Most heavy equipment is designed to run and run under duress. The nature of heavy equipment’s duties mean wear and tear are normal and expected. All machines will eventually break down and need replacing, but there are several ways to get the maximum life out of heavy machinery.

Time and money correlation

There are a few different levels of equipment care. If you imagine machine care on a timeline, the longer you wait to repair or replace a part on your heavy equipment, the greater the cost. Time does indeed equal money, so the more time you wait, the more money it will cost you.

Complete replacement

Rather than take the time to check things out as necessary, your heavy equipment seized or clouds of billowing smoke are now coming out of the engine compartment. Now your business is going to be behind and you will be out thousands of dollars in replacement equipment. Employee downtime, lost revenue and a pinched bottom line are all you have to look forward to in the foreseeable future.

Preventative maintenance

Also causing downtime that your business cannot afford, preventative maintenance means repairing or replacing parts at regular intervals. Costly, preventative maintenance can mean redundancy. Why replace a possibly expensive working part or piece when there is no obvious need? While not as expensive in terms of replacement, preventative maintenance does mean a significant amount of downtime for you and your equipment.

Predictive maintenance

If your employees are well trained and have good deductive reasoning skills, predictive maintenance means you will save money, time, employee downtime and keep high customer satisfaction all in one step. Predictive means that at the first sign of an issue, the sound of a ball bearing loose or a joint creaking slightly, steps are taken to keep the equipment running. Predictive maintenance means ordering parts before they are needed, scheduling time to repair and replace parts and allow for employees to have minimal downtime.

Predictive maintenance example

You are on a job site while running several pieces of large construction equipment. After a day or so on the job, an employee approaches and mentions the ball bearings need to be serviced. Checking your log book on maintenance, you realize this is the case. A few phone calls later and you schedule your local mechanic to look into ball bearing maintenance. Checking the bearings, a bit of excessive wear is evident. New ball bearings are ordered, replaced and the equipment is back and running within a day or so. Had your employee not had the forethought and you not had the log book, this was a potentially expensive disaster waiting to happen.

Statewide Bearings can provide you with spherical bearings for your application requirements. Make sure your machines have quaility components. Bearings needs to be replaced every so often and Statewide Bearings provides quality products that last longer, thus saving you time and money in the future.