Everyone in the industry knows how important performing maintenance is on their construction equipment, but did you know that preventive maintenance can significantly prolong the life of your heavy equipment?
Heavy equipment is already a pretty high expense, but when your machinery continues to break down, the costs can become extreme. Luckily, there are things all construction companies can do to help reduce the risk of their equipment breaking down, and ultimately save money by prolonging the life of their equipment.
Educate your employees
One thing that all construction companies should always do when they hire new employees is to properly educate them on how to operate every type of equipment. When trying to prolong the life of your equipment, it’s up to the construction workers you hire! Ensuring your workers know how the machines are supposed to run will help prevent any operating errors on your job site, but also prevent any damages or mishaps from happening to your machines as well, ultimately keeping your machines in the best condition possible.
When teaching your new employees how to properly operate the machines, you should also tell them to let you know right away when equipment is not working properly. Finding issues early will not only save you money on repairs, but help you keep your equipment working properly as long as possible!
Store equipment properly
If you live in an area where rain, snow and ice are prominent, then it doesn’t make sense to keep your equipment out in the open. Properly storing your equipment plays a huge role in prolonging the life of your equipment. Keep your equipment under an enclosure of some type to ensure your equipment does not start to rust, as well as avoid any damages caused by storms.
Also, if you are storing your equipment for a long period of time, make sure that you are regularly moving your equipment. This will help you ensure that all the parts are still working properly.
Create and follow a maintenance checklist
To prolong the life of your equipment and prevent any issues from happening, it’s so important that construction companies are performing regular maintenance. Creating a maintenance checklist is a great way for you to stay organized and ensure that you are not overworking certain parts or certain equipment. Here is a good maintenance checklist that all construction companies should follow!
Know the different types of equipment failure
Lastly, knowing the different ways heavy equipment fails will help you reduce damage tremendously. When equipment fails, sometimes it’s just by accident, but sometimes it can be prevented! Here are the different types of equipment failure to watch out for:
Mechanically-induced failure
This type of failure is the result of a mechanical malfunction within your machinery. This type of maintenance is easily preventable by proper and regular lubrication and alignment of your working parts!
Thermally-induced failure
Thermally-induced failure happens when severe weather such as heat, cold, or storms cause your equipment to break down. Oftentimes during the summer, equipment overheat. Storing equipment in a closed, shaded area will help prevent this type of failure from occurring!
Erratic Failure
Erratic failure is usually caused by overworking and overloading your equipment. This type of failure is a little more difficult to prevent, as sometimes it can happen out of the blue. However, understanding how to properly operate your equipment, as well as using your equipment for the right jobs, will help prevent this type of failure from happening.
Heavy equipment comes at an expensive cost. Use these tips to help your company prolong the life of all of your heavy machinery!
At Lyon Auction, we sell used and new heavy machinery at our equipment auctions across the country. If you are looking to add new equipment to your company, check out our upcoming equipment auctions today!
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