Excavator daily inspection checklist
An excavator’s daily check is mostly about three things: the undercarriage it stands on, the front end that does the work, and the coupler that holds the bucket on. Most of what goes wrong on these machines shows up first as a slack track, a dry pin, a weeping cylinder, or a coupler pin that never fully engaged. The list below follows the walk: tracks first, then the upper and the front end, then the controls with the engine running, then the ground around you.
It covers full-size and mini excavators and grapple excavators working scrap. Your operator’s manual is the authority for anything model-specific: track sag figures, the lube chart, the coupler’s locking procedure. The table after the checklist sets out what each province and US OSHA asks, rule by rule.
Engine off — the walkaround
- Track tension and sag — sag within the range your operator’s manual gives, measured the way it says; too tight wears everything, too loose throws a track.
- Rollers, idlers, sprockets, and shoes — rollers turning, sprocket teeth not hooked, shoe bolts tight, no deep cuts in rubber tracks, packed mud and scrap dug out.
- Turntable and swing — nothing jammed around the swing bearing, the swing drive dry, nothing loose or cracked on the upper frame.
- Cylinders and rods — rods free of scoring and nicks, seals not weeping. A scored rod destroys the seal it slides through.
- Hoses and fittings — chafing, bulges, and wet fittings. Look for leaks with your eyes or a piece of cardboard; never feel for one.
- Fluids and fresh drips — engine oil, hydraulic oil, coolant, fuel, and diesel exhaust fluid where fitted; then the ground underneath for anything fresh.
- Cab glass, guards, and ROPS/FOPS — glass uncracked, guards and screens tight, the protective structure undamaged, mirrors and cameras clean and aimed.
- Steps and handrails — clear of mud, ice, and grease, and solid. Climb on and off facing the machine, three points of contact.
Boom, stick, bucket, and coupler
- Boom and stick welds — cracks at welds and bosses, especially at the boom foot, the boom-to-stick joint, and the bucket linkage.
- Pins and bushings greased — every point on the lube chart greased until fresh grease shows; play at a pin shows up as clunk at the bucket.
- Bucket teeth and cutting edge — teeth and retainers all there, adapters not worn through, cutting edge and side cutters intact.
- Quick coupler locked — locking pin fully engaged and the indicator showing locked; after every change, press the bucket against the ground to prove it.
Engine on — the function checks
- Hydraulic lockout lever — lever in the locked position, nothing moves when you touch a control; unlocked, everything answers.
- Control pattern — the pattern selector is set to the pattern you run. Try a slow stick movement before anything fast.
- Swing and swing brake — smooth swing both ways, no clunk, and the upper holds where you stop it.
- Boom, stick, and bucket travel — full travel on each function, smooth, and no drift with the bucket raised and the controls released.
- Travel and park — tracks forward and reverse in a straight line, and the machine holds when you stop.
- Travel alarm, horn, and lights — alarm and horn both sound, work lights and beacon on.
- Gauges and seat belt — no warning lights left on, hour meter reading noted, belt present and latching.
Around the machine
- Swing radius clear — nobody and nothing inside the reach of the counterweight’s tail swing; barricade it where people walk past.
- Overhead lines — where the lines are, how high the boom reaches, and who will watch the clearance for you.
- Buried services and trench edge — services located and marked before you dig, and the machine kept back from the edge of the excavation.
wearpointWhat the rules ask, jurisdiction by jurisdiction
Do this walkaround before every shift. Where a rule below doesn’t name a daily inspection, it often requires the machine to be inspected or used according to the manufacturer’s instructions — so check what your operator’s manual calls for before each shift.
Each row is what one regulation asks of this machine, in plain words, with a link to the text. Where a rule depends on the kind of site or machine, the row says so: check it against your own. This is a summary, not legal advice — the regulation and your operator’s manual govern.
Alberta
Before operating powered mobile equipment, the operator must complete a visual inspection of the equipment and the surrounding area. OHS Code s.257(1)
British Columbia
Before mobile equipment is first operated on a shift, the operator must inspect it and report any unsafe or potentially unsafe defect to the supervisor or employer, then keep monitoring it while it runs. The employer keeps a record of reported defects for at least 2 years. OHSR 16.3(1)–(3)
Ontario
Construction projects: No vehicle or machine may be used while it is defective or hazardous, and it must be used as its manufacturer’s operating manual says. Powered equipment rated over 10 horsepower must be inspected by a competent worker before it is first used at the project, then at least once a year or more often if the manufacturer recommends. Neither section sets a daily inspection. O. Reg. 213/91 ss.93–94
Every workplace: The employer must keep the equipment it provides in good condition, and a worker must report a known defect that may endanger a worker to the employer or supervisor. OHSA ss.25(1)(b), 28(1)(c)
Quebec
Construction sites: Any self-propelled vehicle or equipment driven by a power source other than manual must be checked by an experienced person before its first use on the site, then daily whenever it is used. CSTC s.3.10.1(b)
Elsewhere, such as a yard or plant: A self-propelled vehicle must be inspected and maintained according to the manufacturer’s instructions or standards offering equivalent safety. Section 272 sets no inspection frequency of its own. RSST s.272
Nova Scotia
The employer must ensure powered mobile equipment and forklifts are operated, inspected, serviced, maintained, and repaired according to the manufacturer’s specifications, or specifications certified by an engineer. N.S. Reg. 44/99 s.55
United States (federal OSHA)
Construction sites: OSHA’s earthmoving equipment rules set no inspection interval of their own. 29 CFR 1926.602(a)
Construction sites: The employer’s safety program must provide for frequent and regular inspections of equipment by competent persons it designates. Equipment that doesn’t comply with OSHA’s construction rules may not be used and must be tagged, have its controls locked, or be removed. 29 CFR 1926.20(b)(2)–(3)
Not in the table yet: Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. We add a province once its official text has been checked.
Grapple duty in a scrap yard: what wears first
A grapple excavator in a scrap yard never digs, so the bucket items don’t apply, but the front end works harder than it ever would in dirt. Check the tines for cracks at the root and for tips worn or bent out of line, and the tine pivot pins for play. The rotator takes shock every time a load drops: look for oil at the rotator and its swivel, and watch it turn both ways without hesitating.
The hoses that run down the stick to the grapple are the ones that get pinched, pulled, and cut on sharp material. Look at them closely, never feel along them, and check the clamps and guards that keep them off the steel. Cab guarding matters more here than anywhere: the screen in front of the windshield and the guard over the roof are what stand between the operator and a piece that kicks out of the pile. On an elevated cab, check the riser, its hydraulics if it lifts, and the ladder and handrails you climb to get up there.
Mini excavators
Minis get the same walk with a few additions. The dozer blade and its cylinder take a beating from backfilling, so check the blade’s edge and pins along with everything else. Rubber tracks wear from the inside as well as the outside: look for cuts, exposed cords, and lugs torn off, and clean out the packed dirt before it sets overnight. Most minis run under a canopy rather than a cab, which makes the canopy’s mounting bolts and the seat belt the whole of your protection.
A mini rides to the job on a trailer, so the tie-down points belong on the walk: not bent, not cracked, not missing. Small quick couplers are easy to trust and easy to get wrong; a pin that looks home but isn’t will drop a bucket just as surely on a small machine. Do the ground-press check after every change.
When something fails
Take the machine out of service. Tag it where the next operator will see it before climbing on, take the key, and tell your supervisor what you found. A qualified mechanic does the repair, not whoever is free. The defect that gets written down and run anyway is the one that ends up hurting someone.
How wearpoint runs this checklist
You build the checklist once in wearpoint as an inspection template for the category: one excavator template, in your own words and the order your crew walks the machine, and every excavator uses it. Each item takes a verdict of OK, Issue, or N/A, and a defect gets a quick note. Open defects carry forward to the next inspection until the fix is recorded.
The operator raises a defect as an issue in one tap and the shop triages it into a work order. Owners and the people responsible get an alert when a machine goes down, and a machine marked down can’t be started from the app until it’s repaired. Operators tap in on the machine and enter the hour-meter reading when they tap out, so service comes due on the hours the excavator actually ran. Add a hydraulic oil top-up line to the template and each top-up logs the litres added; when a machine’s top-ups run at three times its own 30-day norm over a week, wearpoint flags a probable leak. It tells you which machine to look at. It doesn’t find the hose for you.
