How to Maintain Your Tractor Attachments

Ask any tractor owner and they’ll tell you: Keeping up with the machine’s maintenance is critical. But what about those hard-working attachments you use every day? Attachment and implement maintenance is often overlooked, yet essential to ensure a long lifespan and peak performance. In this article, we share basic maintenance tips that will keep your tractor attachments running strong for many years to come.

6 Maintenance Tips for Tractor Attachments and Implements

When your Yanmar tractor is equipped with the right attachments, it can take your capabilities to a whole new level. Get the best from them day after day by following these simple maintenance tips.

Understand How They Operate

One of the best ways to stay on top of attachment maintenance is understanding how they work. This knowledge allows you to know which components should be inspected regularly, what normal operation looks like, and how to troubleshoot any common issues. There are many resources you can draw from for this information, including the attachment’s operation manual, your local tractor dealer, or the Yanmar Customer Experience Team.

Inspect and Clean Regularly

Just like you give your tractor a walkaround inspection at the start and end of the day as part of regular maintenance, the same approach should be taken with attachments. Catching dents, dings, or other minor damage that seems out of place early can help prevent larger issues in the long run. Tractor attachments also work long hours in the brush, dirt, and mud, meaning they should be kept clean after each use. When these elements build up it can diminish performance and lead to more severe problems.

Repair Damaged Components

When you do detect damage, don’t wait around to address it. Though it’s tempting to power through and work as long as possible, this may compromise the attachment’s integrity. Whether it’s a bent tooth on the loader bucket or a dinged blade on your finish mower, these sorts of issues can impact performance and safety. If you’re in need of replacement parts, the Yanmar Parts Store is a great starting point for genuine parts straight from the manufacturer.

Minimize Unnecessary Friction

Tractor attachments often have many moving parts operating at very high revolutions per minute (RPM). This makes maintaining the connection points especially important. To prevent them from wearing down due to the constant friction, keep them greased on a regular schedule. When in doubt, more grease is better than less. If you ever hear metal-on-metal sounds, stop operation immediately and inspect the attachment when it is cooled down and safe.

Test and Tighten Connections

Through regular use, bolts, nuts, and washers on attachments may loosen. This can result in additional vibrations or other irregularities during operation. Fortunately, checking your grease points provides the perfect opportunity to test and tighten these connections. In some cases they only require a hand tightening, while many others can be completed with a simple ratchet and socket set.

Monitor Your Hydraulics

Many advanced attachments like tractor grapples or backhoes utilize hydraulic systems that allow them to convert pressure into force for maximum performance. If your tractor is equipped with any of these attachments, they require a little extra attention. First, always keep a careful watch on hydraulic hoses for cracks or leaks. At the best the leaking liquid will make a mess around your property; at the worst it can cause the attachment to fail entirely.

Beyond your hydraulic hoses and connections, the hydraulic fluid is what gives these attachments their power. Just like engine oil, it gets dirty with use and needs to be changed regularly. To learn how often your hydraulic fluid should be changed, consult your tractor’s operator’s manual or consult with our Customer Experience Team.

Connect With Yanmar

At Yanmar, we offer a wide range of tractor attachments to help you work your land and maximize its potential. Whether you want to learn more about what different attachments can do or are looking to add some new options to your arsenal, our team is here to help. Please don’t hesitate to connect with us online or give us a call at 678-551-7369.

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