Keep safe: Your essential earthmoving machinery repairs guide

Earthmoving equipment comes in sizes big and small, however no matter the size it’s equally as vital to ensure your earthmoving equipment is in working order. This is so it works as efficiently as it can, to extend its life, and also to maintain safety on the work site and of those around you. Here are our best tips for staying safe whilst diagnosing issues with your earthmoving equipment.

​Diagnosis of the problem

It’s first important to note that if your earthmover is showing signs of smoke, heat, fire, steam, or making loud sounds, ensure you safely get out of the vehicle, move away, warn others and call for assistance from your team. Follow all instructions you have been given through your training in this situation. The problem may turn out to be an emergency or require emergency repair. Due to the size and weight of earthmovers, if accidents happen they can be very serious, therefore it’s important to take this type of event very seriously also.

If your earthmover is experiencing milder symptoms, call your mobile mechanic to come and take a look at it. It’s likely that even if the problem is fixable easily, the earthmover will require some form of maintenance alongside this that you may not have been able to identify.

In saying this, it’s a great idea to also become familiar with common issues of earthmovers and their operations so you can identify and understand problems for you own information. It’s likely the operations manual to the earthmover is in the vehicle. Flip this open and take a look at some key pages. The ‘repair’ might be as simple as flipping a switch or pushing a button in some cases.

There are also sometimes troubleshooting steps within these manuals that can assist you in identifying what is wrong with the machinery. We recommend you do not to attempt to try any of these yourself. In fact, we recommend leaving it to an expert earthmover mechanic to diagnose and troubleshoot to ensure you don’t get injured in the process, make the problem worse, or void the warranty.

Prevention is the best medicine

There are some regular general maintenance tasks you can do yourself to prevent issues and prevent a callout for a mobile mechanic. Things such as applying lubricant to joints, changing oil, cleaning the earthmover, and checking for wear and tear can be easily done. Of course if you’re not sure how to do these, get your mobile mechanic to show you how or leave it to the professionals (like us) to take care of.

Ensure that whilst you’re operating the earthmoving machinery that you always follow the safety and training instructions. These are in place for the reason to protect you and others around you. The instructions also ensure the safety of the vehicle and can minimise wear and tear.

Ensure you book the earthmover in for regular inspections, repairs, and maintenance to ensure prime performance and safety too. Prevention is the best cure when dealing with high-risk earthmoving machinery.

Extend the life and performance of your earthmoving machinery with mobile servicing by Diesel West. We’ll come to you for your convenience. At Perth-based Diesel West Mechanical Services, we provide high quality mobile servicing and repairs throughout the metro area and beyond. Our qualified diesel and equipment mechanics are experts at fault diagnosis and repair and have extensive experience working with earthmoving equipment.

For mobile diesel mechanical services in the Perth area, contact Diesel West today on 0427 501 378.