Excavator Maintenance Software That Works by Engine Hours
Set up 250, 500, and 1,000-hour service schedules for every excavator you own, from 1.7-tonne minis to 30-tonne machines. Update the hour meter, and MaintainLog raises a work order and emails you before each service falls due.
No credit card required. No GPS or telematics hardware.
Why Excavator Maintenance Slips, and What It Costs
An excavator doesn't wear by the calendar. A machine that did 900 hours this year needs four engine services; the one that sat on a quiet site needs one. Paper diaries and spreadsheets track dates, so hour-based services quietly drift past their interval, and the first symptom is usually a hydraulic pump or final drive failure that costs more than a year of proper servicing.
The other half of the problem is proof. When you sell or trade a machine, a documented service history measurably lifts what a dealer or auction buyer will pay. And if the machine is on a work site, plant maintenance records are what you produce when a safety auditor or principal contractor asks how the machine is maintained.
MaintainLog fixes both: each excavator carries its own hour-based schedules, every completed service is logged with date, hours, and notes, and the whole history exports when you need it.
Track the Whole Machine, Not Just the Engine
Engine oil is the interval everyone remembers. The expensive failures come from the systems nobody schedules: hydraulic oil and return filters, final drive oil, slew ring greasing, and undercarriage wear. Each of these can be its own schedule in MaintainLog with its own interval, so a 2,000-hour hydraulic oil change doesn't depend on someone remembering it two years from now.
Attachments count too. Hydraulic breakers, augers, and tilting hitches have their own greasing and seal-service intervals. Register them as separate assets or track them against the carrier, whichever matches how your crew works.
Typical Excavator Service Intervals
A common hour-based service pattern for diesel excavators. Your OEM manual is the authority. Most modern machines (Caterpillar, Komatsu, Hitachi, Kubota) follow a pattern like this:
| Service task | Typical interval | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Greasing, pins, bushes, bucket linkage | Daily / every 10 hours | Slew ring and gear often every 50 hours |
| Engine oil & filter | Every 250–500 hours | 250h on older or hard-worked machines; many current OEMs specify 500h |
| Fuel filters & water separator | Every 500 hours | Sooner with poor site fuel storage |
| Hydraulic return filter | Every 1,000 hours | Critical after any hose failure |
| Final drive oil | Every 1,000 hours | Small volume, catastrophic if ignored |
| Hydraulic oil & coolant | Every 2,000 hours | Shorter with breaker use, often halved |
| Undercarriage inspection & track tension | Every 250 hours | Undercarriage is ~50% of lifetime running cost |
Intervals are typical industry figures. Always follow the service schedule in your OEM manual. In MaintainLog you set the exact interval per machine.
How It Works
Get started in 3 simple steps
Add Your Assets
Register your vehicles, machinery, and equipment. Include serial numbers, models, and current readings.
Set Maintenance Schedules
Create schedules by time (days, weeks, months) or usage (hours, miles, kilometers).
Get Reminders & Complete Work
Receive email alerts when maintenance is due. Mark work orders complete and keep a full history.
No GPS Hardware Required
No expensive hardware to buy or install. Works with any device.
No Telematics
No monthly hardware fees. Just simple, manual tracking.
2-Minute Setup
Add your first asset and schedule in under 2 minutes.
Works on Any Device
Use it on desktop, tablet, or phone. No app download required.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do service reminders work without GPS or telematics?
You update each machine's hour-meter reading whenever it's convenient: end of week, at refuelling, or when the operator reports it. MaintainLog compares the reading against each schedule's interval and creates a work order (with an email alert) when a service comes due. No hardware install, no telematics subscription, and it works for machines a dealer telematics package doesn't cover.
Can I track mini excavators and attachments too?
Yes. The schedule engine doesn't care about machine size. A 1.7-tonne mini gets the same hour-based scheduling as a 30-tonne machine, just with its own intervals. Attachments like breakers and augers can be registered as their own assets with their own service schedules.
What if a machine works irregular hours?
That's exactly when hour-based scheduling beats a calendar. A machine that does 60 hours one month and 10 the next comes due when the meter says so, not when a date guesses. You can also run a time-based schedule alongside (for example, an annual inspection) and each triggers independently.
Does this suit Australian earthmoving and plant hire businesses?
Yes, hour-meter servicing is how Australian earthmoving contractors and plant hire fleets already work, and WHS regulations expect plant to be maintained to the manufacturer's recommendations with records to show it. Because MaintainLog needs no GPS hardware, machines on hire or on remote sites are tracked the same as the ones in your yard.
How many excavators can I track on the free plan?
The free plan covers up to 5 assets with 3 schedules each, enough for a small fleet's core services. Paid plans start at $29/month for up to 50 assets with unlimited schedules and unlimited users, and every new account starts with a full-featured 14-day trial, no card required.