If you own or manage any business utilizing heavy equipment, then you know how expensive every piece of equipment is. Due to the costly equipment, business owners always try to maximize the life and value of each piece of invested equipment by performing regular maintenance. These industrial machines or equipment are subjected to continuous heavy use in harsh environments. That’s why heavy equipment repair and maintenance come in.
Regular maintenance helps keep your heavy equipment running smoothly to avoid work delays. For your fleet, you must do maintenance. It is almost as important as using it. With preventive care, your heavy machinery will be available when you need it to be.
What Does Heavy Equipment Mean?
Heavy equipment or heavy-duty trucks with the motorized heavy unit or non-motorized parts provides services and uses to various industries. These industries include construction, agriculture, mining, petrochemical, forestry, military, and transportation. For instance, In the construction industry, bulldozers, cranes, or excavators might be part of the fleet of construction equipment. In contrast, the farming industry uses plows and harrows attached to a tractor.
Motorized Heavy Equipment
Machinery
Heavy machinery refers to heavy-duty vehicles specially designed to execute construction tasks, most frequently involving construction tasks. Heavy equipment comprises five systems: the implement, traction, structure, power train, and control/information. These machinery functions only in limited and particular working areas. Such as
- Excavator
- Loader
- Bulldozer
- Backhoe Loader
- Cranes
- Forklift
Vehicles
Heavy vehicles can do more tasks as well as in extended distances. Moreover, these vehicles work well in handling, loading, and transportation. These vehicles can offer much more efficiency when attached to other heavy equipment.
- Tractor trucks
- Carrier trucks
- Dump trucks
- Tow trucks
- Boom trucks
- Concrete mixer trucks
- Buses
Non-motorized Heavy Equipment
Attachments
An attachment is a complementary part that can be affixed to or removed from heavy machinery.
- Loader bucket
- Excavator shear
- Truck snow blade
- Loader forks
Containers
A container is a sealed or partly-closed unit intended to transport goods. Additionally, a container is a component linked to other heavy equipment, most often a truck.
- Dump box
- Concrete mixer
- Cistern for truck
Trailers
A trailer is a container and could be semi-closed. Also, it usually attaches to a vehicle, singly or with another trailer.
- Dry van trailers
- Semi-trailers
- Float trailers
- Flatbeds
What is Heavy-Duty Maintenance?
Heavy equipment is expensive to acquire and maintain. It is also critical for business operations to perform regular maintenance. You need a good maintenance program to keep the heavy equipment in peak condition and extend its lifespan. Maintenance comes in two forms: reactive and preventative.
Reactive maintenance
Reactive maintenance means performing repairs after a problem has occurred. It concentrates only on returning the machinery to its previous working state as soon as possible. Furthermore, reactive maintenance is usually more expensive than planned services. Depending on the complexity of the repair, this could affect your delivery timing. Instead of waiting for reactive maintenance, consider taking a more proactive approach through preventative maintenance.
Preventative maintenance
Preventative maintenance occurs on a schedule regardless of whether the equipment shows problems operating or not. It prevents minor equipment malfunctions from escalating in the future through early inspection or diagnosis. The result will be an increase in productivity.
What is Mobile Heavy Equipment Repair and Maintenance?
You can never predict when one of your trucks may experience a breakdown midway through a journey. Mobile repair services will arrive on the scene and get things sorted quickly. Having a reliable mobile service truck, on standby is an excellent way of getting your trucks back on the road in no time. More importantly, mobile service trucks are loaded with the necessary tools and the most common parts to get the job done.
What Common Causes of Mechanical Failure Will Lead to Potential Repairs?
Equipment failure happens. This failure can easily impact total downtime and implications for the production and delivery of services. There are several common reasons equipment failure can occur. Some of these are
Age of equipment
No matter how well you take care of your heavy-duty machine, it will inevitably lose its efficiency over time. Generally, the maximum life span of heavy equipment is only ten years. However, if you perform regular preventive maintenance or take care, it could last up to fifteen years.
Fluid power contamination
Rain or washing water can seep into the hydraulic systems resulting in fluid degradation. Consequently, the equipment fluid becomes semi-fluid in consistency and causes advanced component wear and tear. Hence, large machinery loses its efficiency at a faster rate than usual.
User error
The most common cause of equipment failure is user errors. According to equipment warranties, repairs caused by operator error are never covered. Thus, the fleet manager must ensure their operators are trained enough to operate heavy-duty equipment.
Heavy Equipment Maintenance and Inspections Benefits
There are plenty of benefits to performing regular maintenance. Some of these are:
Early Detection of Potential Equipment Issues
Preventive maintenance can detect problems in the early stages. It can detect normal wear and tear or minor flaws before leading to more significant issues or equipment failure. Making minor repairs or replacing wearing parts during routine maintenance is less time-consuming and increases the lifespan of the equipment.
Compliance with OSHA
OSHA stands for Occupational Safety and Health Administration. A US agency aims to ensure safe and healthy working conditions for all employees across the US. Through regular heavy equipment maintenance, you make sure that you follow OSHA standards and regulations. In case of an inspection visit by an OSHA representative, you have nothing to fear because your health and safety standards are up-to-date.
Employee Safety
Equipment breakdowns can be time-consuming, but preventing workplace accidents, injuries, or even fatalities is even more critical. Heavy-duty equipment maintenance also ensures employee safety because, during checks, faults that might impact your workers’ safety can be visible and repaired before they cause accidents.
Prevent Breakdowns and Downtime
Maintenance is necessary to complete a task before the deadline. Waiting for a machine to address faults results in downtime, is often costly, and can down your company’s productivity and profitability. Instead, you can schedule routine maintenance to determine a machine’s weak spot. These shortcuts decrease a machine’s downtime and can help save money.
Increase the Lifespan of Your Equipment
By performing regular inspections and maintenance, you can increase the lifespan of your heavy machinery. Regular maintenance ensures that the equipment is always in the best shape. In the case of construction equipment, they will remain roadworthy for much longer.
Begin a Habit of Properly Maintaining Your Heavy Equipment
Don’t wait until a breakdown disrupts your job site. Schedule heavy-duty truck preventative maintenance with the best heavy-duty truck repair shop that provides a wide range of specialist services, including Routine Service, CVIP Inspections, Engine Repair, Wheel Alignment, and fleet maintenance of all makes, and models.
Contact our highly experienced heavy-duty equipment mechanics to make the repairs on your heavy equipment. Should you need parts, we have those too. Contact us now for more information about service, maintenance, or parts.
