Spring Tips for Heavy Equipment Maintenance
It’s important to check your equipment in the spring to make sure everything is in good condition for the busy spring and summer. To help you keep your machines operating at their best, we’ve put together some tips and best practices for heavy equipment maintenance.
Analyze your fluids
Conducting regular fluid analyses is a crucial part of heavy equipment maintenance, because they test the level of contaminants in oil, coolant, and hydraulic fluid. Fluid analysis helps you determine whether there are maintenance issues hiding in your equipment which should be addressed before they turn into larger problems.
Check your filters
Dirty or clogged filters can allow contaminants to enter your equipment’s systems, which will reduce efficiency and cause unnecessary wear. Before summer work begins in hot, dusty environments, have our certified technicians replace clogged or dirty filters to improve machine performance.
Inspect your coolant
Another key piece of heavy equipment maintenance is to check your coolant. It should be the same color it was when it was poured fresh from the bottle. If the color has changed, it may be contaminated. To inspect your coolant, you need to run the engine and then examine its color. If it looks okay, then top it off as necessary using the same type and brand of coolant that’s already in your engine.
Clean up your batteries
Without your batteries, your machines won’t start up for work in the morning. Spring is a great time to include a battery check in your heavy equipment maintenance. Look for corrosion and debris build up, and clean them up using a terminal brush and battery cleaner. We also recommend topping off the electrolyte levels so that they are up to the full indicator inside the battery.
Look at belts, hoses, and seals
Each spring we recommend that you check for cracked, frayed, or bubbled belts and hoses. You should replace any of these components that appear damaged. Another important part of spring heavy equipment maintenance is replacing any seals that look old or broken.
Don’t forget your tires
Before getting into the spring season, check the tread and inflation of your equipment tires. Always fill your tire to the pressure recommended by the manufacturer, and if your tires don’t have any tread left, it’s time to replace them.
If you have any questions about heavy equipment maintenance this spring, reach out to our team today!
