4 Maintenance Tips For Taking Care of Your Excavators

When it comes to overseeing a construction business, making sure that all your heavy equipment is running properly should be at the very top of your priority list. From knowing when to replace the gear oil on final drive motors to performing routine maintenance checks, keeping your equipment long-lasting and efficient is extremely important.

• Keep an eye on bucket teeth damage — An excavator’s bucket teeth are an important item to monitor because worn teeth will drastically reduce its productivity. When bucket teeth come off or become too worn, they will need to be completely replaced, sometimes through cutting. Then, new ones may need to be welded back on, causing expensive downtime for your construction business.

• Have the proper track and sag tension — Increased wear occurs on the undercarriage and final drive motors if the tension is too tight or too loose. Make sure you adjust your excavator’s track tension accordingly to reduce wear and tear on the tracks.

• Pay attention to job site conditions — When operating an excavator, the work environment is extremely important. For example, in a sandy job site, you should keep your tracks loose in order to prevent sand buildup within the excavator’s rails. Conversely, in an area with a lot of debris, you’ll have to clean your excavator even more than usual to prevent dirt and debris pile up.

• Have the filters changed — For Bobcat excavators, you need to have the filters changed and the oil for final drive motors inspected and replaced every few months. There are multiple filters on excavators for the fuel, engine, air, and hydraulic systems. When these filters are dirty or clogged, the excavator will be compromised and might not work at all. Make sure you’re working with professionals who know how to perform filter replacement and understand final drive motors.