TECHNICAL
Parts availability: Once a machine is booked in, all the obvious parts can be ordered in advance. A pre-service inspection should discover any additional items that will be necessary to get the machine back to working at its best. The more you have it covered, the less surprises there will be, and the easier life will become for all involved.
Oftentimes, there will be a list of unreported faults, damage and issues, particularly on the commercial equipment. Where this is found, there is an opportunity for some timely “operator maintenance” as well! If routine servicing or adjustments are not being done correctly, then give the operator some training, so they know how to do it correctly. If there are any costs in getting this done, its going to be far less expensive than repairing broken machinery in the future. If the working hours are more regular, then you should move from an hours-based programme, to a calendar based one. This is where the machinery has a scheduled monthly service appointment for oils changes, blade replacement, belt tensioning, roller inspections etc. Such a regular regime allows an audit of the operator maintenance tasks of greasing and adjustment and the reporting of defects. Faults are nipped in the bud and the machine condition is regularly checked. It’s well known that operator accountability will reduce machinery damage and that saves you time and money.
Planned Preventative Maintenance
1. Track the engine hours every month and record them. This will give you the monthly usage for each type of machine, allowing you to plan your maintenance schedules more accurately.
2.Work out how long each maintenance check should take, (in minutes and hours) from the operators daily check, the weekly greasing, monthly oil changes, and rotary blade sharpening or replacement. Right through to the annual servicing, hydraulic oil changes, unit grinds and rebuilds.
3. Once you have a time sheet for each task, it’s so much easier to start scheduling this, so that the workshop can cope with the flow of servicing, and so that you can start to plan your parts usage and pre-order in advance of the routine service work.
4. Get the buy-in from operational managers so they understand the need to take machinery out for service and how this helps improve the quality of the performance. You need to know the topdressing and renovation schedules, so you don’t send your freshly ground units out on the day after they’ve
topdressed the greens!
5. From here, it’s a short step to setting a monthly and annual budget for the rolling maintenance plan. That should keep the treasurer happy.
Its called ‘planned preventative maintenance’ for a reason, it doesn’t just happen, you really do have to plan it, and do the maintenance ahead of the work schedule, so that the machinery is ready to go when its needed. This might sound a little daunting, but it’s straightforward once you start planning when and how you get your maintenance done. There is no excuse for tired, blunt machinery being sent out to cut grass. If the cut quality is poor, it takes longer to get the job done, uses more fuel and stresses the equipment, leading to increased breakdowns and even higher maintenance costs.
If you need some training to get up to speed with your machinery maintenance, then ask your local dealer about training support. All the major manufacturers run workshop training courses for dealer and customer staff each year, and there are good practical courses available at the BTME exhibition every year. Perhaps the only question left to ask is; can you really afford not to do it?
138 PC August/September 2018
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