How to Extend the Life of Your Bobcat Equipment

No matter what size class your heavy equipment is in, compact construction equipment can be a fairly large financial investment. With any investment, you will want to get the absolute most out of it to recoup the expense and generate profit. 

To do this, you’ll need to ensure your equipment remains in tip-top shape for as long as possible. Not only will doing so ensure that you see improved equipment reliability and a decrease in unexpected downtime, but it will also help you to maintain the resale value of your machinery.

Fortunately, there are a few ways to extend the life of your heavy equipment, getting all the hours of operation that it has to give. However, to do so, it is crucial to follow strict guidelines regarding how you care for and use your units. 

While this may require extra time and attention, it will be worth it in the long run, and it is a generally good habit to get into.

Ways to Extend Your Bobcat Equipment’s Life

When it comes to extending the life of your Bobcat equipment, the following are some of the best possible ways to get the most uptime and keep your jobs moving:

Provide Extensive Training 

One way to help improve the life of your Bobcat equipment and enhance your operation’s productivity levels is extensively training your technicians and operators on how to properly handle the equipment in your fleet. 

Receiving both in-house and dealership training will help you stay up-to-date on new technologies and procedures, and such training programs will also demonstrate the proper way to use the equipment. After all, when equipment is used improperly, it is easy to damage it, which could shorten its lifespan.

Engage in Daily Checks

Another way to ensure that the quality and performance of your Bobcat equipment will be maintained over time is by performing daily maintenance checks. Creating a list of maintenance checks for your operators to perform every day will help you identify signs of wear so that maintenance work can be done before larger issues appear.

These daily checks should include inspections of brakes and brake fluid, horns, lights, hydraulic fluid levels, transmission fluid, gauges, track tension, track thickness and tire pressure at the very minimum.

Adhere to Manufacturer Specifications for Maintenance

It’s understood that the manufacturer of your equipment always knows it best. This is why it is important to consult the provided owner’s manual whenever you are uncertain about factory specifications that need to be followed. Your Bobcat owner’s manual will also likely mention the exact frequency with which your equipment requires maintenance.

Sticking to the manufacturer’s specifications is the best way to guarantee that your machines receive the ideal care they need. After all, even something as small as using a non-recommended fluid in your equipment could lead to significant and costly damage and could shave years off its lifespan.

Stay On Top of Cleaning

It is essential to regularly clean your Bobcat equipment both inside and out to remove the buildup of contaminants. When dirt and grime build-up, it can cause your heavy equipment to overheat and wear down much faster. For this reason, it is necessary to conduct deep cleanings after your equipment has been used every few hundred hours.

However, make sure that you exercise extra caution when cleaning more delicate parts, like chains and bearings, as cleaning these items often requires special techniques.

Follow the Preventative Maintenance Program

In addition to your own regularly scheduled maintenance procedures, like checking fluids and changing your equipment’s filters, it is imperative that you follow the more extensive manufacturer preventative maintenance service intervals. 

Bringing your equipment in at every marked P.M. service interval allows us to fully inspect your equipment and integrate larger maintenance for higher hour intervals based on Bobcat’s data.

In most cases, if you bring your equipment in for a Preventative Maintenance service interval before noon, we can run it through our shop, get it fully serviced and have it ready for pickup that same day.

Keep Detailed Documentation

Any time that your Bobcat equipment is serviced or maintenance procedures are performed, keep detailed records so that you have the data needed to get a complete picture of the status of all of your machines.

If a problem ever arises, you can present all of this information to a mechanic so that they can see exactly when the problem started, thus giving them a better idea of how to approach the issue. In turn, this will help extend the life of your equipment.

Why Using Bobcat Technicians Is Important for All Bobcat Equipment Maintenance and Repairs

As mentioned, it is crucial to have your Bobcat equipment regularly maintained and repaired as necessary. It is also quite important that you have this maintenance and repair work done by factory-licensed Bobcat technicians since they know this equipment inside and out, and can provide the most thorough checks and offer the most comprehensive solutions.

Standardized approaches to heavy equipment maintenance and repairs often get you standard results. On the other hand, having an expert observing and servicing your equipment will ensure that everything is done to a much higher level of quality and will ultimately help guarantee that it lasts longer.

How Oaken Equipment Can Help Extend the Life of Your Bobcat Equipment

If you need any kind of servicing or repair work done on your Bobcat equipment, Oaken Equipment can help, as we are the top Bobcat technicians in Ontario. Our maintenance and repair services are speedy and efficient because we understand the importance of minimizing your equipment’s downtime. 

You can visit one of our shops or have us come directly to you. Either way is possible, as we have twelve fully equipped service trucks on the road and over twenty-five highly skilled, factory-trained technicians with expertise in Bobcat equipment that can get your equipment maintained or fixed and up and running in no time. 

We can handle anything from basic maintenance work to complete rebuilds, and if you are not quite sure what your equipment needs, our Bobcat experts can let you know after performing a thorough check. Even if your equipment is not Bobcat machinery, we can still offer experienced servicing and repair work.

We are so confident in the quality of our work that we always offer a 30-day warranty on all services performed (with the exception of some wear and tear items), as well as a 180-day warranty on all parts we install. 

For more information about our Bobcat equipment maintenance and repair services, or to learn about our Bobcat preventative maintenance program, call Oaken Equipment at 1-888-861-1447 or contact us here.