Many times a crisis is one
that we have unwittingly created ourselves and our actions will often determine
whether or not we will survive that crisis. It’s the little things we often
ignore or fail to give proper attention that will quite literally turn a small
disaster into an even bigger one.
One thing that is easily
forgotten is routine maintenance. There is a reason why they call it routine.
It quite literally means what it says...routine. The routine maintenance of
your vehicles, equipment and other items should be included as a part of your
daily routine. It will make surviving a crisis a lot easier.
Items have a tendency to
wear out, break or simply go bad and then they will fail to work properly when
they may be needed most (i.e., Murphy’s Law). The solution is to avoid that
happening at the worst possible time. Things will last longer and work a lot
better if you give them the proper care and provide it with adequate maintenance on
a regular basis.
There is going to be a cost
factor that is associated with regular maintenance but it will usually be far
less than the cost of the needed repairs that may be incurred otherwise. Many
times simple maintenance will allow you to recognize a problem before major and
very costly repairs may be required. Failing to do the proper maintenance on
your equipment is a disaster waiting to happen.
The most important benefit of routine maintenance is the ability to avoid costly repairs and a breakdown at the worst possible time. Things will still break and
wear out but it shouldn’t happen as frequently. As a result, you might just make it easier
to survive with a little routine maintenance.
Got routine maintenance?
Posts
4 comments:
I worked at Sears, as a repairman for 15 years. One of the products I specialized in was gas powered snow throwers. My busiest call out time for them was right after the first significant snowfall, because the owners failed to "put them to bed" properly the previous spring. Sure, you can use Stabil, but it's preferable to completely empty the system for that length of time. With all the additives, the gas they sell today becomes unburnable muck in just a couple months.
got to agree with wannabe,to a point..Modern small engines use a lot of rubber,nylon,and other plastic parts in the carb system.The best way to keep it all clean is a periodic run,get the juices flowing,blow out the garbage,whatever.I'd rather have a tank of bad gas than rotted out plastic from a dry tank.
Ignoring the fuel issues,remember that the seals and o rings dry and rot out too!
Ant that rusty riding mower could easily be fixed up nice,a cheapo lawnmower engine,some tubes...it would be handy to pull firewood or whatever around the farm!
Dean in az
To: Wannabemountainman
I've noticed that leaving fuel in equipment is a common practice that causes a lot of problems. These problems can be fairly easy to avoid with some routine maintenance.
Thanks.
RW
To: Dean in AZ
Hey Dean! Good to hear from you again. The occasional "Crank it and run it." is a good way to make sure your equipment is going to be operational when it's needed. As you stated, it will also help to avoid problems with certain parts drying out or deteriorating.
Thanks Dean.
RW
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