You may be wasting money if you're not correctly preparing your
compact equipment for your busy season. Something as simple
as a flat tire on a skid-steer loader — easily identified and fixed
before the season starts — could cost you hundreds of dollars if
you consider employee wages, repairs and project delays.
It's not too late to follow a simple preventive maintenance
checklist. Outlined below are four easy steps that you, your op-
erator or your mechanic should review before you start working
this busy season. Always follow your compact equipment owner's
manual to ensure you're installing the correct filters and replacing
the right fluid types.
In addition to following the owner's manual, pay careful at-
tention to your loader's tires or tracks, battery and fluids. Attach-
ments should receive equal attention to your compact loader to
ensure they're ready to work properly.
1. CHECK THE BATTERY
Inspect your loader's battery after winter, whether the machine
has been in use or was inactive.
"Today's equipment always has a draw on the battery, so un-
less you have maintained or disconnected the battery over the
winter, the battery will slowly run down and will need to be
charged before spring operation," said Mike Fitzgerald, Bobcat
loader product specialist.
4 Tips to Prepare Your
Loader for the Busy Season
TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT
ALL
PHOTOS
PROVIDED
BY
BOBCAT
COMPANY
Seasonal maintenance can extend
machine life, improve performance
■ BY ALLISON MCNEAL
28 May/June 2015 Landscape and Irrigation www.landscapeirrigation.com
