Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines Onet SOC Code 49-3042.00 Career Description: Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul mobile mechanical, hydraulic, and pneumatic equipment, such as cranes, bulldozers, graders, and conveyors, used in construction, logging, and surface mining. Related Clusters: Architecture and Construction Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics

Career Summary:

• Test mechanical products and equipment after repair or assembly to ensure proper performance and compliance with manufacturers' specifications.
• Repair and replace damaged or worn parts.
• Operate and inspect machines or heavy equipment to diagnose defects.
• Diagnose faults or malfunctions to determine required repairs, using engine diagnostic equipment such as computerized test equipment and calibration devices.
• Dismantle and reassemble heavy equipment using hoists and hand tools.
• Clean, lubricate, and perform other routine maintenance work on equipment and vehicles.
• Examine parts for damage or excessive wear, using micrometers and gauges.
• Schedule maintenance for industrial machines and equipment, and keep equipment service records.
• Read and understand operating manuals, blueprints, and technical drawings.
• Overhaul and test machines or equipment to ensure operating efficiency.
• Assemble gear systems, and align frames and gears.
• Fit bearings to adjust, repair, or overhaul mobile mechanical, hydraulic, and pneumatic equipment.
• Weld or solder broken parts and structural members, using electric or gas welders and soldering tools.
• Clean parts by spraying them with grease solvent or immersing them in tanks of solvent.
• Adjust, maintain, and repair or replace subassemblies, such as transmissions and crawler heads, using hand tools, jacks, and cranes.
• Adjust and maintain industrial machinery, using control and regulating devices.
• Fabricate needed parts or items from sheet metal.
• Direct workers who are assembling or disassembling equipment or cleaning parts.

• Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

• Although some civilian heavy equipment mechanics learn the trade from years of on-the-job training, experts recommend completion of a formal training program after graduating from high school. Many community colleges and technology centers in Tennessee offer training in the field. For related information and recommended courses to prepare for this occupation, Tennessee high school students may visit the Trade and Industrial Education Standards, Competency Profiles, and Resource Links online.

  Military job training consists of between 8 and 29 weeks of classroom instruction. Training length varies depending on specialty. Course content typically includes engine repair and tune-up; troubleshooting mechanical and electrical problems; and, repairing and replacing body panels, fenders, and radiators. Further training occurs on the job and through advanced courses. The Army, Navy, and Marine Corps offer certified apprenticeship programs for some specialties in this occupation.

• Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
• Equipment Maintenance - Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
• Troubleshooting - Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
• Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
• Operation Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
• Equipment Selection - Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.

• Auditory Attention - The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Visualization - The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Selective Attention - The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
• Extent Flexibility - The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Control Precision - The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
• Multilimb Coordination - The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Manual Dexterity - The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
• Flexibility of Closure - The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Hearing Sensitivity - The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.

• Handling and Moving Objects - Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
• Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge - Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
• Repairing and Maintaining Mechanical Equipment - Servicing, repairing, adjusting, and testing machines, devices, moving parts, and equipment that operate primarily on the basis of mechanical (not electronic) principles.
• Controlling Machines and Processes - Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
• Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment - Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or water craft.
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems - Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
• Monitor Processes, Materials, or Surroundings - Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
• Performing General Physical Activities - Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling of materials.

• Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

• Dependability - Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
• Integrity - Job requires being honest and ethical.
• Attention to Detail - Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
• Independence - Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
• Initiative - Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
• Analytical Thinking - Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
• Cooperation - Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
• Adaptability/Flexibility - Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
• Persistence - Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
• Innovation - Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.
• Self Control - Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
• Achievement/Effort - Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.

• Moral Values - Workers on this job are never pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.
• Compensation - Workers on this job are paid well in comparison with other workers.
• Ability Utilization - Workers on this job make use of their individual abilities.
• Security - Workers on this job have steady employment.
• Company Policies and Practices - Workers on this job are treated fairly by the company.
• Achievement-Mean Extent - Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.
• Activity - Workers on this job are busy all the time.
• Supervision, Human Relations - Workers on this job have supervisors who back up their workers with management.
• Responsibility - Workers on this job make decisions on their own.
• Relationships-Mean Extent - Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.
• Achievement - Workers on this job get a feeling of accomplishment.
• Co-workers - Workers on this job have co-workers who are easy to get along with.
• Support-Mean Extent - Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.
• Working Conditions-Mean Extent - Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions. Corresponding needs are Activity, Compensation, Independence, Security, Variety and Working Conditions.

Wage and salary data provided by:

• Bureau of Labor Statistics, Tennessee Department of Labor website
• TN Department of Labor & Workforce Development website
• Bureau of Economic Analysis website