GENERAL WHEEL LOADER STOCKPILE OPERATING TIPS

• Maintain a smooth work floor. If you find yourself waiting for a truck to arrive, clean up your work floor, gathering loose rocks and other debris. This will reduce wear on your wheel loader’s tires and make your job more comfortable.
  
  
• Make sure your work floor has good drainage. If you’re working in water, it may be difficult to see potentially damaging obstacles or debris. And don’t forget that wet rocks cut tires more easily than dry rocks.
  
  
• Try to keep movements as smooth and small as possible. Fluid motions are very efficient, while trying to muscle through a cycle wastes fuel and doesn’t save you any time.
  
  
• Keep the heel of the bucket slightly raised. Even though your heel plate provides a wear surface to help protect the bucket, you should still be careful and minimize wear as much as possible.
  
  
• Remember to move your wheel loader in a tight V pattern to load and unload your bucket; this cuts down on fuel consumption and reduces time and distance traveled in each cycle.

WORKING A STOCKPILE — DO’S AND DON’T’S

Always follow your worksite’s safety procedures and adhere to the best practices outlined in your Operation and Maintenance Manual for proper wheel loader use.

DO

• Demonstrate good bucket positioning, ability to control wheel spin, and smooth machine operation. Smooth and small movements save fuel.
  
  
• Approach your stockpile straight to the face with your bucket slightly raised when it enters the pile. Work upward.
  
  
• Hoist your bucket after initially penetrating the material at the toe.
  
  
• Correctly maintain proper face height.

DON’T

• Climb machine on top of the stockpile.
  
  
• Contaminate stockpiled material with other site materials — like clay or mud on the tires of your wheel loader.
  
  
• Scrape the ground in front of the stockpile, which can contaminate the material.
  
  
• Deeply penetrate the stockpile, which can render it unstable.
  
  
• “Undercut” the face of the pile, creating an overhang.
  
  
• Over-raise your bucket above platform height.

RAMPING

• If ramping to access stockpiled material, the grade of your ramp should be one that allows your wheel loader easy access.
  
  
• Make sure the rear of your wheel loader is not making contact with the bench or floor.
  
  
• Make sure you have adequate safety berms on the ramp and on top of the stockpile.
  
  
• Properly compact the stockpile material upon completion of the ramps.

For more in-depth tips on how to use your wheel loader for your application, sign up for Equipment Training Solutions operator training here.