The Cost of a Breakdown
An unplanned repair on a piece of construction equipment is more than parts and labor. Add the crew standing around while the machine is down, rush service and missed deadlines, and a single breakdown costs far more than the repair itself.
A preventive maintenance program catches that same failure during scheduled service, before it stops the machine and the crew around it.
Common Failures That PM Prevents
Cooling system failure — Hoses degrade, coolant loses effectiveness, and radiators plug with debris. Replacing a worn hose during PM prevents an engine overheat repair.
Hydraulic system contamination — Dirty hydraulic fluid destroys pumps and cylinders. A scheduled fluid and filter change prevents replacing hydraulic components.
Fuel system degradation — Water in fuel, clogged filters, and worn injectors reduce power and eventually kill engines. PM catches water contamination before it reaches injectors.
Electrical failures — Corroded connections, worn alternators, and degraded batteries cause no-start conditions. PM identifies voltage drops and resistance issues before they strand a machine.
Undercarriage wear — On tracked machines, the undercarriage is one of the biggest maintenance costs. PM measures wear rates and schedules replacement before components damage each other.
PM Schedule Recommendations
Follow these intervals as a baseline. Adjust based on operating conditions — dust, heat, and heavy use accelerate wear.
| Interval | Service Items |
|---|---|
| Every 250 hours | Engine oil and filter, visual inspection, fluid levels, air filter check |
| Every 500 hours | Hydraulic filter, fuel filter, coolant test, battery test, belts and hoses |
| Every 1,000 hours | Hydraulic fluid sample and analysis, coolant flush (if needed), valve adjustment, injector inspection |
| Every 2,000 hours | Undercarriage measurement (tracked machines), turbo inspection, complete electrical system test |
| Annually | Full machine inspection regardless of hours, update maintenance records |
Preventive Maintenance at Force
Force schedules preventive maintenance by engine hours for motor graders, excavators, loaders and the yard trucks that work with them. Each visit ends with a written condition report per unit, so problems show up before they stop the job. Call us to set up a schedule for your fleet.
What Scheduled Maintenance Prevents
Routine service catches the obvious failures — the ones that come from neglected oil changes, clogged filters, and low fluid levels. They are also the cheapest failures to prevent.
Regular diagnostic checks catch the ones that build slowly: sensor and emissions faults that end in a derate, electrical issues that leave a machine dead, and fuel system wear that costs power before it stops the machine.
The Return on PM
Compare the two sides for any machine you depend on:
- •Without PM — Every unplanned breakdown costs the repair, the crew standing around and the missed deadline.
- •Basic PM — Catches the neglect failures before they stop the machine.
- •Complete PM — Adds the slow-building failures that only fluid analysis and diagnostics catch early.
Scheduled maintenance pays for itself if it prevents just one major breakdown.
How to Get Started
Contact Force for a fleet assessment. We'll review your equipment list, current maintenance records, and operating conditions, then recommend the right plan for each machine.
All service is performed on-site by Force technicians with laptop diagnostics. No need to transport machines to a shop for routine maintenance.
