Maintaining Construction Heavy Equipment Tips

Heavy equipment operators and maintenance staff face distinct obstacles when working on a construction site. Breakdowns are costly, accounting for around 2% to 3% of annual asset replacement costs. Not only is the cost considerable, but missed days result in a probable schedule slippage, which has its own set of concerns.

As a result of developing a cost-focused, meticulously planned heavy equipment maintenance program, there will be fewer equipment failures, reduced downtime, better schedule compliance, and lower expenses.

Here are six pointers on how to start and run a heavy equipment maintenance program. These suggestions might help you set up and supervise equipment maintenance on a large construction or Jobsite.

1. DEVELOP AN END-OF-SHIFT PROTOCOL AND START EACH SHIFT WITH CHECKLISTS

At the start of each shift, use daily, weekly, and monthly checklists to inspect each piece of equipment for issues or items that need to be serviced. Cleaning, safety items, lubricants, and operational parts should all be included on these checklists.

When possible, park heavy equipment in locations such as sheds or outbuildings at the end of the shift to avoid the weather. This can reduce the amount of needed maintenance work in the long run.

A final end-of-shift checklist and clean-up program will help you spot any minor issues that need to be addressed overnight.

2. PROVIDE COMPREHENSIVE OPERATOR TRAINING AND COMPLIANCE WITH SAFETY PROCEDURES.

It is critical to ensure that all operators and support employees are properly trained. They should be familiar with and comprehend the equipment, as well as the necessary maintenance. In a perfect world, they’d collaborate with maintenance professionals to identify vital components and swiftly notify any that aren’t working.

One approach to do so is to ensure that maintenance processes, such as the use of personal protective equipment, are compliant with OSHA and the Department of Labor’s heavy equipment and workplace requirements.

3. MANAGE EQUIPMENT IN ACCORDANCE WITH PERFORMANCE RESTRICTIONS

Operators should adhere to established performance limitations for their equipment to reduce component and machine failures. Furthermore, from the start, clear operating protocols should be created, and operators should be trained to follow best practices.

Machine operators should carefully monitor and control loads, torque limitations, speeds, feeds, and other factors. Excessive wear, tear, and pressures on operating parts can drastically reduce equipment life or cause an unexpected (and frequently dangerous) failure.

4. FORM AN EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM

It may be more cost-effective to build and maintain a rapid response repair team for large or long-term projects. This team would be available onsite with regularly used spare parts (such as filters, fluids, and belts) and have access to a heavy lift service truck, depending on the conditions.

This endeavor can be planned and designed using data from preventative maintenance repair records, as well as the identification of certain key parts. Coordination with spare parts providers to retain an onsite inventory of important spare parts, aid with identifying critical spares, and “hot shoot” out-of-stock items can be an efficient approach to keep equipment running.

Anyone who wishes to maintain spare parts inventories and handle preventative maintenance work efficiently should carefully consider adopting a CMMS, as doing so manually is challenging.

5. CREATE AND INSTALL A PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE PROGRAM.

Planned maintenance is substantially less expensive than reactive maintenance (repairing equipment as it breaks). Reactive maintenance costs two to five times more than planned maintenance, according to industry standards.

Developing and maintaining a preventative maintenance program is a fantastic method to keep an eye on large, expensive equipment.

For preventative maintenance scheduling, the initial program might be based on equipment manufacturers’ operating manuals and typical repair procedures. Improved maintenance processes can then be included in the system as records increase over time, based on actual equipment part failures and repair data. The essential system support for establishing and managing a project management program is again provided by computerized maintenance management software.

6. INSTALL FLUID ANALYSIS AND MONITORING BASED ON CONDITIONS

The analysis of equipment fluids is a good approach to figure out how well a piece of heavy equipment is running. This can be done independently or as part of a condition-based monitoring program. Laboratory examination of equipment fluids is used to detect the internal state of equipment and can be used to determine when maintenance is required.

Any fluid, including lubricating oil, hydraulic fluids, transmission, final drive trains, and coolants, can be analyzed using a variety of procedures. Contaminant identification, viscosities, UV spectroscopy, pH analysis, and other tests are among them. The results of these tests can be used to predict when equipment will fail and alert you to the need for repair. As part of a preventative maintenance program, fluid sampling and analysis might be incorporated.

Heavy machinery is an expensive investment, so it pays to make sure it’s up and running when it’s needed. While direct equipment expenses are obvious, costs associated with failures, idle equipment, or operator mistakes are difficult to quantify.

Calculating the cost and return on investment for heavy equipment is critical. Contractors can run a successful firm with good operational practices and a well-organized maintenance crew.

Source: Construction Executive