Heavy Equipment Maintenance Checklist

In order to prevent heavy equipment service and expensive downtime when you need your machines most, it’s important to follow a regular maintenance routine. To help you maximize productivity on the jobsite, we’ve put together a checklist with tips and best practices that we have found to work well. 
 
Correctly grease your machines 
 
One of the most critical pieces of heavy equipment maintenance is properly lubricating all your equipment. It’s important to grease your excavators, dozers, loaders, and other machines according to the recommendations in your owner’s manual. You should also only use the lubricants that the manufacturer suggests. Maintaining proper lubrication will help minimize component wear and increase your overall fuel efficiency, because your hydraulic system won’t need to work as hard to move components and attachments. 
 
Check your fluid levels 
 
Proper heavy equipment maintenance and operation depends on a variety of fluids. We recommend checking your oil, coolant, and hydraulic fluid levels daily before each shift when your machines are in regular operation. Doing so will ensure they are properly filled, which will help prevent unnecessary heavy equipment service and costs down the road. As we move into spring and summer, remember that the hotter the weather, the more critical it is for your machines to have sufficient amounts of fluids, because heat causes the engine to warm faster, leading to fluid vaporization loss. 
 
Look at your parts inventory 
 
Generally, you’ll need to replace wear parts multiple times throughout the year. We suggest that you always remain stocked up on filters, hoses, belts, tires, blade edges, bucket teeth, hydraulic fluid, oil, coolant, and batteries. That way, you’ll have them when you need them in order to keep your downtime to a minimum. 
 
Don’t forget machine inspections 
 
One of the most important heavy equipment maintenance tips that we can share with you is to have all machines routinely inspected. If you have a slower time of the year, then use that period to have your machines looked at. At Pittman Tractor, our inspections follow all manufacturers’ guidelines specific to each make and model to help reduce unexpected heavy equipment service. Our typical inspection includes: 

• Operational test
• Lube chassis
• Drain water and sediment
• Check fluid levels and adjust
• Change engine oil and filter
• Check and adjust chains
• Clean front and rear axle breathers
• Change fuel filters
• Engine oil analysis
• Change hydraulic filters
• Change inline fuel filter
• Check fan belt tension
• Lubricate attachment coupler
• Grease slides and post
• Clean battery/check levels
• Clean spark arresting muffler
• Repack front wheel bearings 

 
If you have any questions about heavy equipment maintenance or want to schedule an inspection, contact our team today.