Shop Talk Blog

Preventative maintenance can transform an unexpected, costly, reactive repair cycle into a predictable, proactive management strategy. Is it worth the trouble, though? We think so. That’s why we prepared suggested maintenance schedules based on industry best practices.

Why Preventative Maintenance is Crucial to Your Equipment

Minimizing Downtime: An unexpected breakdown of a single primary asset (like an excavator) can stall an entire job site, leading to lost productivity costs of $450 to $760 per hour (for example), plus emergency technician travel and repair fees. It can also throw a job behind schedule, causing problems for your client and for your reputation.

Preventing "Domino-Effect" Catastrophic Failures: It’s a fact: seemingly minor, inexpensive maintenance failures can lead to very expensive component damage. For example, failing to replace a $20 case drain filter leads to line clogging, which spikes internal hydraulic pressure. That pressure spike will eventually blow out the main shaft seal, dilute your gear oil, destroy internal bearings/pistons, and can crack the cover plate. Failing to replace a $20 part can destroy a multi-thousand-dollar final drive motor.

Lowering TCO: Preventative maintenance reduces moving friction, which directly lowers fuel consumption, limits parts wear, and improves overall tractive effort. It also reduces repair costs and increases productivity.

If you've ever popped the hood on a 100°F+ afternoon and felt heat radiating off your machine before you even touched it, you already know what we're about to explain. That same kind of heat can affect your final drive motors, too. According to Brendan Casey in Machinery Lubrication, overheating ranks second on the list of the most common problems with hydraulic equipment.

We’re going to talk about what's happening inside your final drive motor when it's this hot, and what you can do about it.

Here are a few other Shop Talk Blog posts you might find interesting:

• Bobcat Final Drives: Leaking Seals and Crossrobbing

• 5 Gear Oil Mistakes That Can Kill Your Final Drive Motor

• Reman Final Drives in a Greener World

What Does Heat Do to a Final Drive Motor?

Here's the simple version of what's happening “under the hood”:hydraulic fluid is supposed to be thick enough to keep a protective film between all those moving metal parts inside your final drive (e.g., gears, bearings, the works). Think of it like the difference between spreading cold honey and warm honey. Cold honey holds its shape and coats things nicely. Warm honey runs thin and slides right off. Yourhydraulic fluid and gear oil do the same thing when the Texas heat gets into them: they thin out, and that protective film gets thinner right along with them.

Have you ever had a skid steer or excavator break down in the middle of a big job?

Hydraulic reliability isn’t just about uptime. It’s actually about keeping your equipment operational to avoid lost income, missed deadlines, and protecting the investment you've made in your equipment. 

In this Shop Talk Blog, we’re going to discuss how reliability is built, not something to take for granted. It starts with good habits, regular checks, and a strong maintenance culture.

Here are a few other Shop Talk Blog posts you might be interested in:

• The Facts about Large Skid Steer Loaders
• Do You Know These Facts About Timbco and TimberPro?
• Hydraulic Pump Failure

The Cost of Unreliable Hydraulics

A single hydraulic failure can have ripple effects on your compact equipment, including costly downtime, missed deadlines, and expensive repairs. And contamination and improper maintenance are among the top causes of failure for hydraulic equipment. Investing in the reliability of your equipment, on the other hand, pays for itself in fewer breakdowns, longer component life, and the ability to maintain the equipment's value. Let’s take a look at what your investment in reliability looks like.

If there’s one thing we know here at Texas Final Drive, it’s how we wish people would maintain their final drive motors. That’s why we’ve come up with this comprehensive guide to final drive motor maintenance. It touches on more than just the final drives, though, because issues such as track tension and even a dirty undercarriage can impact the performance of your final drives and cause premature wear.

Your CTL (Compact Track Loader) depends on the final drive motors to keep it running. When a final drive fails, costs include repair/replacement and expensive downtime. Extending the useful life of your final drives reduces downtime and repair costs, meaning a better profit margin and more productivity.

In this Shop Talk blog post, we’ll look at tips for extending the life of CTL final drives, focusing on maintenance and inspection, operating practices, and track tension and alignment.

Here are a few other Shop Talk blog posts you might find useful:

• CTL / MTL Undercarriage Basics
• Self Driving Track Loaders
• CTL Final Drives: 5 Signs They Need Service

Preventive maintenanceensures the longevity and efficient performance of the hydraulic systems that provide power and functionality to your compact equipment. This Shop Talk Blog post reviews a checklist of routine maintenance tasks to minimize wear and tear, leaks, and other common issues.

Here are a few other Shop Talk Blog posts you might find helpful:

• Hints for Inspecting a Used Compact Excavator
• Preventive Maintenance and Compact Equipment
• Skid Steer Maintenance Safety

Crushing accidents don’t just happen when someone gets run over by equipment -- they can also occur when you’re working on your equipment and don’t take hazardous energy into account.

Here are a few other Shop Talk Blog posts you might enjoy:

• Maintaining a Bobcat Final Drive
• Case Drain Disasters
• Fuel Costs and Compact Equipment

Here's some basic information about skid steers, including how they are categorized, operating costs, maintenance, and -- of course -- final drive motors.

Diesel prices have been rising, and while they may seem to be going down a bit, it’s doubtful they’ll drop back down to what they were a year ago. As a result, these prices are impacting your bottom line. And while you don’t control the cost of fuel, you can make some changes that will improve the efficiency of your equipment.

 It's getting very close to Christmas. It might be too late to make it on Santa's good list, but here are some tips for next year. 

Here are a few other blog posts you might be interested in:

• Santa's Compact Excavator Fleet
• Santa Had a Skid Steer
• Winterizing Construction Equipment