360 Excavator training and exam difficulty

[Walter Sobchak]

Apologies I know this is mostly a sub forum for trucks and not plant but am looking at doing the training and test for the above 10 tonne 360 Excavator in the new year and wondered if anyone here has done it and could give me any pointers or reccomend a training provider in the Home Counties, I’ve narrowed it down to a couple of places and the prices for the course vary a good bit!.

[LiamD]

This is something I’ve always wanted to do, got my class 1 so I think this is the next thing I’ll go for. How much is it looking like it’ll cost you?

[Marlin45]

There's a test?

[Vincecj]

Marlin45 said:

There's a test?

CPCS, I think.

[agent006]

Marlin45 said:

There's a test?

Not a DVLA driving test, a construction industry "I'm not a liability" test.

[Walter Sobchak]

LiamD said:

This is something I’ve always wanted to do, got my class 1 so I think this is the next thing I’ll go for. How much is it looking like it’ll cost you?

I’ve had a few quotes, one was £1350+ VAT, one was £1600 + VAT and one was £2k+ VAT!, they were all for the longer course for someone with little to no experience on one.

[Stevenr]

Operating machines in real life situations is very very different to what you’ll find yourself doing in your local test centre.
Getting the ticket is the easy part,actually knowing how to go about everyday tasks on various different sites takes a lot of skill and experience.
I learnt by watching guys for a few years when i started working at 16,a wee shot in the seat here and there and picked up a fair bit about the job before i had the CPCS card.
Things aren’t so easy now though as you need a ticket before you can even go near a machine,this leads to the situation of getting guys in that claim to be digger drivers when infact they’ve only passed their test a week before and have no clue on how to go about things.Not a great situation to be in and very frustrating for everyone.
Very satisfying job once you have the hang of it though.

[Ted2]

Excavator driving is not just digging holes, you'll be expected to do a lot of grading as well. Grading takes a LOT of practice and even drivers with 30 years experience often still suck at it. Digger driver are ten a penny and the money isn't great but good grader drivers can basically name their price if they have a good reputation in the industry and in that line of work reputation is everything.

[powerstroke]

Ted2 said:

Excavator driving is not just digging holes, you'll be expected to do a lot of grading as well. Grading takes a LOT of practice and even drivers with 30 years experience often still suck at it. Digger driver are ten a penny and the money isn't great but good grader drivers can basically name their price if they have a good reputation in the industry and in that line of work reputation is everything.

I'm very average on a 360, hopeless really!! can dig trenches load and stock pile ,
hats off to the guys who can leave neat batters and leave perfectly graded work
I think its either you have an eye and an aptitude or you don't, practice makes better but some are just born with it ...