Keeping track of maintenance and repairs

[MBTRAC]

In our commercial farming operations for budgeting/forecasting/taxation we keep records/expenses of all items of capital equipment/plant.
And if it has any size engine (e.g.pumps/gen sets/tractors/trucks/combines/ATV's/earthmoving gear/vehicles) or is of signicant value (like seeders) we track all expenses against each individual item including repairs/damage/maintenance/fuel/service consumables/hours/purchase cost & date/wrtten down value using:-
- Excel Spreadsheets (makes for an easy total/individual/type/location reconciliation of cost to date/whole of life costings )
- Hard Files: folder for each individual item, containing all "whole of life" records (from purchase .....to disposal)
- Electronic Calendars/Project managment software to track/forecast/schedule all servicing & maintenance rebuilds of gear for our workshop/field service crew & produce "dash" mounted "next service/maintenance due" labels for all equipement
- All fiters are also painted with the date/hours changed, as are major components (engines/gearboxes/axles/alternators/starter/pumps..etc)
All the above assists with equipment resale value & aids informed decisions on replacement gear.
Might seem "over the top", but in commercial farming margins are low & costs high, so tracking/knowing every cost & optimising performance KPI's provides a fighting chance of making a $ at the end of the day...... only if the season happens to be favourable too.....

 

[grnspot110]

3 ring inder with clera page holders containg a spreadsheet I made. The spreadsheet includes a space to record date, service done, and mileage/hours.

I made up a 3-ring notebook with similar headings, sections for each tractor & copies of lubrication pages out of operator's manuals for most. ~~ grnspot

 

[bdeboer]

Vehicles I do it in the manual. Boats, tractors, equipment I right it on the filter.

Chris

I do the same, use a silver sharpie on black filters.

 

[Big Wave D]

+1 on the Excel spreadsheet.

 

[DT86]

I do the same, use a silver sharpie on black filters.

I just carve the month, year, hours in with my knife. I also keep my Kubota records in the same pouch that the owners manual came in, along with all the loan info.

 

[jejeosborne]

Do you have a smart phone? I use an app called gas buddy. Here's a screen shot. When I fill up with fuel and I have exceeded a limit, it will remind me. Just yesterday, it told me to rotate my tires. I have 4 motorcycles and an atv as well that I track. It also syncs between phones so I see what is going on with my daughters jeep.

 

[Soundguy]

My Deere has black oil filters and you have to remove the FEL to even get the side panel off to access the filter...at one time I started writing the servicing information on the underside of the hood but after ten years, 22 oil changes, and three hydro fluid and filter changes, etc. it would be really crowded by now. And much of it would have faded away anyhow.

i used to stick masking tape on the underside of hoods and black marker it on.. same with dark canned filters.. or straight on the side of the white canned ones. after ethanol went to gas I had to plan B it, as on most of the old fords I play with.. the carb sets right atop the fitler.. and if you have to pull the bolw drain or pull the sediment bowl to clean out water.. it dribbles right on the oil filter even if you are carefull.. and I found that ethanol gas takes off black magic marker pretty darn well!

 

[Skeeter Madness]

I use excel spreadsheets. They are extremely handy when it comes time to determine when maint is due, what was done, what it cost, how much I have invested, etc. As well, I provide the spreadsheets to the owner when I sell anything. This has usually helped me get my asking price when selling something as I have "reasonable" evidence of anything that was done. I provide the receipts as well. I also make up a spec sheet on everything I own so I can easily refer to them when it comes time to know how much oil, what filter/spark plug #, fuel filter, etc. Works very well for me.

 

[dstig1]

2 things I do - Excel spreadsheet with one tab for each vehicle for the details, and a sheet of paper with a chart printed on it in the garage for each vehicle for the regular stuff. I put oil changes and tire rotations on that and include when I did it, miles it was done at and when it should be done next with a date (for lesser used vehicles) and a mileage target. Easy to check if I am due for an oil change that way. Receipts go into a folder for each vehicle, mainly for warranty purposes. I keep vehicles forever, so those lifetime warranties have paid off nicely for me in several cases...

 

[tungularafishcamp]

Oil?, maintenance? I thought all these newfangled gagetts were gas n go, heck I have over 600 hrs on my kubota and have never even put gas in it.....gee.....
I guess my wife takes care of that stuff:shocked: