WearCheck

is

a

registered

ISO

9001,

ISO

14001

and

ISO

17025

company

OIL

ANALYSIS

EXPOSES

FLEET

OPERATIONAL

CHALLENGES:

AGRICULTURAL

INDUSTRY

By

Shesby

Chabaya

–

Operations

HOD,

WearCheck

Zimbabwe

INTRODUCTION

The

chal

lenge

facing

the

agricultural

industry

is

the

need

to

meet

high

production

targets

for

the

agricultural

season

versus

an

unpredictable

length

(climate

change

impact)

of

the

wet

season.

In

some

cases,

this

leads

to

the

agricultural

season

starting

off

during

Shesby

Chabaya

wet

weather,

thus

exposing

the

feet

to

a

considerable

amount

of

operational

risk

.

This

operational

risk

is

noticeable

on

the

WearCheck

oil

analysis

reports

through

the

fol

lowing:

1.

Repeat

or

high

PQ

levels

(ferrous

density

or

large

wear

metal

particles)

especial

ly

in

unfltered

drivetrain

components.

2.

High

concentration

of

wear

particles

observed

through

the

Microscopic

Particle

Examination

(MPE)

and

ICP

(inductively

coupled

plasma)

wear

metal

test

results.

The

correlation

of

the

high

wear

levels

with

the

high

incident

reports

of

equipment

stuck

in

the

felds

as

wel

l

as

the

high

failure

rate

mainly

on

differentials

and

fnal

drives

are

indicative

of

the

operational

risk

affecting

equipment

.

The

oil

analysis

programme

runs

throughout

the

productive

season

and