When Should You Have Your Heavy Equipment Repaired?

If you use any massive machinery on a daily basis, then you’re already familiar with how complex the tool’s mechanics can be and how difficult they are to operate. In other words, you may be familiar with heavy equipment fails.

And sadly, we are not discussing these kinds of fails…

Equipment failure is nothing to be embarrassed about (unless you’re one of those people in the video), as this heavy equipment can either falter or someone can cause damage to it. Regardless of what piece of equipment you rely on, there are a number of minor self-inspections you can do to prevent some wear and tear instead of extensive servicing.

Below, we’ve identified three major pieces of heavy equipment, and we’ve explained when you should pull the trigger and visit a business like ours at Quality Fleet Services.

Aerial Lift

Whenever employees are elevated off the ground, you’ll want to assure that they’re working in the safest possible conditions. While your aerial lift has been engineered with a number of safety functions, there’s no avoiding age. Eventually, the quality of your aerial lift is going to start to decline due to its years of operation, but that doesn’t mean the machine should immediately be replaced. Rather, it means that the equipment will merely need some maintenance.

However, how will you specifically know that it’s time to send your aerial lift into Quality Fleet Services? Fortunately, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have established a set of guidelines that walk owners through the equipment’s self-inspection.

For starters, you’ll want to make sure that any necessary fluids are at their proper levels, and assure that none of that fluid is leaking on the ground. Next, check-in on every individual aspect of the aerial lift; this includes any controls, gauges, alarms, and any other function that’s relied on during a normal day. Once you’ve tested out each of these functions, dive into the mechanics and see if anything is loose, unharnessed, or missing.

Perhaps most importantly, you should also be making sure that the aerial lift is following all necessary safety regulations. For instance, all of the warnings on the machine should be completely legible. Furthermore, when the machinery is actually in use, you’ll want to make sure that the surrounding area is devoid of anything that could potentially compromise the safety of the user.

If even one of these systems is slightly off, it’s a good idea to send the aerial lift to a professional. Even if the fix seems easy and relatively minor, it’s in your best interest to refer to an expert.

Hydraulic Valve

There are a number of intertwining parts that go into the operation of a hydraulic valve. Therefore, if you come across any issues with the system, it may be tough to identify a culprit directly.

For starters, you should expect some common maintenance issues with your hydraulic valve after extended use (although nothing worrisome enough for a replacement… we’ll get to that in a sec). For instance, decreased water pressure if a common issue that owners come across, or you may notice that the system seems to be working too hard to perform its daily work (for instance, the sound of the valve may be louder than normal).

Next, you should give a self-inspection to some of the most relied on aspects of your hydraulic valve; these various parts are notorious for suddenly failing. Give an extensive look at parts like the relief valve or component pump, and then assure that the filter and any valves are working properly.

If you haven’t identified the cause of your hydraulic valve issues, then it’s time to call us at Quality Fleet Services for a full inspection.

Forestry Equipment

If you have any heavy machinery like forestry dozers or road builders, you’ll already understand the complexity of the mechanical aspects of this machinery. Fortunately, you can treat a self-inspection similarly to how you’d treat your car’s inspection.

Check for all fluid levels, inspect all of the wires and valves, and give an extensive look at the turbocharger and manifold. Of course, you’ll also want to be eyeing any signs of age; rust can quickly form on this outdoors machinery, and this could lead to decreased production. While you might not have to replace these parts immediately, you’re already facing a problem if rust has formed. Or maybe one of your crew was using your equipment like one of these guys and now something isn’t acting right…

Either way, many of these issues can’t be fixed by an everyday operator. Instead, you’re going to want to rely on professionals like Quality Fleet Services to fix up any of your forestry equipment issues.

If you’ve determined that you need some extensive servicing on your heavy machinery, then you should head into Quality Fleet Services in South Hadley, Massachusetts. In no time, we’ll get your aerial lift, hydraulic valve, forestry equipment, or any other heavy machinery fixed up in no time.