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Keep Your Mine Moving All Summer

May 28, 2025

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Coming out of another Canadian winter, it’s easy to forget that the stresses of summer heat can threaten the health of both your equipment and your people. Even the most robust Komatsu excavators and haul trucks will need extra attention when the mercury climbs, and so will your operators. To help you keep on top of this, we’ve gathered the following tips from our SMS Equipment experts who draw on decades of experience in mining operations and equipment maintenance.

Tip 1: Know the risks and communicate them to all concerned

When you’re driving your equipment hard in an open pit mine in the heat of summer, dozens of problems can emerge. Planning ahead is essential and so is maintaining constant awareness about potential trouble signs. Here are the major points that everybody connected with equipment should stay on guard for:

Engines can overheat and fail due to malfunctioning radiators or insufficient fluids.
Contamination, thinning, or leaks of hydraulic fluids can lead to poor performance or breakdowns.
Decaying wire insulation and overheating batteries can cause electrical system failures.
Heat can cause non-metallic parts, such as rubber seals and belts, to deteriorate rapidly.
High levels of dust can accelerate overheating and abrasion and create unhealthy environments for operators.

Tip 2: Use the manufacturer’s specs as your guidelines

Summer heat can push equipment to the limits of what they are designed for. It’s critical, therefore, to be constantly vigilant about meeting the manufacturer’s specifications.

Follow manufacturer’s guidelines for periodic inspections, planned maintenance, replacement of fluids, and replacement of wear parts and consumables.
Monitor all environmental conditions and any potential degradation of service that could be caused by heat.
Calibrate systems to ensure they reflect hot weather conditions.

Tip 3: Treat your cooling systems as your lifeline

When failures occur, the root cause is often the cooling systems that are designed to protect the equipment. Actively monitor your cooling systems at all times and service where appropriate.

Keep an eye on sensors and thermostats.
Inspect and replace soft components such as hoses and fan belts.
Use water or compressed air to keep radiators free of dust and grime that could impede air flow
Ensure that coolant always remains at the proper levels. Replace as indicated in the equipment manual – fluid that is contaminated or has passed its reasonable lifespan can significantly compromise the cooling function.

Tip 4: Create a health and safety culture

At the height of summer, long shifts in exposed conditions can be extremely taxing on equipment operators. In such circumstances, it’s key to remember that your company can have no higher priority than keeping your people free from harm. Here are the key points to remain vigilant about.

Be aware of all the warning signs of overexposure to heat, including dehydration, heatstroke, and extreme fatigue. Heat exhaustion can also cause impaired judgment and slow reaction times, increasing the risk of accidents.
Keep all environmental control systems in the cab in top condition. On a ten-hour shift at an open pit mine in August, these systems are not optional.
Build breaks and hydration into the work schedules and ensure that break stations are well equipped to prevent and handle the effects of heat-related symptoms.
Create an atmosphere of trust where no operator will fear speaking out if they have a safety concern or if they are feeling symptoms of heat-related illness.

Tip 5: Get support when you need it

Whether your fleet is small or large, you are in the mining business, not the heavy equipment business. Recognizing this, we have built a business model at SMS Equipment that helps you fill the inevitable gaps that result from focusing on your core business. Here are some of the ways we help out:

Our mining branches are strategically located in key markets to support your objectives with localized expertise and responsive service.
We stock consumable and cooling system parts such as radiators, hoses, etc, to ensure we can keep you supplied.
Our experts, who collectively have decades of experience in mining, can advise on service plans to make sure your equipment matches your operational goals.
We provide comprehensive all-inclusive plans that include remote monitoring, regular scheduled service, and 24/7 response to your service calls. We also offer field technician support to help ensure that if you do have equipment that is causing grief, we are there to help support you to get you back up and running.
Everything we offer, from equipment to services to training, can be customized to meet your exact requirements.

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