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Mini excavator, 3 to 6 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
    • Cab glazing and structure checked
    • Data plate legible, attachments counted
    • Ask for the ENGINE manual (separate document)

  2. Unloading

    • Firm level ground, clear of the road edge and banks
    • Clean ramps, secured to the bed
    • Slew lock engaged while driving on
    • Slow at the ramp-to-bed joint

  3. Before the first start

    • All fluid levels, machine on level ground
    • Find the safety lever and the EMERGENCY EXIT
    • Grease points, including under the slew ring
    • Track tension

  4. First start

    • Short bursts
    • About 5 min at idle BEFORE you manoeuvre
    • Dry run in open space
    • ISO or SAE pattern: check BEFORE you work
    • Seat belt on

  5. Break-in

    • First 50 hours taken gently
    • First oil change well before the normal interval

  6. What hurts people

    • The counterweight crushes behind you, not in front
    • Real blind spots in a cab: look BEFORE you slew
    • Reaching out to the side on a slope rolls the machine

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
  • Never slew without having looked behind you