running a backhoe - Backhoe Operation Tips

Warming Up Your Backhoe

It's important to take care of your backhoe for many reasons, but two always stand out for me. Firstly, it will help prevent accidents because you'll be spotting potential prolems early on. Secondly, if you look after your backhoe it will be more reliable and it will almost certainly last longer, and we both know – backhoes ain't cheap!

Ok, so one of the best habits you can get into with your backhoe is to let it warm up properly each day before you use it. Just like in your car, whenever you don't use it for a while, say overnight, all the oil gathers in the bottom of the engine and stays there until you start it. It's only when the engine is running that the oil gets circulated. That means when you first start your engine there's not much oil on the engine parts, which means there's no lubrication.

It's important that your backhoe is lubricated and running smoothly before you start work with it, and it can take as long as 20 minutes before the oil is fully circulated. In any case, you should let the engine run for at least 10 minutes before you use the machine for any work. Read all of Warming Up Your Backhoe →