Excavator Tips: Minimizing Wear and Tear
- Begin each shift with a walkaround — check filters and fluid levels, and look for any leaks, damage or accumulation of debris. Also check for loose hardware or leaky seals.
- Don’t skimp on the grease. It’s cost- effective preventive maintenance that helps keep your bushings, bearings and pins operating smoothly.
- Match the shoe with your most common application. A wider shoe generally means more stability.
- Be aware of the dimensions of your machine and keep them in mind at all times to avoid hitting or running over obstacles that could harm the undercarriage or body of your machine.
- Don’t ignore track tension. Loose tension can lead to excessive bushing and sprocket wear, and overly tight tensions can cause stress on the undercarriage and waste horsepower.
- Ensure your rollers are free of debris and can turn freely, otherwise, a roller could freeze up, and cause wear on the track.
- Minimize long-distance tracking when possible to prevent unnecessary wear of the tracks.
- Don’t run the hydraulic cylinders to their limits. If you hear the cylinder hitting every time you curl the bucket in, that’s causing undue stress on the machine.
- Don’t let debris build up in the undercarriage over time — work to clear it about every 50 hours so it doesn’t cause unnecessary wear on undercarriage components.
- Fuel up at the end of each day to avoid getting condensation inside the tank that can damage the fuel system and result in significant repair costs.
- Work with your dealer to ensure maintenance is taking place at the proper intervals, and refer to the recommended maintenance intervals and lubrication charts outlined in the manual and on machine decals.
(The previous article “Excavator Tips: Minimizing Wear and Tear” was archived on “Jan. 3 2019” from “https://bit.ly/2F49shU”)