Winter work

People often ask me what I do during the winter. So I thought I would show you a few pictures of what we do.

Ball washer painting 

A golf cart engine being rebuilt 

Hydraulic wheel motor having new seal installed 

Reels lined up for grinding,we have 90 reels to go through.

Proactive Maintenance

TDo you look to stop problems before they happen or do you wait until they happen? Do you take shortcuts that create problems? Most problems can be prevented if you adopt a preventive mindset. The first step is to do a visual inspection of your equipment. This is most easily done when you do your daily adjustments. I do all my daily adjustments on the lift. I give rollers a shake and a spin to make sure they are ok. I look around for leaks and loose bolts. I then adjust reel to bedknife clearance. When the lift is coming down I look at tires and also look for things I may have missed on my first inspection. Last thing I do is check fluid levels. All this doesn't take very long. Operators are responsible  for blowing off, washing and fueling of there machine. I expect operators to do a good job and report any problems. Many mechanics don't treat operators very well. You need to treat them with respect, they run these machines all day and know if something doesn't seem right. Early in my career I didn't treat the operators well and consequently they didn't speak up when there was a problem. The other big key to success of a maintenance program is to repair things correctly. When I go to courses one of the biggest problems I see is half assed repairs. Do it right, that way it won't come back to haunt you. I hope this gives you some ideas on how start thinking in a more proactive manner. My philosophy on maintenance is don't do things twice, and don't make the same mistake twice. Thanks for following.

The clear plastic top to this gas cap is gone,it was directly below a conveyor carrying sand. It only took a day until the cushman had a plugged up carb. It would have been a a lot easier to replace the cap when it was first seen.

This isn't the way to fix a leak, the time spent on doing this would have been better spent on doing it right.

In the two preceding pics is a example of the mechanic causing the problem. When the tine fell out of the holder he tried tape to hold it in. When that didn't work he tried welding kit in. Neither worked! All I had to do was clean up the holder and reinstall the tines. Think of the time and money wasted, just because we didn't take the time to do it right.