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How to protect heavy equipment during winter

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Heavy equipment has to go through a lot of hardships and unlike humans it does not complain. Well, it does break down when it is unable to take any further but it has a very high level of endurance which makes it the most important component of the construction industry. However, it also becomes futile in front of extreme weather and rough terrain. Be it the hot summer or the wet monsoon or the harsh winter, it is expected to perform throughout the year but there is always a chance of it breaking down if the weather becomes extreme. More so in the winter, when the weather outside is frozen and the inside of the machine needs to be hot. Most of the times, it cranks up and does not start. It is therefore that the heavy equipment owners have to take extra care when it comes to their heavy equipment operating in chilled winter season.

Check if the engine is well lubricated:-

Most of the parts of the machine need to be well lubricated in order to function without any hick-ups. Hence, the operator needs to keep a very close watch and check time to time if the machine is well lubricated and special care needs to be taken with the engine of the machine. The engine oil should be changed on a regular basis and especially during winters, it should be changed once in a month. Due to the frozen climate outside, the oil becomes thick and it does not act as a good lubricator then. This may also affect the health of other parts of the machine which will eventually lead to complete replacement of that part. It absolutely makes no sense to invest money on buying new parts when you can easily change the engine oil at regular intervals.

Clean the fuel tank:-

Cleaning the fuel tank may sound to be trivial but is very crucial when it comes to the overall health of the heavy equipment. You need to clean the fuel tank cap and ensure that the cap is doing well. The fuel should be clean and should not contain any sediment or water. The presence of these components can become a big problem pertaining to fuel injection system failures.

Ensure that the batteries are in good health:-

It is perhaps the batteries that are the affected the most with the beginning of the winter. In order to ensure that the batteries are doing well, the operator should check the battery electrolyte and make sure that it is up to the full indicator and also above the plates. Another trivial but important part is to clean the top of the battery. There happens to be a lot of dirt on the top of the stuff and that can result in energy drain. You can make use of baking soda and terminal bush to clean any corrosion that exists around the posts. If you see that the heavy equipment will not be used during the winters and will be needed some other time, you can just remove the batteries and keep them in a storeroom so that it avoids any direct contact with the outside freezing weather.

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Use The Best Lubricant For Your Engine For Better Performance

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In a human body, we have our heart as one of the most important organs followed by the rest and the reason why it is termed to be the most important is because it ensures the blood is circulated throughout the body. In the same manner, an engine in a vehicle or any heavy equipment is considered to be a vital organ of the machine. We do a lot to keep our heart healthy. If our heart is healthy, that keeps our entire body fit and fine. Similarly, in order to keep the machine in good shape, we have to ensure that the engine is in great working condition or else there are high chances of the equipment not working when you in fact want it to. A businessman who uses the equipment in a construction site would never want the machine to sit idle just because its engine has gone dead. It would be a severe blow to his business even if it stops working for a day. Moreover, when there is a problem with the engine, it usually takes more than a day’s time to get it fixed which means good deal of loses to the business.

What can one do to make sure that the engine of the heavy equipment is in good health and that it continues to work at all times.

Using the best lubricant is probably the most reliable solution of all. Ideally, a problem in an engine arises due to dust particles getting accumulated in the edges and corners of the engine. As the machine keeps on moving, these dust particles tend to move inside the engine and make the movement rough. If it is not sufficiently lubricated, then there are good chances of it to break down. Therefore, one should always use lubricant at regular intervals and also clean the machine so that the dust is removed from the edges and if there are any inside the engine; it doesn’t become the reason for the machine to stop.

One must also understand that not all lubricant may go well with your equipment. Though they may be the best in the market but they may certainly not be the best for your machine. Hence, one should check this from the heavy equipment user manual as to what lubricant he can use in his equipment. Alternatively, he can also check with an expert in the field of heavy equipment about the lubricant he should use for his model of machine.

Thirdly, he can check the websites and know the kind of lubricant needed for his machine. Internet has provided us with loads of information using which we can know the lubricant brand that we can use. The duration to change the lubricant largely depends upon the kind of work it is performing and also depends upon the kind of terrain it is working. If it is working on a rough terrain or in a place covered with snow, then it may require frequent change of oil in the engine or else, you might want to do it after every month or so.

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If Engine Is the Heart Then Operator Is The Brain Of The Heavy Equipment

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We all understand the importance than an engine has on heavy equipment. If the construction equipment is installed with a state of the art engine, that itself lengthens the life of the machine. Servicing the machine at regular intervals and keeping it well maintained are always required but what matters most is that engine of the machine should not be affected by any external bodies and utmost care needs to be taken to keep it running at all times. Moreover, if anything goes wrong with the engine, it takes a lot of time and money to get that repaired. A business which is at its full flow may not want a situation like this and every care would be taken to ensure that things goes smoothly without any hindrances from any corner.

Measures to be taken to ensure the health of the engine is good

Keep the engine lubricated:-  The engine is a formation of several other parts which when on work at a tremendous speed. This leads to friction and therefore there are particles that get collected in that portion. Not servicing the machine regularly will lead in spreading the particles in different parts of the engine causing it to block the usual free movement. On the other hand, if the equipment is not well lubricated, that will lead to more friction that will take a toll on the machine. Therefore, it is crucial to clean the several parts of the machine and also take special notice to check if the machine is lubricated at all times.

It is important that you have a good mechanic working for you and is available whenever you need him. Cleaning the engine is a complicated job and it is certainly not the thing which can be done from a newbie. It needs knowledge of a professional who has worked on such machines many times in the past.

That was all about the engine. Let us now discuss about the brain of the machine which is the operator. An operator is the one who has the steering of the machine. He is the one who first comes to know what machine needs. He gets to know if there is anything that has gone faulty and if it needs to be replaced.

Recruit competent operator:-  Operators with good years of experience are the ones you should be looking for. Undoubtedly, they would be expensive but would be worth every penny you pay them. An operator with skills can get the work done in lesser time than the one who has less experience.

If you run a big construction company, you should have a team of skilled operators and can recruit a set of newbie who can get trained under their seniors. This is probably is the way how you can shape a newcomer into an experienced and proficient operator. There are few who are born with inbuilt talent; rest all needs guidance of experts who can mould them to become better employees. In this way, you can replace the old operators with the new guns as and when they retire.

Pump In Oxygen In Your Vehicle By Changing Its Engine Oil

You spend a lot for buying a vehicle and when you make a purchase you make sure that you are buying the best in terms of your budget and affordability. After having bought the vehicle, you take extra care to ensure that you do not bump it with any other vehicle that naturally will leave a scratch on it or you may even end up with a dent on it. You also give it for servicing after every 5000 miles or when you feel the need for it. The mechanic at the garage does the entire thing for you like changing the engine oil, putting grease in all the right places for better lubrication and check if the car is smooth enough for a comfortable drive. Everything seems right till now. However, once thing that leave us with an opportunity to ponder is the fact “has the mechanic used the right engine oil for my vehicle?”

This is perhaps the most important question when it comes to servicing your vehicle. There are many engine oils available in the market; all have their importance in certain model of cars. No one engine oil can be used for all cars and it depends upon the type of engine the car has upon which the compatibility of the oil is considered. The engine oil can be considered as the oxygen of the engine without which the engine of the car becomes nothing but a piece of rusty metal.

Why do we need to change the engine oil?

In order to get an answer for this question, we need to first understand why an engine needs oil in it. Well, a vehicle has lot of moving parts which brushes each other quite often in the process of moving the vehicle. This friction of the moving parts creates heat. Here comes the function of the engine. The oil lubricates the engine which absorbs the heat that is generated from this friction and permits the parts to continue their function without getting over heated. The particles generated from the friction get mixed with the oil which ultimately wears out the quality of the oil and create the need to get it replaced with fresh oil.  This is one of the major reasons why you need to change the oil.

How often should one change the engine oil?

 The user manual gives instruction as to when should the customer change the engine oil. However, it also depends on some other factors which play a significant role in determining the frequency to change the engine oil. Factors such as “how you drive the vehicle”, “Where you live” “the age of the engine” etc. Ideally, you can just take your vehicle to the mechanic who will check if you should be changing the oil now or will give you a time frame as to when you should come back to him for full servicing.  As stated above, basically we need to change oil after every 5000 miles. However, if you use special synthetic oil, it may run for another 5000 miles. These oils are very expensive but one may still find it to be affordable if they want their vehicle to perform in the long run.