How To Winterize Your Construction Equipment

How To Winterize Your Construction Equipment
  • Opening Intro -

    During the winter, successful construction businesses will “winterize” their equipment, and yours should be no different.

    If you are asking yourself, “What does that mean?” don’t worry.

    Winterizing your construction equipment refers to preparing your equipment so it doesn’t freeze during the winter.

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If this sounds familiar, you may have heard this term refer to pipes, hoses, and backflow prevention devices. Winterizing is crucial for these components since water runs through them. Whenever the water freezes, it destroys the pipes and backflow preventers.

Yet, construction equipment will also malfunction and fail if it’s left to freeze. In addition, you’ll need to protect your forklift batteries. If you want to keep your gear safe, here is a guide on how to winterize your construction equipment.

Use Raised Surfaces To Store Your Equipment

If the temperature dips below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, your tires can freeze to the ground. This causes tears and damages to appear on your drive train. Needless to say, you don’t want that, so storing your equipment off the ground is vital.

Raised planks come in handy for this reason. They will prevent your tires from freezing to the cold ground. In addition to equipment with tires, you should also store your buckets and blades on planks.

Avoid Contaminating Your Fuel Tanks

Water and contaminants can easily enter your fuel tanks if you aren’t careful. However, the threat of contamination increases during the colder months. Water has a better chance of entering your fuel tanks during winter due to snow and increased moisture in the air.

Contaminants are also more abundant during the winter. Whenever fueling your equipment, always pay close attention to the flow. This process will help you prevent engine contamination, which is a disaster scenario you want to avoid.

Prevent Your Hose, Battery, and Wires From Freezing

The parts of your construction vehicles that are most susceptible to freezing are the hoses, batteries, and wires. Whenever outdoor temperatures get low, you should start to check on these components more frequently.

Frozen batteries won’t function, which slows down your business. Furthermore, they also are an explosion hazard. What this means is that if you try to charge a frozen battery, it might blow up.

At this point, you might find yourself wondering how you can keep these components warm. There are a few ways to do so.

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First, you should never start your equipment without giving it time to warm up. Next, you can use heat tape to keep your batteries, wires, and hoses from freezing.

By now, you should know how to winterize your construction equipment. It’s an essential process that you should go through each year, especially if you live in an area that gets below freezing.

As long as you keep some heat tape on hand and monitor your fueling, you’ll be fine. Also, don’t forget to store your equipment on raised planks.

Image Credit: by Adobe Stock royalty-free image #20921034

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