What is the best way to clean heavy equipment?
If you have heavy equipment and are washing it yourself or looking for a pressure washing contractor, you may be wondering what exactly is the best method to clean it all.
Every machine owner or pressure washer technician probably has their own way of cleaning a piece of heavy equipment, but here are a few tips to make sure the job gets done right and as quickly as possible.
Before I get into the details, however, I need to address the variety of machine owner considerations, such as how often to clean and degrease an excavator or other piece of construction equipment.
Some homeowners and businesses clean their equipment as rarely as a year or more, and some monthly. As you can imagine, this can drastically change the amount of time and effort that goes into cleaning a machine. Pressure washing alone will not clean or degrease an excavator, backhoe, or any other piece of machinery. Power alone won’t do it and too much power in the wrong places can push grease out of important wear areas.
The fat, over time, will begin to harden, which will likely require scraping from the areas around the knuckles and arms. The driest parts won’t move with high pressure alone, no matter how much you wash it.
These areas need to be degreased with a suitable cleaner and usually take longer than the actual washing process. What that soap or degreaser is can have a lot to do with where you wash your equipment and what the local and federal laws are.
Is it biodegradable? Is it acid or alkaline? Where does the waste go? How are hydrocarbons managed? For example, let’s say you have a washdown bay with an oil/water separator. Do you know if the degreaser or soaps you are using are going to cause problems in the process of getting the oil out of the water?
Pressure washing with hot water has advantages over cleaning with cold water. First of all, hot water is itself a kind of detergent, which means that it can break down dirt, grease and oil on its own. Adding a good high-pressure soap can be more efficient, allowing you to use less and reduce the amount of runoff, water used, and soap on the ground, which is always better for the local environment.
Removing dirt and grease with cold water takes a lot longer to achieve a satisfactory result and, again, uses a lot more degreaser and soap.
IMPORTANT: Keep the tracks as clean as possible between equipment cleanings, as highly compacted mud and vegetation in and around the tracks of a machine, such as an excavator, can take as long or longer than the rest of the machine.
This is even more important in the winter and early spring. Wet mud, bits of branches and tree limbs, and freezing can stop you dead in your tracks. And this will take even more time to free you. Therefore, the operator must, in his spare moments, ensure that the tracks are regularly serviced.
Finally, is it profitable to clean your equipment? If you’re not particularly busy and have a good hot water pressure washer, then yes, it is. But if you’re busy paying wages to an operator who’s better at cleaning grounds than washing equipment, and you think the job isn’t good for you, the answer is no.
A qualified professional technician can degrease and pressure wash a machine faster and better, which can actually mean a cost savings, rather than additional expense.
So the next time you want to have a clean excavator, backhoe, dump truck, or whatever, you might want to call a professional pressure washer that uses hot water. If there is no water on site, ask them if they can bring their own water and how much experience they have cleaning heavy equipment.
And whether you’re in Vancouver, British Columbia, Dallas, Texas, or Minot, North Dakota, be sure to adhere to local and national green standards.
Check here for more information on washing equipment, high and low pressure power for different cleaning jobs.