Equipment maintenance is one of the most important parts of just about any job. Without properly managed and maintained equipment, we can easily end up with very harrowing issues within our job. The same goes for mining, especially due to the dangers that can occur if said equipment isn’t maintained well.
1. Keep up with the large machinery training
The first and most important part of the maintenance is education. Without a proper grasp on the technology we are using, it can be very easy to poorly execute jobs and maintenance.
Each poorly executed job can easily result in tremendous damage to our equipment. The issues and mishandling of equipment isn’t a rare occurrence which is why this step is so important. Usually, when purchasing heavy machinery like this, it’s possible to get a decent chunk of the required information. The purchase pages like this website should hold a lot of important information.
The large machinery can often have multiple operators utilizing them too. This means more people need to be educated on proper behavior and handling even if they already have a good deal of experience with heavy machinery. The machines themselves should be inspected the day you buy them. The inspection should confirm that everything is in the best order. Any odd problems that exist right now represent a potentially catastrophic one in the future.
Analyzing work manuals is a smart choice because there can be language that’s tough to understand. In addition, a single bad phrasing can spell disaster during operation and maintenance, so taking a peek is usually for the best.
By doing so, we can likely deduce the best practices to employ in order to provide the best maintenance possible to the machines. Apply the knowledge wherever it’s possible, and a lot of your problems will surely go away while your machinery remains in top form.
2. Cleaning machinery isn’t enough, storage is also important
Because of the nature of large machinery, we need to be extra careful. The standard machinery will usually be fine as long as we store it somewhere safe and clean it consistently. With a heavier one, it’s quite different.
Because large machines are frequently exposed or at least not entirely concealed, they require some extra effort. We have to take into consideration that while the equipment itself needs to be kept clean, so does its environment.
To maintain a clean storage and machinery, there are many approaches we can take. The machinery itself can be kept safe with the use of seals and filters. These items will properly isolate the more sensitive parts of the machinery. That will prevent odd debris and dirt from messing with the insides of the machine, interfering with its functionality and health.
All of your large machinery should be stored somewhere where elements won’t affect them. Preferably, it should be a well-isolated area that’s frequently cleaned. It will allow you to avoid any harmful elements affecting the machines. When the machines are isolated from exposure to wind and weather, it’s much less likely that they will end up rusting. This will significantly increase the lifespan of the machines, don’t neglect it.
3. Keep a schedule of maintenance and repairs
Knowing when your maintenance and repairs are happening as well as keeping a proper schedule of them can be immensely helpful. As you’d assume, a schedule of this sort can help us keep up with the required checks without us having to invest too much effort into constantly reminding ourselves of them. Simply checking the schedule and being able to discern when a certain piece of machinery is getting its due check is far more fruitful.
Anything from tires, electrical systems, fluids, batteries, and other components needs to be consistently and frequently checked for the sake of our machinery operating regularly. As you can assume, the sheer number of components can be a real mess to track. Knowing when something should be inspected is the most fruitful part of having a schedule on it.
Making the schedule and sticking to it will lead to the beneficial outcome of us never skipping important checks. In addition, the lifespan of consistently maintained equipment goes up a lot and can allow us to overshadow the initial investment we put into a piece of heavy machinery.
4. Check for wear and tear
As with any item, machinery will end up wearing out the more we use it. Whether it’s the elements, the hard work it’s put through, or even the mishandling of certain functionalities, the equipment we use can start showing signs of wear and tear.
Age is often the most visible contributing factor. Wear and tear can show up naturally as a sign of a thoroughly used tool. Heavy machinery will also often be under a lot of different sources of stress during operation. Whether it’s high temperatures, friction, vibration, or any other source of strain that comes from work, we are guaranteed to see it affecting our machine after some inspections.
The wear and tear vary from machine to machine, showing up in different forms depending on the one we are examining. However, they all share a factor together. All forms of wear and tear can make the item far less efficient and even prone to malfunctioning.
Replacing heavily worn-out parts can give our equipment the extra boost in life expectancy that’ll leave them running for a while longer. The replacements should be performed as soon as possible because the worn-out item could have adverse effects on the remainder of the machine.
Conclusion
The quality of the machinery and its functionality only wears out over time. As you can assume, this will result in a shortening of the equipment’s lifespan, eventually putting it out of commission. However, by following certain tips and behavior, we can easily prolong the lifespan of the equipment.
Schedules, proper storage, constant checks, and proper training are all the things we need to achieve that. With each of these taken into account, we can get a lot more bang for our buck out of these machines before they stop working. It will also allow us to avoid potentially flawed machines being put to work and causing extra issues, which can lead to catastrophic consequences.
