It’s easy to forget and lose track of maintenance schedules for forklifts. However, it is detrimental to both yours and your workplace occupational health and safety if forklifts do not undergo daily routine checks, as well as sticking to a maintenance schedule.
Benefits of regular forklift maintenance
The number one reason is workplace safety. The working environment of forklifts itself can be hazardous, without regular forklift maintenance, workers can be more susceptive to accidents and being exposed to dangerous situations. Forklift break downs as well as control system failures can cause preventable accidents and more control over your forklift.
Regular preventative maintenance also affects the performance and longevity of the forklift. Regular oil, tire and brake checks will help increase the efficiency of your forklift. Detecting minor problems early ensures that it doesn’t damage long term productivity which will end up costing much more to fix and repair. Poorly maintained forklifts will make tasks more time-consuming as it affects the battery-life of the forklift.
Cost savings is a great incentive for these regular checks. It is often cheaper to fix minor issues than having to completely replace a certain part or the entire engine. If it is not detected earlier, these issues could also lead to the forklift being unusable for a certain period of time which effects workplace performance and overall productivity of jobs.
Frequency of forklift maintenance
Daily inspections should be conducted before use to detect any faulty machinery to ensure a safe working environment. Different forklift types such as electric forklifts, internal combustion forklifts or liquid propane forklifts, may also require you to check specific parts, with some having a more thorough inspection.
However, this checklist of general daily inspections are worth noting:
- Hoses
- Tire pressure and conditions
- Seat belt function
- Fluid levels
- Forks and overhead guards
- Brake performance
Daily inspections are good to proactively detect any malfunctions, but it is still important to schedule in monthly, quarterly, and semi-annual maintenance for your forklift for more thorough checks. These could include smaller checks such as drive belt tension and changing the oils, to larger issues such as replacement of fuel filters and brake fluids.
Forklift manufacturers recommend that if your forklift is used quite frequently, it is best to service it every 200 hours of operation, every 600 hours the hydraulic system of the forklift should be serviced. Other factors that determine the regularity of services include the age and condition of the forklift, working conditions, how prone it is to wear and tear, and maintenance history. Maintenance needs of each forklift is different, making sure to consult with a qualified technician is important to ensure you are getting the right fixes and correct parts if they need replacing
Create a forklift maintenance service schedule
A scheduled maintenance also keeps you in check so you won’t forget to service your forklift as they will often send you a reminder when your next service is due. All inspections should be done by qualified maintenance technicians only, especially if certain parts or tires need to be repaired and replaced. This gives you more peace of mind and ensures that quality and thorough checks have been done, especially for the semi-annual maintenance.
Regular forklift maintenance allows you to detect faults sooner, save you a lot of time and money in the future. When doing these routine checks it is important to remember the type of forklift you have, as well as keeping all records of your services. If you are looking for a cost-effective and reliable forklift service and repair, our fully trained and qualified team are ready to help. Contact us today for more information on our 24-hour forklift servicing, and how we can help provide you with quality parts, servicing and repairs for any type of forklift.