Equipment tricks and tips

[porch monkey]

I looked but didnt see a tip section for the equipment users so I thought I'd start this thread. I learn a lot of stuff from other people...some of it seems so simple...but I'd just never thought of it before. Here's a few to get started:

1. If you have tractors or something else that uses hydraulic fluid you know how hard it can be to see the fluid level on some of the dipsticks. I keep a few pieces of chalk around to check mine. I pull the stick, wipe it off, then rub chalk over it...blow off the excess and stick it back in. Pull it out and look at it quick and you can easily see your fluid level


2. I keep an assortment of different color cable ties - small cheap ones that are just big enough to go around a hydraulic coupler or line. That way when I'm unhooking hyd lines I can just stick matching colors on em and makes it quicker to hook back up and dont have to go to the trouble of labeling them with tape, pen, etc


3. I pulled the side mirrors off an old junk pickup and keep em in the shop. Helps me a lot in seeing over into the engine compartment in a tractor without ahving to climb up in it. Mount the other one to a piece of scrap pvc pipe or other light tubing and use it to see under something without having to get down on the ground


4. Sometimes I have to use a test light in an awkward position or in bright light where its hard to see. I took a seatbelt buzzer out of an old truck and wired up some long leads on it and put a hook on it. That way I can hang it up wherever I want to on whatever Im working on and can still hear it go off when I make that connection



I'm sure most of you already do those too - but I'd like to hear your tips. Maybe if we keep adding to it enough it will stay up close to the top for newcomers to see it too...so lets hear em. No matter how simple you think it is...some of us dummies might not have thought of it yet. lol

 

[porch monkey]

Heres another tip:

Don't throw away a dollar to save a dime!!!

If youve got hired help that runs and maintains equipment, you dont always save money by providing them the cheapest stuff to work with. I dont hire anybody anymore but used to use a lot of hired help. But I know a guy who always buys his man the cheapest grease guns to grease his equipment with. His excuse is that the guy doesnt really take very good care of stuff so he doesnt want him to lose or tear up a good one. Well guess what happens when the hired man has to grease a fitting in a bad position and his coupler wont stay on and he doesnt have enough hands to pump the gun?? That fitting doesnt get grease - thats what happens!!! If he had spent a little more money and provided the guy with a pistol grip gun with a good coupler he could have saved himself money in the long run

He "saves money" buying hydraulic fluid too. He makes his hired man top off fluid levels out of the 5 gallon bucket. Unless somebodys watching him, all of the dirt, water and other crap that accumulates on top of the bucket goes right in with the fluid. Did that save money?? I try to get him to buy the guy gallon jugs to top off with because I think it would be cheaper for him in the long run.

Of course...in a perfect world we wouldnt have employees like that...we'd fire his ass. But in the real world we have to put up with some things. If you have employees maintaining expensive equipment, sometimes it costs you less to provide them with something a little better to work with. If you want maintenance to get done right, make maintenance easyier for them...not harder just to save a few bucks

 

[redprospector]

Ok, I'll play.

Backing a skidsteer is a pain in the neck (literally).
You can buy an inexpensive backup camera system for about $100. No more neck pain, and the first time you don't back into somethin it's paid for.

For keeping hydraulic oil going in the machine clean, rather than going to 1 gallon jugs. I use a grease/oil pump on a 5 gallon bucket. Use a rubber plug in the end of the hose when done pumping, and you're ready to pump clean oil the next time.

Andy