5 tips for maintaining your road roller

Road rollers, when given the right care and attention, can be a great piece of machinery with incredible longevity. When they are well cared for, road rollers can go for years with no real issues. However, in far too many cases, operators and mechanics will neglect their rollers for too long, meaning worse service and potentially even breakdowns. This list of maintenance tips will tell you how to keep your rollers in the best shape possible for as long as possible.

1) Perform daily maintenance checks.

This tip might seem a little bit simple, but any damage that is fatal to your machinery could happen at any moment of operation. By performing checks on a daily basis, you can get ahead of any significant damage and look out for the signs day by day, rather than being forced to react to any problems as they come. Just by adding 5 minutes to the end of a workday, catastrophic damage can be prevented by a simple walk-around each evening.

2) Add fuel at the end of each day.

As a part of your end of day checks, it’s important to make sure that the fuel tank of your roller is full before going away for the night. Otherwise, you risk condensation getting in the fuel tank, and any water entering your engine can cause a high level of damage and put your roller out of commission until it’s repaired.

3) Make sure your water tank is flowing.

This will take a little longer than the morning checks, and needs doing far less often, but fluid running out in your water tank can cause things to stick to the roller and render it useless. In addition to fluid running out, you’ll need to keep an eye out for any build-up in your pipes and nozzles. Anything stopping your water flowing could stop your roller, even a little blockage in a hose.

4) Operate the machinery properly.

Using your machinery correctly, quite simply, makes sure it can behave in predictable ways and doesn’t get damaged in odd circumstances. Damage from misuse can be far more difficult to repair than wear from regular usage simply because it can be difficult to know what exactly went wrong. To avoid big repair bills in the future, make sure all operators are trained and using equipment responsibly.

5) Keep the drum clean.

The drum is the most important aspect of your roller, as without it your machinery isn’t doing anything. Keeping the drum clean and well lubricated makes sure that there are no imperfections in the road’s surface, and there’s no harm done to the drum by asphalt sticking to the surface and not letting go.

Looking for used road rollers for sale? For products with plenty of longevity and wear left in them, get in touch with a knowledgeable and friendly member of the MY Equipment team.