Choosing The Right Heavy Construction Equipment

Just as your skid steer loader was a capital equipment investment for your concrete company, so too are all of the attachments you purchase to use with it.

Even though skid steer attachments come with some hefty price tags, they will save your business a lot of money by eliminating the need for extra pieces of heavy machinery. And, investing in attachments also saves your company the associated storage and maintenance costs for larger, unneeded machines.

Now that your business is growing and you have the budget to buy some industry-specific skid steer attachments so you can get the most out of your equipment and make your concrete jobs easier on your employees, it's vital you know how to maintain them. With proper maintenance, skid steer attachments will have a natural lifespan similar to your machine itself.

To properly care for skid steer attachments that are used with wet cement and dry concrete applications, follow each of these tips:

Tip: Always Wash Off Wet Cement Before It Has a Chance to Dry 

As you know, cement and concrete dust is caustic and will degrade metal parts. For this reason, you should have a company-wide policy that wet cement is always washed off of the skid steer and its attachments on the job site before it has a chance to dry. In addition, the skid steer and all attachments used on site in any given day should be cleaned and dried that same evening.

Tip: Liberally Grease All Moving Parts With a High-Quality Heavy Machinery Grease

When a skid steer attachment breaks, it is typically one of the movable parts that fail rather than one that's stationary. The best thing you can do to prevent damage to movable parts is to regularly apply a liberal amount of a high-quality heavy machinery grease to each of your attachment's moving parts. As with other moving machinery parts - more grease is always better than not enough!

Tip: Perform Regular Maintenance on Each Attachment in Accordance With the Instructions in the Owner's Manual

When manufacturers make their skid steer attachments to sell to consumers, they take great care to create comprehensive owner's manuals for them. Within each of your attachments' manuals, you will find all of the information necessary to properly perform any necessary maintenance. Rather than tossing aside the manual, take the time to read it and make sure you have a clear understanding of your attachments' maintenance needs.