The mining industry involves the coordinated interaction of huge machinery. The breakdown of a single piece of heavy equipment can affect the whole fleet's productivity, meaning the loss of thousands of dollars per hour.
Because of this teamwork scheme, we consider preventative maintenance the right approach for mining heavy equipment. Machines will be at peak conditions, maintaining efficiency and minimizing unplanned downtimes and accidents due to breakdowns.
Although preventative maintenance means multiple planned downtimes, it has cost-saving benefits in the long run since operating a machine until failure will affect multiple parts, leading to more servicing, replacements, longer downtime and production loss.
Understanding the Importance of Preventative Maintenance
Proactive maintenance for mining is important because, unlike reactive maintenance, it addresses potential failures before they occur.
Operating mining equipment until failure causes random downtimes, and repairs also need more parts and labor, increasing costs. Efficiency will drop because employees will spend time figuring out the cause of the failure and getting the replacement parts.
On top of that, failures increase the possibility of accidents. Take, for example, a 25 ft. wide by 85 ft. long by 33 ft. high mining haul truck with faulty brake discs or a hydraulic mining shovel leaking hydraulic oil with a fully loaded bucket of 34 cubic meters capacity.
Preventative maintenance gets ahead of those scenarios. Seamlessly minor things like daily inspections, lubrication or thoroughly cleaning the machine will help you spot or prevent costly breakdowns. The machine's components will last longer, thus, extending the equipment's useful life.
Regular Inspection Schedules
Because mining equipment lifts and transports heavy loads, in harsh environments, on uneven terrains and for long-hour shifts, they'll wear out quickly.
Schedule regular inspections before shift hour begins. Look for signs of potential failures such as leakages, dents, cracks, fumes or excessive vibration.
For wheeled equipment — haul trucks, loaders, scrapers — check the following:
- Deep cuts, abnormal wear, exposed plies or under-inflated tires
- Dents on rims
- Loose or missing wheel lugs
- Brake fluid leakages
- Test the brakes by driving at five mph and hitting the brake firmly. The vehicle should stop quickly in a straight line without pulling sideways.
For tracked equipment — excavators, hydraulic mining shovels, dozers, drill rigs — check the following:
- Cracked or missing track shoes or pads
- Dented rollers
- Leaks from rollers or the gearbox
- Sharp sprocket teeth
- Frozen links
- Missing pins
- Dented bushings
- Dents on buckets
Regardless of the type of undercarriage, during pre-operational inspections, keep an eye on the following:
- Fluid leakages around the equipment and from attachments
- Caked dirt on hydraulic cylinders, a sign of worn-out seals
- Fluid levels (engine oil, hydraulic oil, transmission, coolant, brakes, washer)
- Wear and tear on bucket teeth or cutting edge
- Condition of the air filters (clogged)
- Condition of oil filters (leaks, dents or cracks)
- Condition of the fire suppression system
- Dents on belly pans
- Start the engine and check for excessive vibration and abnormal smoke or fumes from the exhaust system.
Essential Maintenance Activities
After identifying potential problems, address them immediately.
Tighten wheel lugs or replace those missing. Get your tires to the proper pressure. Adjust the track tension and replace worn-out parts like the sprocket or rollers. Replace worn-out seals and cracked hoses, and fix or replace damaged hose connections.
Top off the coolant and washer fluid level. Get engine, hydraulic and transmission oil levels to the proper mark. Replace damaged oil filters. Change or carefully blow out clogged air filters.
As important as service or fixing potential problems is to do scheduled maintenance. Some essential maintenance activities to keep mining heavy equipment in top condition are as simple as thoroughly cleaning the machine and applying lubrication to grease points to minimize friction.
Other essential maintenance tasks at specific hour intervals are:
- Change oil (engine, hydraulic, transmission)
- Replace oil and air filters
- Clean the radiator and change the coolant fluid
- Check the condition of the horn, lights, backup alarm, and camera
- Check the condition of ROPS (roll-over protection system)
- Check the operator or manufacturer manual for complete recommended hour intervals maintenance activities
Besides all the above, consider operator training as a maintenance activity. A certified, trained operator knows the importance of regular inspections and scheduled service and will operate the mining equipment properly, minimizing wear, tear and accidents.
If you are a certified mining operator or fleet manager willing to get his hands dirty with oil changes, our 1,000-Hour Maintenance Service of a Komatsu PC200LC Excavator article will be helpful.
Long-term Benefits of Preventative Maintenance
So far, you've seen some benefits of preventative maintenance on mining equipment. Let's dive deeper into it.
First, repair costs are lower because you usually fix, change or service a single item. A worn-out or broken part affects others. Thus, you may deal with multiple repairs and replacements.
Take, for example, bucket teeth. Worn-out bucket teeth or cutting edge won't be able to penetrate the soil easily. To solve this problem, the operator must force the hydraulic pump, overstressing the system. The operator could also thrust the equipment forward to help the bucket dig, causing premature wear on the tracks.
Both practices affect other components.
If the operator chooses to force the pump, the seals will wear out faster or fail as pressure increases, causing oil leakages. As oil leaks, the seals can no longer keep debris or dirt from getting in the system, and the boom will lose power.
On the other hand, driving the equipment forward to help the bucket dig affects the tracks' lifespan. The grouser lugs will wear prematurely. A track with low-height lugs will spin under load, wearing out track shoes and forcing the entire drivetrain.
Second, fewer repairs and replacement parts are equal to efficiency. Well-maintained mining equipment will spend more time producing profits and less time generating expenses and possibly idling other machines.
Third, preventative maintenance minimizes accidents associated with machine breakdowns.
Think about the worn-out bucket teeth example in this section. An overstressed hydraulic system leaking oil could cause the boom to lose power and drop its load on other equipment or employees. Likewise, an excavator with low-high lugs could slip on a wet and steep slope, colliding with objects or persons.
Final Thoughts
Preventative maintenance gets one step ahead of machine failure. Regular inspections, scheduled service and maintenance will extend the life of heavy equipment.
Regardless of the planned downtimes of maintenance activities, the long-term benefits are undeniable: better performance, more efficiency, productivity, profits and fewer breakdowns and accidents.
We encourage you to boost efficiency and maintain a safe mining environment by adopting regular maintenance schedules and practices. Your mining heavy equipment operator manual has all the information you need.
Forget unplanned downtimes with our high-quality aftermarket parts, from tires and rubber tracks to rollers, idlers, and sprockets. Visit Fortis HD and see for yourself our extensive selection of undercarriage replacement parts.
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