To stay productive, these machines need proper and frequent maintenance.
Wheel loaders are powerful workhorses on any jobsite. Regular preventive maintenance is critical to keep the wheel loaders in your fleet operating productively and safely in mining and quarry environments, plus, it can alleviate machine downtime and reduce repair or replacement costs. Follow these tips for proper preventive maintenance in wheel loaders:
- Follow the owner’s manual. If you are going to perform most of your wheel loader’s maintenance yourself, follow the recommendations of your manufacturer’s owner manual. You’ll find maintenance intervals and checklists, information on your wheel loader and tips to effectively run the machine.
- Complete a walk-around, checking for wear. Loading and unloading material all day can create excessive wear on a wheel loader’s ground-engaging tools, such as buckets. To ensure that high-impact attachments stay in peak operating condition, perform daily visual inspections. Wheel loader attachments, such as severe- and heavy-duty buckets, are some of the most popular and hard-working tools in mining and quarry applications. They should receive the same attention as the equipment. Visual checks of these components should include hoses, as well as tilt and lift cylinders, to determine if wear is developing or damage occurred. There are other items on larger buckets that should be inspected. Examine the condition of wear plates and bolt-on cutting edges, as well as attachment pins. They should fit snugly and properly.
- Inspect the tyres. Tyres are essential to a wheel loader and should be inspected regularly. Undetected leaks or improper inflation can lead to premature wear, unexpected downtime and potentially tyre failure over time. Complete a thorough visual inspection to detect missing tread and ensure that the bead line and the rim are intact.
- Check the driving and parking brakes. Driving and parking brakes are used daily on wheel loaders and need to be in good condition.
- Stay on top of fluids, oils and filters. Fluids, such as engine oil and coolants, need to be closely monitored to prevent unnecessary downtime. Using dipsticks and sight gauges will help ensure the proper fluid level is maintained.
- Maintain the cooling system. Quarries can generate a lot of dust, so some manufacturers have incorporated advanced reliable cooling systems to minimize machine downtime.
- Check enhancements inside the cab. Newer wheel loaders have enhancements that make them not only more comfortable to operate, but easier to maintain.
Also, today’s wheel loaders come with telematics management systems that allow you to monitor the health, location and productivity of equipment. You can monitor your wheel loaders remotely and address alerts quickly. Telematics information can be viewed on a mobile app or a browser on your computer. Source