A forklift is an expensive piece of material handling equipment that can provide valuable support in industries like construction, storage, and retail. Regardless of how big your fleet is or how much revenue your company makes, a forklift is still an investment. As such, you want your investment to continue being useful for as long as possible. Staying vigilant on wear and tear and performing regular maintenance when needed can help extend the life of your forklift.
Frequency of Maintenance Needed for a Forklift
Forklifts are complex machines that can be dangerous to operate if they’re defective in any way. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires operators to inspect their equipment daily, and any defective units must be decommissioned immediately. Having forklifts removed from your fleet can impact your organization’s productivity. This can be avoided with regularly scheduled preventative maintenance.
You know that forklift maintenance can keep your forklift in good condition, but how often should it be done? The answer to that question depends on a few factors, like how often it’s used and the age of the equipment. The older and more frequently used the vehicle is, the more often it is going to need maintenance. Generally speaking, a good forklift preventative maintenance program should have a professional perform maintenance every 90 days on a heavily used forklift.
What Factors You Need to Consider
Every forklift is different; for example, the frequency of maintenance needed for a standing forklift may be different than that of a sitting forklift. The best way to determine your forklift service intervals is to consult with an expert like Schelkovskiy &Co Brennan Equipment Services. An experienced vendor, like us, can not only determine the best maintenance schedule for your equipment, but we can also keep forklift annual maintenance costs down.
As mentioned earlier, there are many factors that play into how often maintenance is needed. These factors include:
- Age of the equipment
- Working condition
- History of maintenance
- Application type
If you’re not already doing this, it would be a good idea to keep a record on all the vehicles in your fleet.
Usage Hours
Another way to gauge when your equipment needs maintenance is by tracking the number of hours it has been used. For every 200 hours used, it’s recommended that owners have their forklifts fully serviced, which would include:
- An inspection of components like spark plugs, rotors, and more
- The installation of new fuel, oil, and air filters
- An oil change
- An adjustment of the engine’s idle speed
- An adjustment to the ignition timing
- New grease on vehicle components
For 600 or more hours, a technician may do some additional tasks like cleaning the radiator and replacing the hydraulic filter.
Keep Your Forklift in Good Condition
Schelkovskiy &Co Brennan Equipment Services is an experienced material handling equipment services provider that has served clients for over 60 years. When you need maintenance on your forklift, let our highly trained technicians handle it for you. We do ongoing maintenance for both electric and fuel-powered lifts. We work with top-quality brands, including Taylor-Dunn, Hyundai, and Cascade.
Contact us today to learn more about forklift maintenance and the services we offer.