How Load Shedding Affects Your Excavator Fleet — and What You Can Do About It

No power, no problem… if you’ve got the right game plan (and a decent parts supplier).

Let’s be honest:Load shedding in South Africa is like an uninvited ex — shows up randomly, kills your vibe, and costs you money.

While we’re all used to cooking by candlelight and charging phones in our bakkies, there’s one thing not everyone thinks about:How load shedding is quietly wrecking your excavator fleet.

You read that right.Power cuts don’t just ruin dinner — they hammer your machines, mess with maintenance, and throw your entire operation into chaos.

So if you’re in construction, mining, civils, or agri — buckle up. This is your survival guide to understanding how Eskom’s romantic affair with darkness is affecting your excavators — and what the hell to do about it.

The Hidden Ways Load Shedding Screws with Your Machines

You might be thinking:“But my excavators run on diesel, not Eskom!”Fair point. But it’s not just about what powers the machine — it’s about what keeps it running smoothly.

Here’s what load shedding is doing behind the scenes:

1. Delays in Maintenance & Servicing

Your machine’s booked for a routine service. The oils, filters, and diagnostics are all lined up.Then — boom — Stage 6 hits and there’s no power in the workshop.

Result?Delayed servicing, clogged filters, contaminated oil, and — if you're not careful — a blown hydraulic pump two days later.

2. Power Tools? Forget About It

Most major excavator repairs require:

• Angle grinders

• Presses

• Hydraulic testers

• Diagnostic laptops

• Welders

All of which run on — you guessed it — electricity.

If there’s no power, there’s no fixing.Which means machines sit. And sitting machines = money lost per hour.

3. Battery Drain and System Failures

When you park your fleet at night and can’t plug in battery maintainers, guess what happens?Batteries slowly discharge. Older ones die completely.

Worse — when you try jumpstarting a modern excavator with fried electronics or glitchy ECUs, you might short something vital.

One jump-start = R100,000 mistake if you toast a control module.

4. Security Systems Fail

No power = no cameras, alarms, or electric fencing.Now your parked excavators are just sitting ducks in the dark.

We've had clients call us in the morning saying:

“Ja, they stole both final drives off my machine last night.”

You don’t even need a full load-shedding cycle for that — just one quiet hour and a wrench.

5. Water-Contaminated Fuel

How does load shedding cause diesel issues?Well, if you’re using electric pumps for your fuel bowsers and they stop mid-fill, air and water can creep into the system.Over time? Boom — injector failure.

And don’t get started on trying to run a water separator system without backup power.

6. Workshop Bottlenecks

Your repair shop is backlogged by 4 days because their lathe can’t turn, their lift won’t lift, and the guy who does your hydraulic lines is now making coffee at home during every Stage 6 block.

This all adds up to:

• Longer downtime

• More rental costs

• More angry clients

How This Hurts Your Bottom Line (and Your Sanity)

Let’s do some back-of-the-napkin math:

Excavator rental loss per day: ~R8,000 to R15,000Delay due to load shedding: 3–4 daysParts damage from skipped maintenance: R50,000–R120,000Total potential loss: Well over R100,000 per incident

And let’s not forget:

• Demoralised crew

• Missed deadlines

• Lost contracts

Eskom doesn’t pay that bill — you do.

What You Can Do About It (That Actually Works)

Alright, let’s stop moaning and start fixing. Here’s how to take back control:

✅ 1. Invest in a Backup Power System for the Workshop

Whether it’s a diesel generator or a solar-battery inverter setup, you need a plan B.

Your guys need to:

• Charge diagnostics tools

• Run power tools

• Test electrics

• Keep security systems live

No juice = no work. Period.

✅ 2. Use Load Shedding Apps Like a Project Manager

Yes, we know — load-shedding schedules are about as reliable as a politician’s promises.

Still, use apps like EskomSePush to:

• Time fuel refills

• Schedule diagnostics

• Prioritise urgent machine work BEFORE the lights go

Pro tip: Make 2-hour pre-load shedding windows your "crunch time" for critical tasks.

✅ 3. Keep Critical Spares On-Site

We’re talking:

• Batteries

• Filters

• O-rings

• Starter motors

• ECUs (if you're fancy)

If you don’t have them, we do.

Vikfin stocks parts for the machines you actually own — so when disaster hits, we’re not waiting 3 weeks for imports.

✅ 4. Use Manual Tools as Backup

No one’s saying you need to go full Mad Max with hand tools, but a few essentials help:

• Manual grease guns

• Hand siphons for fuel

• Cordless (battery-powered) diagnostics tools

When the grid fails, be ready to go old-school.

✅ 5. Partner With a Supplier Who Gets It

At Vikfin, we understand what a Stage 6 delay actually means. That’s why we:

• Offer pre-tested parts

• Work around Eskom’s madness

• Deliver countrywide

• Offer WhatsApp support even when the power’s out

Your machine doesn’t care about excuses.Neither do we.

The Most Load Shedding–Sensitive Parts on an Excavator

Want to know what breaks the fastest when maintenance is delayed due to blackouts?

🛠️ Part	💥 Why It Fails During Load Shedding Chaos
Battery	Discharged overnight without charger backup
Alternator	Overworked after multiple jump-starts
Hydraulic Filters	Skipped replacements due to servicing delays
Starter Motor	Toasted by weak batteries and repeat start attempts
ECU / Electronic Panels	Damaged by power surges during generator transitions
Cooling Fans	Fail from overheating in blacked-out workshops
Final Drives	Water entry or missed oil top-ups cause catastrophic wear

How Vikfin Keeps You Running When Eskom Doesn’t

We’re not just a parts shop. We’re your power-outage-proof partner.

Here’s what makes Vikfin different:

🔧 Massive Range of Used & Aftermarket Parts

• Final drives

• Hydraulic pumps

• Radiators

• Boom cylinders

• Batteries

• Starters & alternators

• Control modules

We stock what others wait months for.

🚛 Fast Nationwide Delivery

Need a part in Pofadder, Polokwane, or Port Shepstone?We’ve shipped there.

If you can receive a package, we can get it to you.

📲 Power-Independent Support

WhatsApp us photos of your broken parts — even if we’re on inverter power, we’ll respond.

Need something in a rush? We’ll organise overnight delivery, no drama.

🛠️ Knowledge You Can Count On

We’re not workshop theorists — we’ve stripped the machines, dealt with failed diagnostics, and seen what Stage 6 actually breaks.

We don’t just sell — we solve.

Real Talk: You Can’t Control Load Shedding — But You Can Be Ready

Let’s face it — the Eskom circus isn’t ending anytime soon.But that doesn’t mean your business has to suffer.

Smart operators will:

• Backup their workshops

• Keep critical parts in stock

• Partner with a supplier who gives a damn

Vikfin is that supplier.We understand the grind, the cost of downtime, and the chaos of power cuts.

Summary Checklist: Beat Load Shedding Like a Pro

✅ Backup power for workshop✅ Stockpile critical excavator parts✅ Time services around load-shedding blocks✅ Use load-shedding apps daily✅ Send broken part photos to Vikfin✅ Switch to trusted used & aftermarket parts✅ Have a real supplier on speed dial

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Need a starter motor at midnight? A final drive during Stage 4?

Call Vikfin. We’re powered by hustle, not Eskom.