Valley Preventative Maintenance Tips
Reduce the risk of down time, crop loss, and expensive repairs.
1. Drive Train To maximize the life of your drive train and keep it operating trouble-free, drain water from the gearbox and center drive and make sure the gear lubricant is at the proper level.
2. Wheel Tracks Be sure to fill deep wheel tracks during the off-season to reduce stress on irrigation, tillage, and harvest equipment. To help prevent future tracking, consider changing to a different type of tire, adding floatation such as a 3-wheel basebeam or modify the sprinkler package to reduce water application to the wheel tracks.
3. Motor Contractors Damaged motor contractors can reduce the life of the drive unit motor, so be sure to inspect and replace worn contractors.
4. Tire Pressure Tires are vital to the operation of irrigation equipment. Be sure to check tire pressure and tighten lug bolts, as well as evaluate the overall tire condition.
5. Sprinkler Package Sprinkler packages should be changed at least every 10,000 hours of operation. Regularly check for broken or worn sprinkler components and replace them as necessary. Also consider running a new sprinkler design which could maximize efficiency for soil and crop type.
6. Energy Efficiency You can minimize water pumping costs by lowering pressure when possible. To ensure that water is being used efficiently, check the machine's water pressure at the pivot point, and for sprinkler packages with pressure regulators check the line pressure at the last tower.
7. Pivot Alignment Ensure the tower box microswitches are set properly. Improper settings can cause pivot misalignment, which results in nuisance shutdowns.
8. U-joints Evaluate the equipment for worn u-joint inserts and ensure driveshaft shields are in place for safety.
9. Electrical Connections Be sure to power down the equipment before checking any electrical connections. Once the power is off, check for loose connections or loose cord grips in tower boxes.
10. Moving Parts Steel moving on steel without proper lubrication can lead to unnecessary wear and tear on irrigation equipment. Be sure to grease all moving parts, including the pivot point bearing, towable hubs, corner rollers, and legs.