How Often Should Your Forklift Be Maintained?

You’ve invested in a forklift to keep your business running. These machines provide valuable support in industries like construction, storage and retail. But if you’re ignoring regular maintenance, then you’re not getting everything you can out of this investment.

How often you have the forklift maintained is directly correlated to the machine’s lifespan and efficacy. In fact, federal guidelines from OSHA stipulate that forklifts must be in safe operating condition and should be repaired only by authorized personnel.

If you’re interested in forklift maintenance in Texas, read on to find out more.

Preventative maintenance

One of the most important things you can do is regularly keep on top of basic maintenance items. The fact is that the more the forklift is used, the more frequent maintenance will need to be. A forklift with significant, daily use will need to be inspected every 90 days.

Other factors should also be considered when creating a maintenance schedule. How old is the equipment? Is it in working order? Does it have a history of being well maintained? If the forklift is dirty or neglected, it will need to be maintained more often.

The best way to decide on a maintenance schedule is to contact a technician who specializes in these kinds of machines. They can tell you based on the make, model, type and age of the forklift how frequently you’ll need to take care of it.

Time vs. operating hours

There are two ways of measuring forklift use: operating hours and time of use. However, many specialists now recommend hours of use as the best gauge for a maintenance schedule.

Every 200 hours, it’s generally recommended that forklift owners have a technician perform full service, including:

• Inspect components such as the spark plugs, rotors, distributor point and lift
• Install new fuel, oil and air filters
• Change the oil
• Adjust the engine’s idle speed
• Adjust ignition timing
• Grease the truck’s components and chassis

For 600-hour maintenance, a technician will also take care of items such as:

• Replacing hydraulic filter and hydraulic oil
• Cleaning the truck’s radiator
• Inspecting items including the hand brake, hoses, PCV valve, transmission oil, tilt cylinder operation, carriage rollers and lift chain tension
• Adjusting chassis links, mast support bearing and clutch release

Every forklift is somewhat different, so you’ll want to find an expert in maintaining a forklift in Texas before establishing a schedule. Whenever you’re looking for forklift rental or repairs, choose V-Bar Equipment Company. Since 1993, we’ve offered an exceptional level of service to forklift owners and operators. We rent heavy equipment and sell parts for every product we service.

V-Bar Equipment Company has set itself apart from the competition by having an excellent team of technicians on staff who are always ready to help you. We deliver all of our services with exceptional quality and workmanship. We want to earn your business each time you come to us—and it’s why so many businesses and forklift owners continue to come back to us for sales and service. Give us a call right away for more information!

Categorised in: Forklift Maintenance

This post was written by Writer