Hot take: The biggest change in my shop came from ditching the old 'run it until it breaks' mindset.

We switched to a strict 500-hour preventive maintenance schedule on our main Haas mill three years ago. The difference in tool life and part consistency is night and day. Anyone else see a big payoff from getting ahead of machine wear?

3 comments

3 Comments

lucas9722mo ago

That schedule sounds great for a newer machine, but it can be a money pit on older equipment. We tried something similar and ended up fixing things that weren't even broken yet. Sometimes you just gotta let a machine run its course.

nora7352mo ago

Fixing things that weren't even broken yet" is the whole problem right there. That's not real maintenance, that's just guessing and wasting cash. A good schedule on an old machine means checking the stuff that actually WEARS OUT, not just throwing parts at it. Letting it run its course just means a bigger, nastier bill when it finally does break down for real.

derekwalker10d ago

$2,000 for a timing chain on a 2005 Silverado with 180k miles? That's what happened to a buddy of mine after he "let it run its course" thinking he was saving money. The chain snapped on the highway, took out the valves and wrecked the head. Ended up costing him damn near $4,500 for a used motor swap. Sometimes that "run its course" strategy is just Russian roulette with your wallet.