Tag: construction equipment maintenance: Page 5

Business

Before the snow flies, here’s how to properly winterize your heavy equipment fleet

Nothing is more annoying than a maintenance oversight causing a machine to go down –unless it’s a maintenance failure that causes a machine to go down in a howling artic wind.  As the days get shorter and the weather turns colder, contractors are scrambling to finish projects. And while the work has to get done, […]

October 26, 2016

Construction Equipment

5 Ways To Screw Up An Extended Oil Drain Interval

1. IGNORE YOUR SERVICE TECHS There are a lot of numbers and reports to watch when setting up an extended oil drain program. In doing so, a fleet manager can run the risk of ignoring what his technicians in the field are experiencing, says Richard LeFrancois, a heavy equipment fleet management consultant. LeFrancois says he […]

March 15, 2016

Construction Equipment

Thunder Creek’s FST Series trailers offer versatile fuel and DEF delivery

Designed for fuel and DEF delivery and field service, Thunder Creek Equipment offers three FST Series trailer models, available in 500-, 750- and 990-gallon diesel capacities with a 100-gallon DEF tank and an optional field-installed rear utility box. The trailers have a low profile and baffled fuel tanks that allow both on-road highway speed travel […]

July 14, 2015

Construction Equipment

Extended life coolants: Long life? Yes. Maintenance free? No.

Extended life coolants (ELCs) started gaining traction in the heavy-duty trucking and construction equipment industry about a decade ago. These coolants are so good they can in many cases last the life of the engine: 12,000 to 15,000 hours for off-road equipment, 600,000 miles for heavy-duty diesel trucks. Some claim even longer. For most OEMs […]

July 2, 2015

Business

Low-viscosity oils are only the beginning; new EPA diesel fuel economy rules will significantly impact your future

Earlier in June, Shell Lubricants went into great detail telling journalists about how the soon-to-come, low-viscosity diesel lube oil category will help heavy duty trucks improve fuel economy by roughly one percent. And while a one percent improvement in fuel economy may not get those of you in the heavy construction business too excited, another […]

June 24, 2015

Oils & lubricants

New heavy-duty diesel oil standard: What you need to know

There’s a new heavy-duty diesel oil standard in the works. It will not be available until late next year or early 2017, but the performance requirements for it tell you a lot about where the diesel engine industry is headed. The industry periodically updates standards to address performance and emissions requirements from OEMs, says Sam […]

February 10, 2015

Construction Equipment

GEAR: Snap-On low-profile screwdrivers make quick work of tight spaces

We’ve all been there. Stretching a hand or arm into a tight space that no hand tool was ever meant to go, only to leave with bruised knuckles and the nagging suspicion that the job wasn’t done right. Snap-On’s low-profile screwdrivers seek to help that problem. These flat screwdrivers feature special steel alloy bits that […]

October 15, 2014

Maintenance

How to switch to extended life coolants in your equipment and trucks

When it comes to extended life coolants (ELCs), the news is all good. They’re more expensive than conventional coolants, but last for 500,000 miles or better in trucks and 6,000 hours or more in off-road equipment. And ELCs don’t plate out a mineral coating on the inside of your cooling system, so the heat exchange process […]

November 1, 2013

Maintenance

How to properly adjust the track tension on your crawler excavator

Proper track maintenance for crawler excavators is often overlooked. The tracks bear the weight of the machine, but too often we glance at the tracks and move on. Here are five easy steps for achieving proper track tension for your crawler excavator. 1. Turn the upper structure of the excavator so that the boom is […]

July 24, 2013