As the years go on, your heavy equipment endures a lot of wear and tear. It can be easy to forget about maintenance and let your construction equipment fall into disrepair.
The ultimate goal is to prolong the life of your heavy equipment. With these four tips for maintaining aging construction equipment, your heavy equipment will be running for years down the road.
Know Your Equipment
Each piece of heavy equipment is different and requires different types of care. Make sure you know the steps you need to take care of each piece. This can be as simple as checking the owner’s manual or doing an online search for the specific piece of equipment you own.
Clean Your Equipment Weekly
If you are proactive and clean your heavy equipment on a weekly basis, you may never have to deep clean your equipment ever again! Keeping up with this task will prolong the life of your equipment. This includes cleaning off mud and leaves as well as looking out for any rust that might form.
Inspect Equipment on a Regular Basis
While you’re cleaning, don’t forget to check the condition of your equipment. Conducting bi-weekly checks is vital to ensure your equipment doesn’t become run-down and unusable. If you don’t maintain your equipment, the chances that you must buy an entirely new piece will increase.
These can be quick inspections, such as checking fluid levels, making sure no fluids are leaking, checking for any unusual noises on moving parts, and looking for rusted or worn-down spots.
If you are utilizing certain pieces of heavy equipment more often, then you may want to conduct weekly inspections on those pieces instead of bi-weekly checks. Frequent inspections for issues will allow you to be proactive and quickly order replacement parts so that you can get things back up and running.
Find Where To Purchase Replacement Parts
Original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts are manufactured by the companies that make a product’s original parts; therefore, they will pair perfectly with your equipment. This can be a great way to find replacement parts when you need them because they are manufactured by the original brand that you bought from.
In some cases, however, you might own an older model or a brand that doesn’t make replacement parts anymore. If you’re in this situation, aftermarket parts may be the right solution for you. These parts are manufactured by a different company than the original manufacturer, and this means you can find more options that work with your unique piece of equipment.
Aftermarket products are not of lesser quality. They can simply allow you to find the right product you’re looking for. OEM parts are harder to come by for older models, so it could be beneficial to learn more about purchasing aftermarket heavy equipment parts.
Every well-oiled machine needs detailed care to run properly. Applying these four tips for maintaining aging construction equipment is the most effective way to ensure it lasts for the years to come.