Introduction
Whether you are renting out your compact excavators or having your own machine, the average lifespan is an important thing to note. An important key point is that maintenance of your mini excavators or wheel loaders is the only way to extend the compact excavators’ lifespan. You can do it in several multiple ways.
In this article, you will learn about the best 10 ways to extend the life expectancy of the most used equipment in construction; the mini excavator. Just because you got robust and heavy machinery, doesn’t mean it is going to last forever. Your used mini excavator needs continuous care to maintain its performance.
The average lifespan of different compact excavators is different from each other. It actually depends on how well a handler uses the machine and how long components are used. So if you are aiming to increase the excavator machine’s remaining life, you should follow this simple maintenance guide. Continue reading.
What Is the Average Lifespan Of Compact Excavators?
As mentioned earlier, the average lifespan of your construction equipment varies based on factors such as maintenance. However, there are a few more things that can affect the construction equipment lifecycle. For example, the quality of your compact excavators denotes the lifespan of your excavator.
Buying a high-quality mini excavator is always recommended. It is because a low-quality excavator doesn’t last long. A low-quality compact excavator even gets damaged before its expected lifespan. A typical equipment lifetime is around 10,000 hours.
Top 10 Ways To Extend Compact excavators’ Lifespan
Read The User Manual Given By the Manufacturer
A user manual is an important thing that a user should notice first. Without learning about the controls, instructions, and warnings, you may not be able to run the machine effectively. However, every manufacturer gives a different user manual with different machines. You cannot implement the same on every other model of mini excavator.
Begin with checking how you should start your compact excavator’s engine and hydraulic system. You should check how to operate it safely without damaging it. These are some very basic things that most illiterate operators ignore when maintaining excavator lifespan. Don’t forget to take advice from your manufacturer about the maintenance of compact excavators.
Analyze The Jobsite Conditions
Analysis of Jobsite conditions is another important factor that plays a huge role. Without a proper assessment of the Jobsite, you may not be able to decide about the right mini excavator. At the same time, a wrong machine can definitely wear out easily and you have to spend more on maintenance costs.
You have to assess the job site and select a machine that can work efficiently on your job site. For this purpose, you need to analyze factors such as:
✔What Is the surface type of your job site?
✔What activities will you carry out using your compact excavators?
✔How many hours will you operate your compact excavators?
Based on these Answers, you can also figure out the maintenance plan. Such as
✔After how many days do you need to grease the machine?
✔What kind of tasks you should avoid with compact excavators?
✔How much are the maintenance costs for your machine?
Cleaning Your Excavator
Cleaning your mini excavator should be performed at regular intervals. You need to be aware of when your machine needs to be cleaned. After you are done performing any activity through your excavator, it is important to clean it before storing it. Whether you are performing digging, landscaping, loading unloading, or snow removal. Cleaning is essential to keep your compact excavators working.
You can also check the user manual about what parts of mini excavators need to be cleaned and how to clean them.
Make sure to clean the attachments that you used for performing the jobs.
Cleaning is necessary because when there is dirt and debris stuck into the machine, it will negatively affect the excavator. This will automatically reduce the lifespan of your excavators.
Routine Checkups & Maintenance Of Equipment
Routine Checkup involves checking the working of all parts of compact excavators. This is a fact that you may not be utilizing all functions of Excavators on a daily basis. This may cause wear and tear in the rest of the parts. You can test them by checking them at some point. This will indicate if the machine needs to be repaired or not.
Not performing the checkup of your mini excavator can result in earlier damage. This will automatically reduce the lifespan of your machine.
Give Training To Employees
It is important to give your machine the best hands. Otherwise, you will end up losing your investment by damaging the machine. If you really want to make your machine last longer, you should make sure that you are well-trained. At the same time, if you are giving this to your employees, make sure that they are well-trained.
The best part to know is that a mini excavator is quite easy to learn. You and your employees can learn all its functions within a matter of hours. Learn about Operations, safety precautions, and warning signs of mini excavators.
Get in touch with Authorised Repairers
Sometimes your compact excavators can get damaged when performing heavy tasks. Even if you are maintaining and operating the mini excavators in the best ways, this can happen. You need to deal with the problem through Authorised Repairers. Most people try to repair it by themselves and end up wasting their time and hence damaging the Excavator.
Some people also attempt to repair mini excavators through cheap and unauthorized repairers. In some cases, it is also common that unprofessional and fake repairers can remove the original parts. They replace the original parts with fake parts, that’s quite scary.
Therefore, you should get in touch with an authorized and professional repairer for your mini excavator.
Prevent Dirt Buildup
Prevention of dirt build-up when you are operating the Excavator is quite necessary. This is done by cleaning the excavators as mentioned earlier. Dirt build-up can stop your mini excavator from working properly. It can clog vents and filters, affecting the whole performance of your mini excavators.
On the other hand, materials like rock and sand increase the chances of wear and tear in your mini excavators. Another death trap to your compact Excavator is corrosion. But this is not only caused by rain. It can also occur due to fertilizers, road salts, and deicers.
Lubrication Of Parts Regularly
Lubrication plays a key role when you are thinking to maintain the Excavator and operate it with efficiency. You must have heard about the saying “Running like a well-oiled machine”. This is not just a saying but more importantly a truth that you shouldn’t ignore. A well-oiled mini excavator aims to last longer than any other equipment.
You have to prevent your mini excavator from excessive friction to keep them running smoothly. Lubrication is essential especially when your machine is working on heavy muddy Job sites. Experts recommend that you should clean it with the help of a rag. You should remove the dirt before you attempt to insert new grease.
✔Frequently check lubricant levels.
✔Use lubricants recommended by your manufacturer
✔Lookup for grease build-up and oil leaks.
An all-purpose oil or grease should not be used as an optimal solution. You should check for multiple brands and types of grease available in the market.
The Machine Should Not Overwork
You shouldn’t overload your machine with multiple tasks. Even the heaviest equipment gets tired of working for hours Continuously. You can forget about this especially when you are rushing to complete the project to meet the deadlines. However, if you put a constant overload on your equipment, it will result in mechanical issues and hence more downtime.
You should check the user manual about the time and weight limits of your mini excavators. User manuals state limitations for digging depth, cutting height, and loading height.
Refuel Your Machine According To The Size Of the Project
You should not forget about refueling your mini excavators according to the size of the project. A large project may take more fuel as compared to a small project on-site. A regular refueling schedule is indispensable for increasing the lifespan of your mini excavators.
To keep your machine in a good shape, refueling based on the requirements of your project is quite important.
Conclusion
Now that you have learned about all the steps towards maintaining your Excavator, it is easy to elongate its life. Keep a detailed plan for regular checkups and daily visual inspections. When making such a plan, you should always seek help from experts for proper maintenance. You will get an idea of maintenance costs with owning and operating costs.
You should remember that each machine has unique needs for maintenance to understand typical equipment lifetime. You should check the manual of each part of the mini excavator to maintain it correctly. You should also go for an in-depth analysis that only an expert person can do for your heavy-duty machines.
These tips are important whether you are planning to increase the average track loader lifespan, wheel loader’s average lifespan, or excavator’s lifespan. Try to avoid poor maintenance methods as much as possible.
So are you ready to invest in the right mini excavator and get your projects done? Contact Us now