Considering how failing equipment affects productivity, neglecting your heavy machinery is a sure way to run down your operations. In addition to lowering your output, neglected equipment tends to breakdown more often and costing you a fortune in repairs.
It would also mean that you get to spend more money on replacement parts to get the machine running again. To avoid instances that cause you to bleed money, you should espouse regular maintenance.
Schedule maintenance and repairs
An effective preventive maintenance plan entails regularly checking the tires, electrical systems, fluids and track of your heavy equipment.
Repairs in Salt Lake City as well as creating a checklist of all the component and when they are due for inspection goes a long way in keeping your equipment in great shape. Oiling the gears and checking the gearboxes for damages, lubrication, and vibrations reduce the wear and tear.
You also need to monitor drive train components as well as pulleys on transmissions and the alignment of the v-belts. Running regular torque checks is crucial since bolts tend to elongate over time throwing the equipment out of whack.
Check your equipment for wear and tear
Shock, vibration, friction, and high temperatures lead to the degradation of heavy machinery’s parts. Assessing your equipment for wear and tear before lets you take corrective measures before the damages compound, costing you a fortune in repairs.
If you find that your heavy machinery is vibrating more than usual, there’s a likelihood that some gears or belts are out of alignment. Extended use of machinery, inadequate lubrication, worn parts, and excessive friction often lead machines to overheat, and could easily cause them to fail.
As your equipment ages, seals will crack, bolts will loosen, and belts will twist. The sooner you can identify these problems the sooner you can tend to them to keep your machinery running efficiently.
Keep up the operator training
Your equipment is only as good as the operators. As such, you need to ensure that all your machine operators have honed their skills to the highest possible level.
Not only does that help keep your equipment in great shape and lower maintenance costs, but also increases your overall productivity as well. If you add new hardware to your plant, take the operators through the necessary training to update their skills.
Unskilled operators increase the rate of equipment failure while posing a danger to the health and wellbeing of other workers. Brushing up on skill can range from perusing through the operator manual to signing up for specialist training.
Keep your equipment clean
It’s easy to overlook the damage that dirt can wreak on your expensive equipment. It’s hard to identify broken seals and other worn parts when a piece of machinery is caked in mud.
Again, soil and sand particles can get into the sensitive electrical mechanism, gear wheels, and the clutch. This affects the way they function and cleaning the equipment after use washes off dirt and grime that could hide layers of rust and corrosion.
Heavy earth moving equipment carries an exceptionally high price but boast an equally long lifespan. Taking great care of such equipment keeps them in excellent condition, boosting their operational efficiency. It also keeps the wear and tear to a minimal to lower the cost of maintenance, saving you a fortune in repair and replacement costs.
