5 key tips for maintaining heavy equipment

Heavy equipment maintenance boosts longevity, saves time, and improves productivity by reducing downtimes and breakdowns. Regular inspection is a routine check that you can perform to ensure equipment's functionality and safety. Here are tips for maintaining heavy equipment.

Schedule regular preventive maintenance

Preventive maintenance is usually planned to be undertaken at specific intervals to ensure equipment safety, reduced downtimes, improved efficiency, and lowers the risk of breakdowns. It can also happen when the production quality goes down.

During the service, the heavy machinery is pressure-washed to get rid of dirt, grime, and grease. Due to the heavy loads they carry and the extreme weather conditions they work under, lubrication is vital. Make sure that oil changes are completed to ensure maximum efficiency.

In addition, it is incredibly important you find genuine parts when doing repairs. Find a reliable heavy-duty part supplier for when you need to replace your heavy equipment's parts.

Follow the maintenance guidelines of the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)

The OEM usually provides technical assistance and repair and maintenance procedures alongside any equipment bought. These guidelines help the equipment owner or technician better understand and carry out service of the equipment to a high degree of efficiency, besides recommending the best spare parts to use.

Usually, these will include the preventive maintenance schedules broken down into periodicity (weekly, quarterly, monthly, half-yearly, and yearly) or time-based (100 hours, 500 hours, 1000 hours, or 10,000 hours).

They will also list the best tools for each specific maintenance task. Additionally, a troubleshooting checklist for reference that comes in handy during breakdown maintenance is provided by the OEM.

Train your operators on how to do maintenance checks

When your operators enroll in heavy equipment maintenance training programs, they acquire knowledge and skills that help them perform their duties without consulting a technician for everything. Equipping them with checklists that they can use each day to check if the machinery is fit for work ensures that downtime rates go down and chances of accidents that arise due to incompetence reduce. Additionally, well-trained operators can properly handle equipment and identify impending problems. That allows for the equipment to be maintained before it breaks down, saving the company unexpected breakdown costs. Providing the operators with equipment manuals eases the learning process as they can follow the manufacturer's guidelines in case a problem arises.

Take advantage of heavy equipment maintenance technology

Technology has made it easy to maintain heavy equipment by providing software that guides your maintenance program. It allows you to get an alert whenever something is about to go wrong with your equipment. Investing in technology will save you time that you would otherwise spend following up and recording details of equipment maintenance history. The speedy detection of a problem before it occurs helps to lower downtime risks and boosts production.

Ensure the equipment works within designed specifications

Every heavy equipment is designed up to a certain performance capacity which can be in terms of operating temperature, pressure, or power, ensuring that the equipment works within these limitations guarantees a longer lifespan.

In contrast, exceeding these specifications leads to a shorter lifespan of the equipment due to wear and tear and breakages. The specifications are found in the equipment manuals and nameplates.

Endnote

Heavy equipment is costly to acquire, and effective maintenance is highly recommended to have a longer life span. That enhances maximum productive output and a guaranteed ROI.

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