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Mini excavator, 1 to 3 tonnes

Your first-day checklist

Print it and keep it with the machine.

Your manufacturer's manual prevails. This sheet gives the order of the steps; every figure must be read in your own manual, as it changes from one model to the next.

  1. On delivery

    • Walk around it BEFORE you sign
    • Data plate present and legible
    • Count the attachments, ask for the ENGINE manual
    • Photograph it with the truck in frame

  2. Unloading

    • Firm level ground, well clear of edges
    • Clean ramps, secured to the bed
    • Off line? Come back down, line up, go again
    • Slow at the ramp-to-bed joint
    • Once loaded: chock the tracks and lash down

  3. Before the first start

    • All fluid levels, machine on level ground
    • Find the battery isolator and the safety lever
    • Check track tension

  4. First start

    • Short bursts — never hold the key
    • About 5 min at idle BEFORE you touch the joysticks
    • Dry run: do the movements match the control decal?
    • Seat belt on

  5. Break-in

    • First 50 hours: no full revs, no full loads
    • First oil change comes well before the normal interval
    • The exact figure is in the ENGINE manual

  6. What tips it over

    • Arm out to the side, on a slope, bucket full
    • The edge of a fresh trench is not solid ground
    • The counterweight swings behind you — look before you slew

Never do this

  • Never use ether or a starting aid spray
  • Never correct your line while on the ramps
  • Never jack the machine up on its boom to load it