]

I think my wife must be using European hand signals. I always end up getting slapped. Glad I could help out around the house!

[@jamesmerutka889]

I like the video my guy... and I'm now subscribed. However, couldn't this be "surprisingly" common sense?

[@DieselandIron]

I appreciate the subscribe! The industry is getting more and more people that know nothing about what's happening on the job when they arrive. These videos are really geared for that crowd. I wanted to start with the absolute basics.

[@jamesmerutka889]

@@DieselandIron I have absolutely ZERO experience in construction. I just find it so hard to believe that most of these aren't common sense. Now, construction specific (like another round of stonr) I can see needing to be taught. I dunno man. Maybe I'm just weird. I really don't mean to diss on anyone got NOT knowing. Sorry if I come off like I am. Keep it up tho man. You've got good congdng. Informative but not boring, and everything I've seen has great quality.

[@DieselandIron]

You'd be surprised at how little common sense is around these days on the job site! Thanks for the kind words brother! I appreciate the support!

[@blackw4t8r]

Thumbs up means good thumbs down means bad

[@DieselandIron]

That only worked until recently when KZbin officially ended the use of thumbs down. We now only have thumbs up on our job sites which promotes a positive work environment.