Heavy Machinery Maintenance Tips & Checklist

IMPROVE ROI AND EXTEND EQUIPMENT LIFE WITH ONGOING MAINTENANCE PROCESSES
Heavy Machinery is the most expensive construction equipment you own. It’s also the costliest to repair or replace. This guide will show you how to save money and extend the life cycle of your equipment with regular maintenance best practices.

We’ll identify commonly overlooked areas of maintenance, and identify simple things you can do to greatly impact the long-term value of your most vital equipment. Even the most powerful and dependable Cat® machinery requires basic attention to ensure it provides the exceptionally long service life and unmatched productivity of Cat construction vehicles.

WHY YOU NEED TO BE PROACTIVE ABOUT MACHINE MAINTENANCE
Being proactive in your heavy equipment maintenance schedule helps prevent expensive downtime. Regular maintenance helps predict when failure is likely to occur, allowing you to find a solution to problems before they happen.

8 SIMPLE STEPS TO MAXIMIZE HEAVY EQUIPMENT MACHINE LIFE
Here are 8 Simple Steps you can begin today to improve the ROI and extend the service life of your construction equipment.

#1 — COMMIT TO A PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE PROGRAM
Preventive Maintenance BenefitsPreventive Maintenance (PM) helps anticipate change, and wear and tear. Corrective actions are taken continuously to ensure reliability and performance. PM involves regular systematic inspections, modification and replacement of components as well as performance testing and analysis.

A successful preventive maintenance program extends construction equipment life and minimizes unscheduled downtime caused by equipment breakdown. Benefits from a proper PM program include:

Improved equipment and system reliability
Reduction of unexpected breakdown
Decrease in expensive parts replacement
Extended equipment life
Improved resale value
Better parts inventory management
Preventive maintenance is more than regular maintenance like lubricating and changing and filters. A proper preventive maintenance (PM) program is all-inclusive. It’s an intentional approach to equipment management from the time equipment is purchased until the end of its useful life.

Your Preventive Maintenance program can include any or all of these customer support services:

Total Maintenance and Repair Agreements
Machinery Inspection Programs
Site Inspections
Field Service
In-Shop Service
Diagnostic Technology
S-O-S Fluid Analysis including Fuel, Oil and Coolants
Failure Analysis
Product Link On-Board Analysis
Condition Monitoring
Electronic Information Collection
Machine Inspection Data
Historical Repair Data
Component Rebuilds
Component Tracking
Specialized Repair Tooling & Equipment
Equipment Management Software
Customer Training Seminars
Training and Safety Videos

#2 — IDENTIFY MAJOR CAUSES OF MACHINERY BREAKDOWN
Part of an effective PM program is identifying potential causes of machinery breakdown. By identifying potential causes of failure before they occur, you can save hundreds or thousands of dollars and maintain consistent work flows.

Heavy Machinery Maintenance Tips & Checklist

There are three types of machinery failure. Their causes and solutions are listed below.

Sudden failure is when machinery breaks without warning. Usually, the reason is obvious. The part is then fixed or replaced, and the equipment is returned to service.
Intermittent failure happens sporadically. This stoppage happens randomly, and it can be difficult to identify the cause. Intermittent failure is frustrating, costly in downtime and usually can be prevented by anticipating the cause and addressing it during maintenance.
Gradual failure is entirely preventable by doing routine maintenance and inspections. Wearing parts and components are noted to be near the end of their lifespan and are replaced before failure occurs.

These three types of machinery failure are almost always due to one of three main causes:

Thermally induced failure is where extremes in temperature cause break-downs in the equipment. This usually happens during large temperature fluctuations such as when a machine is being started in cold weather and is being warmed up. It also occurs when equipment is overheated. Extremely hot or cold periods can be prepared for during maintenance, and thermal failure can often be prevented.
Mechanically induced failure is easy to recognize. It’s also easy to prevent by making sure machinery components are maintained by replacing parts when needed, lubricating as required and tightening fasteners, as well as ensuring moving parts are properly aligned. Mechanical failure often happens due to overexertion, vibration, shock, collision and operator abuse.
Erratic failure is the most difficult to predict and detect. This occurs at random times and under varying conditions. Most erratic machinery failures are the result of sudden overloads on hydraulic or electrical systems. With electronic components, many erratic failures come from software or hardware malfunctions that are preventable by using diagnostic equipment during regular machinery maintenance.
Anticipating failure is at the heart of all preventive maintenance programs. Thorough knowledge of your machinery’s systems is the key to anticipating what’s likely to fail if proper maintenance is ignored. Cat Preventive Maintenance Agreements from MacAllister Machinery help you anticipate and predict problems before they leave your equipment inoperable.

#3 — GET TO KNOW YOUR MACHINES INSIDE AND OUT
Thorough product knowledge is invaluable when it comes to implementing an effective preventive maintenance program. Often, gaining this vital information is as simple as finding it in the machine’s equipment manual that has been researched and documented to isolate issues and prescribe the proper preventive maintenance.

Taking the time to read and understand the equipment manual should be a core principle in a PM plan. Manuals will prescribe the recommended service intervals for each component in the machine, what servicing products to use and what the acceptable operating conditions are for the equipment.

Owner’s manuals are also a great source of troubleshooting information. Not only do manuals prescribe maintenance steps and techniques, but they often have bullet-point itemization or flow charts of what to do during malfunctions.

Listen to Your Operators

Another valuable resource for getting to know your machines inside out is to involve the machine operators. Unless you’re on the controls on a daily basis, you’re not likely to have the intimate knowledge of each machine’s idiosyncrasies and quirks. Daily operators get a “feel” for the machine. Operators sense when something’s amiss, and they’ll tell you. Listening to them and appreciating their input is a wise preventive maintenance strategy.

Stop Operations When You Suspect a Problem

Stopping operation and dealing with a suspected problem between scheduled maintenance periods can be an enormous savings in failure costs and subsequent losses.

Don’t restrict maintenance to rigid schedules. Instead, allow the flexibility to respond with proactive intervention.

#4 — TRAIN YOUR EMPLOYEES IN EFFECTIVE MACHINERY OPERATION
Knowledgeable machinery operators are more productive and cause less wear on machinery than untrained workers. Knowledgeable operators are also going to be safer to themselves and others working nearby. Properly trained operators will be more respectful of their equipment and more likely to look after it before, during and after construction duties. That’s going to save you money in repairs and replacement.

Operator Training Stat

Operator training should be built into your preventive maintenance program. Operators have to know more than just how to start and run their machinery. They need to be aware of what routine, day-to-day maintenance tasks are required and how to perform them without fail.

Operator training can include a review of the operator’s manual, demonstration of the systems and all controls. Testing can be a part of training as well to ensure operators have acquired the right skills including pre and post operation maintenance tasks.

Additionally, checklists for operators are valuable tools, so minor but important maintenance steps are done and not forgotten.

The training process doesn’t have to be complicated or lengthy. Clear communication about a machine’s limitations as well as instruction on the controls and monitoring systems will help increase the life of your vital machines.

Trained operators are frontline reporters of any damage or early warning signs that a machine is heading toward failure. Operators trained to recognize failure indicators and to bring them to your attention are exceptional insurance that minor, inexpensive issues don’t become big and costly problems.

At MacAllister Machinery, we make training one of our highest priorities. Our technicians and service representatives can assist you in developing operator training by including it in a Customer Support Agreement.

#5 — ADHERE TO FACTORY-RECOMMENDED MAINTENANCE INTERVALS
All Cat equipment we handle at MacAllister Machinery is supplied with detailed manuals from the factory that include a heavy equipment maintenance schedule. This extremely valuable resource has been painstakingly assembled through the knowledge, talent and experience of Cat designers and engineers. No one knows more about the right maintenance intervals for their machinery than Cat.

Factory-recommended maintenance intervals are a minimal standard and are based on normal operating conditions. This may vary depending on local climate and specific site environmental concerns like dust, mud, humidity, ice, snow, rain and excessive temperature fluctuations. It can also vary according to the operator load that’s put on the machine.

Following factory-recommended maintenance intervals and keeping precise records is important not just for economical operation of your machinery, but also to protect your warranty.

Failing to maintain your machinery according to factory specifications and suggestions may void the warranty. A warranty from Cat is comprehensive and covers all equipment components. However, this warranty is valid as long as the machinery has been operated as designed for its purpose as well as maintained at the recommended intervals.

#6 — DOCUMENT YOUR MACHINE’S SERVICE HISTORY
Keeping detailed service records is an important component in your preventive maintenance plan. It’s impossible to mentally keep track of what type of servicing has been done on your machinery, and that includes when maintenance was done and when it needs to be done again.

Document Service Records

Documented service records let you keep an accurate picture of a particular machine’s history. Routine and regular interval servicing should be written in a booklet kept in your maintenance facility or even in the machine itself. This should include the date, what type of servicing was performed, what parts were replaced, when the next regular servicing is required and notations as to any peculiarities or irregularities that were observed.

Service records don’t just provide a chronological record of the maintenance of machines. Detailed maintenance records give you documented proof that your machinery has been maintained according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. This is important for daily operations, but it also strongly supports any warranty claim where there may be a dispute that mechanical failure was caused by neglect to perform the required maintenance.

Documenting your service tasks can be done by using a pen on paper ledger. It can be on a computer file using a spreadsheet or stored in a manual file kept in your office drawer along with other paperwork associated with the machine. Small booklets placed on the machine are common. Whiteboards on office walls are another simple and proven technique for seeing heavy equipment maintenance schedules at a glance.

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