Construction Equipment: How to Protect Your Investment During the Summer – Now that summer’s practically here, it’s time to start thinking about protecting your construction equipment for the hot and humid months. Keeping your equipment cool in the warm weather takes a few methodical steps. In the process, you may discover you need to make some repairs, perform maintenance and do some cleaning.
By keeping up with these tasks now, you will ensure a long lifespan for your equipment and guard against unnecessary repairs throughout the season. Heed these tips to protecting your investment.
Shade Your Equipment from the Sun
When you leave your construction equipment outside sitting in the sun when not in use, particularly for days and weeks on end, this can cause damage that you may not even see with the naked eye. Instead, move your backhoes or trucks into a large storage room or into a shaded portion of the site so they will be less likely to break down when you need them. Heat exposure can do that. You can even drape your equipment with tarps to cut down on direct heat exposure.
Don’t Use Equipment During Peak Hours
We know, we know: this may be impossible is you’re running a fully functioning construction site. Peak hours for operation are usually between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. This also happens to be when the sun is most intense. Thus, your equipment’s engines or radiators can easily get overheated or damaged. Your employees are also exposed to harmful UV rays during this time.
It may be difficult or near impossible to avoid operating at peak hours, but there are some things you can do to lessen the effects. You can install a thermostat to keep operators aware of the danger so they can prevent your heavy equipment parts from overheating.
Shut Off Equipment or Switch to Sleep Mode
Cool off your equipment when it’s dangerously hot by shutting is down or putting it into sleep mode to give it a rest. This is typically a task for after-hours but on very hot days, it’s smart to do this throughout the morning and afternoon when you’re not using a particular piece of equipment. Bonus: you’ll save on energy costs, which tend to run higher in the summer months. You’ll also save on how much oil you’ll need to fuel all your trucks, which is another big expense.
Heeding these steps can save your company money, time, productivity and repairs. It’s always better to lose a bit of productivity by letting your equipment cool down than run it into the ground and face a huge repair or replacement bill.
To learn more tips and to schedule fuel service for your construction machinery and equipment, contact Taylor Oil today.