CNGA Looseleaf Oct/Nov 2018

18 Sample Maintenance Checklist VEHICLES AND FARM EQUIPMENT Do preventative maintenance suggested by the manufacturer and owners manual, change oil, and then check for and fix, replace or find the following as necessary: » » tire wear and pressure » » spare tires, lug wrenches, and jacks » » all lug nuts » » windshield wipers » » trailer plug condition » » paperwork (registration and insurance) stored in the glove box » » up-to-date emissions tests EQUIPMENT WITH SMALL MOTORS SUCH AS MOWERS » » change oil, replace air filters, tune engines, and replace motors as necessary FACILITIES Check, clean, replace parts, repair and grease, align or otherwise maintain the following: » » flat filler brushes, chain tension, bearings, and conveyor belts » » propagation area bench decks and legs » » fan screen guards, belts, bearings, motors, vents, and pulleys » » gas-fired unit heater lighting mechanisms, nozzles and vents » » temperature and humidity sensors » » sprinkler system hoses, tracks, and wheels » » greenhouse range poly roof TRAILERS, CARTS AND WHEELBARROWS » » check and fix beds, tires, and wheels TOOLS SUCH AS SHOVELS, PRUNERS, TILLERS, ETC. » » check and fix handles, tines, etc. SPRAYERS AND PUMPS » » replace as necessary, clean, and winterize colorad o nga.org LooseLeaf  October/November 2018 “Over time, we tend to learn which parts tend to need replacing and when,” he said. “A good example is we have a float valve in one of our water tanks. We don’t wait till it goes bad. We replace it every November or December and it takes maybe an hour. If we didn’t, it could go out in the middle of a busy day, and then we would have to clean the water off the floor, shut the water off and fix the valve, which would take a lot longer.” Another timesaver is keeping spare parts on hand. “We’ve done it for years. We always have a replacement part on the shelf and when we use it, we purchase another one to put back on the shelf. We have extra brushes, fan motors, a controller, gas valves, relays, a vacuum diaphragm that operates a switch, and every component we need to have,” he said. Good record-keeping is also a time as well as money saver. Little Valley created and updates a computerized spreadsheet that lists every piece of equipment with an engine in it. Staff tracks the hours that the equipment runs, and the mechanic uses that database to schedule maintenance and track service history. “We have a history of how many hours we can get on a piece of equipment, which is really helpful for budgeting capital expenditures,” Arpin said. “We make recommendations for which equipment needs to be replaced. Within a couple thousand hours, you can know reliably when it’s going to fail. Instead of it breaking down and needing replaced when we may be having a bad season or have no money for other reasons, we can look into the future and plan for which equipment to replace.” Besides being in a better financial position to make the purchase, the company has more time to consider what is the best and most affordable replacement to purchase. Plus, the service history provides evidence of which equipment has performed better over the long term and will make a better purchase. Linn at Fort Collins Wholesale, who keeps paper records of work performed on each piece of equipment, agrees that good record-keeping is a key to efficient maintenance work that results in many benefits. His equipment lists easily fill about six pages. “The better records you have of what you do for each piece of equipment, the more effective the whole process will be. It’s sort of like your health record at the doctor,” he said. “If someone can see a note in the records about a vehicle getting a new battery in 2018, they know they shouldn’t be buying a new battery for it. It saves money to know what happened. At the time of the maintenance, you think you will remember it but a few months later you may be confused about which vehicle it was, or someone else might be using or working on it and need to know.” Little Valley Wholesale Nursery employees replace flat filler brushes Linn adjusts the tension on a chain of a feed wagon at Fort Collins Wholesale Nursery. Linn greases a sickle-bar mower.