Heavy Equipment Mechanic School

Nashville, TN

If you are interested in learning an essential skill that cannot be outsourced, Lincoln Tech’s Nashville, TN, campus offers heavy equipment maintenance and repair technician training, as well as training in heavy equipment operation. The Heavy Equipment Operator program is an 8-week short course that can be taken as a standalone program, or as an additional program to augment your skillset after graduating from the Heavy Equipment Maintenance Technology program.

Heavy Equipment Mechanic Training

With a 7% growth rate projected and more than 3,500 openings expected in Tennessee for heavy equipment technicians by 2028¹, this is a field that offers excellent employment opportunities for people who have a mind for mechanics and work well with their hands. Heavy Equipment Mechanic training at Lincoln Tech’s historic Nashville campus - once known as Nashville Auto-Diesel College (NADC) - can help you build the skills employers in the field are looking for. The Nashville campus placed 91% of Heavy Equipment and Truck Technology program graduates within this field of work from all 2021 class cohorts².

Students can choose between pursuing the Heavy Equipment Maintenance Technology diploma program, or an Associate’s Degree in Heavy Equipment Maintenance Service Management.

The Heavy Equipment Maintenance Technology program is a comprehensive series of training courses covering gasoline and diesel engine construction, fuel & electrical systems, and hydraulic systems. This program is comprised of 1,560 hours of classroom and hands-on training.

The Heavy Equipment Maintenance Service Management program is based on the heavy equipment diploma program course list, and adds additional training that translates into an Associate of Occupational Studies Degree. Spanning 1,785 hours of classroom and lab/shop hours, this degree takes approximately 83 weeks to earn.

Highlights of Heavy Equipment Mechanic Training

Heavy Equipment maintenance students learn how to:

• Disassemble and reassemble engines, transmissions and transaxles from various kinds of medium & heavy-duty trucks, as well as from heavy off-road construction equipment & vehicles.
• Maintain and repair heavy-duty braking systems, as well as suspension, fuel, and electrical systems.
• Apply basic welding procedures for certain types of repairs.
• Understand the physics of hydraulics, and how it applies to heavy equipment repair and maintenance.
• Repair front-end loader differentials, kingpin suspensions, and rubber/steel track systems.

Heavy Equipment Maintenance Service Management Students learn everything that the Heavy Equipment Maintenance Technology students learn, plus courses designed to enhance their communication and critical thinking skills that can lead to additional employment opportunities.

Either program can ready a student to build a career keeping some of our nation’s most vital equipment operating properly on the road, at construction sites, in mining operations, and at agriculture centers.

Heavy Equipment Operator Training

Offered as an 8-week program, this training can be completed as a standalone program, or as an additional program to augment your skillset after graduating from the Heavy Equipment Maintenance Technology program. A well-running machine needs a skilled operator, and Lincoln Tech’s Heavy Equipment Operator training program can ready a student for entry into the heavy equipment industry after 8 weeks of in-depth training.

This program is also very valuable to the heavy equipment technician student, as learning how to operate various types of heavy machinery is an added-value skill that allows them to test their repairs under operational conditions.

This 240-hour training program consists of two 120-hour training courses. With a schedule set at 30 hours per week, students can become proficient at operating many types of tracked and wheeled vehicles in 8 weeks. This essential skill is experiencing 11% annual job growth within the State of Tennessee out to 2028³.

Highlights of Heavy Equipment Operator Training

Part 1 – Introduction to Operating Heavy Equipment (120 Contact Hours - 80 Lecture Hours/40 Lab Hours)

• Students will be introduced to the trade and learn safety and identification of heavy equipment.
• Students will also complete the NCCER CORE curriculum which also carries a recognized credential in the construction trades.
• Topic areas in the NCCER CORE Curriculum include materials handling, construction mathematics, introduction to construction drawings, rigging, hand and power tools, and orientation to the construction trade.

Part 2 - Heavy Equipment Operation I (120 Contact Hours - 60 Lecture Hours/60 Lab Hours)

• Students will learn basic operational techniques, utility tractors, introduction to earthmoving, understanding landscape grades, and interpreting civil drawings.
• Introduction to the heavy highway trade (trucks, heavy equipment, cranes, and forklifts, below‐grade construction, earthmoving, plant operations, paving, structures, and operations at a job site.
• Students will operate a variety of off‐road equipment in a simulated environment to perform exercises on excavator and wheel loader equipment.
• Simulator exercises include basic controls, loading, and unloading, excavating, and trenching.

See How The CAT Simulators Appear: Cat Simulators VR Series – Video #3: Training Anytime, Anywhere.

Lincoln Tech’s Nashville campus – serving students from throughout the southeast and across the country – helps graduates launch careers with real impact while meeting industry needs for qualified mechanics and technicians.