Construction equipment downtime can be minimized if you follow the recommended preventive maintenance schedule. Get advice from a long-time service technician to avoid unexpected breakdowns.
Meet Mike Daves, a seasoned service writer at Wilson Equipment in Central Point, Oregon. Mike brings more than 20 years of experience as a field service technician after graduating from WyoTech trade school.
Today, Mike handles service inquiries, generates work orders and coordinates with the service team. He’s seen it all. We asked Mike about the most commonly overlooked heavy equipment maintenance tasks and how you can minimize your service needs.
What Are the Most Overlooked Maintenance Tasks?
Monitoring fluid levels. Customers often neglect daily checks. They might say “It’s good. I checked it.” What they don’t know is that it could have developed a serious leak during operation, and now the machine doesn’t have the oil they thought it had. Inspect fuel and hydraulic fluid levels daily for optimal machine performance.
What Else Do Customers Commonly Miss?
Customers often miss our maintenance matrix, which is displayed in a circular format on every machine. This unique layout provides a clear guide to essential maintenance tasks, including locating greasing points, to ensure optimal machine care.
What Is the Most Critical Daily Maintenance?
During morning inspections, it is crucial to recognize such warning signs as unusual track movements or new noises like clinking or squealing. These indicate potential machinery issues. Ignoring a $400 roller replacement can turn into a $14,000 repair.
Any Advice for Operators?
Allow the engine to idle for 5 to 10 minutes before operation. Warming the fluids is crucial, especially with modern machinery’s tighter tolerances. This practice applies not only to cold climates but also to hotter regions of the United States. I consistently warm up every machine before use.
What’s the Best Source for Maintenance Info?
The best place to find preventive maintenance schedules is in the owner’s manual. Familiarizing yourself with the manual ensures self-sufficiency and minimizes the need for assistance.
Enhanced Product Coverage
Select new DEVELON machines now include a full-coverage standard warranty for 36 months or 5,000 hours, whichever comes first. This covers new mini excavators, crawler excavators, wheel excavators, log loaders, road builders, wheel loaders, dozers and compact track loaders.
Smart X-Care: Protect Your Investment
At our Smart X-Care™ machine monitoring center, DEVELON employees can track your machine telematics. We partner with your dealer and provide recommendations to make the most of your machine and help you avoid downtime.
When your machine displays a critical fault code, we work with your dealer to quickly respond to the situation. Your dealer will contact you promptly to discuss the issue and develop a plan to resolve it.
Ignoring a $400 roller replacement can turn into a $14,000 repair.”