Techy Tip

Bernhard's Technical Training Manager, Ben Taylor, says that regular maintenance will save you money!

We all know the time old saying "a stitch in time saves nine" and, from my experience working in a large machinery dealer, the saying could not be truer.

Every day I would be quoting for repairs to machines which, had the basic maintenance been carried out, would not have been needed. Then there wouldn't have been any need for customers to get irate and scream down the phone at me when they received the bill!

We all are aware of the reasons why we change engine oil filters on a machine and most of us (??) follow regular service intervals for replacing them. It is strange then, that we let things such as a noisy roller bearing pass us by without any action. Instead of paying just a few pounds for a new bearing, we end up having to pay a couple of hundred for a complete new roller when that noisy bearing collapses and takes out the roller shaft, seals and housings with it.

It's also a common myth that the more we grind cutting units, the quicker the cylinders and bottom blades wear out. In fact, it's actually quite the opposite.

If we grind regularly, we keep the cutting blades sharp and even. This means we have no need to run the units with a heavy contact. This, in turn, means that we get no heat build up on the blades which causes wear and damage to the main components. When the blades go dull on a unit that's ground regularly, a light grind is all that is required to bring back perfectly sharp edges to the cylinder and bottom blade. With a unit that has been running heavy contact, we have to grind the cylinder longer and more aggressively to remove the damage and uneven wear. This results in us removing more material from the cylinder and more often than not, having to replace the bottom blade.

So, next time your mower develops a new squeak or rattle, it's worth investigating. A minor problem now could end up being a major, expensive problem a few weeks down the line!