“The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease” has been a philosophy I have used for much of my life. But trying to avoid “squeaks” with our tools is what keeps us safe and running on schedule. No matter what type of work you do, you have various types of tools and equipment that will be used to accomplish any given task. This can vary from a hammer to an excavator. Maintaining these tools takes time, but it is well worth it. We rented our Case 580 Super M Loader Excavator about ten days ago.
In The Cab
Delivery
The Loader/Excavator has done a ton of work so far on our project. Tyler and I have been running it pretty constantly. But in order for it to continue to work hard, it needs maintenance each day. We have to do the following, each day we check various fluids (fuel, oil, antifreeze, hydraulic, etc.) for correct levels. The next item to maintenance is the grease zerks. Zerks provide oil to areas that are high friction points on the unit. There is a chart on the side of the unit that shows what zerks to grease each day and then which others to grease per hour of run time. This will reduce failures in the future as much as possible.
Thursday we noticed as we ran the excavator that we had a hydraulic leak. We called the rental company and they sent out a mechanic to check it out. Fortunately it was just a loose fitting that was leaking and it took him less than an hour to fix it. So something to remember is that routine maintenance takes time each and every day, but in the long run it saves down time and cost the to fix broken items. Not to mention it keeps all on the project safer from failures. Be smart, maintain your equipment.
Mountain Home / Life 