The reason so many poets write about spring is that it’s the season of things starting to happen, for better or worse. For the better, the outdoor show season is beginning to ramp up and promoters are getting anxious to get their stages out on the road and people on—and in front of—them. For the worse, springtime is the season for a whole lot of work tuning up your stage. And each Stageline unit requires the same amount of care, so if you have a fleet of 7, you have 7 times more work ahead of you than the owner who only has one. But Stageline products are like elite athletes, which means that they get the best results on the market because they’re kept up with the best in maintenance.
A mobile stage is four products in one: a trailer, a stage, a hydraulic machine, and a structure. Each of these products requires its own technology, and its own maintenance, so that when your event is happening, you don’t suffer any surprises. Step-by-step maintenance helps prevent any unforeseen problems by bringing your attention to each individual part of the unit.
With that in mind, we offer the following checklist for getting your Stageline stage tuned up and ready for this spring season:
- Wait for the snow to melt. We know you’re eager, but if it’s not warm enough for you to comfortably tune your stage up, it’s probably a little early!
- Charge the battery, or if it needs replacement, change it.
- Give your Honda or Köhler motor a complete course of maintenance. Think of it as a much larger lawnmower motor—it needs the same care. Drain the oil, change the sparkplugs, put in a fresh air-filter.
- Open the unit up and give it a thorough cleaning.
- Lubricate all joints.
- Open and close all cylinders 3 times.
- Verify the hydraulic fluid levels. Make certain the hydraulic pressure is good and there are no leaks.
- Run through your inventory of parts. Make sure you didn’t leave anything important behind in Albuquerque, Bugs Bunny–style.
- Get the trailer ready for its DOT (or SAAQ) inspection. Get it moving and inspect the things you know are going to be inspected: tires, wheels, axles, brakes, suspension, turn signals.
- Inspect the unit visually. If it was stored outside below freezing, trapped humidity can freeze, expand, and damage vital parts like tubing. Look for anything that seems different than it was when you packed the stage away at the end of last season. (Like racoon nest!)
- Mount the unit—completely. It doesn’t matter if you can get your trailer on the road if you can’t get it to work when you get where you’re going! So deploy your stage just as you would on-site to see if it does everything it’s supposed to, whether it makes any noises that would indicate possible problems, or whether it shows any signs of malfunctioning. If everything’s like it was last year, just change the oil and you’re ready to go.
- If you do find problems, make all necessary repairs immediately. Don’t say you’ll do it later. As soon as you know it needs repairing, repair it. That’s what the stage wants and keeping it happy is in your best interests.
- Grind or sand any rust and repaint.
- Do any sealing required to rubber, silicone, or fibre.
- Get ready for a great season, and take pride knowing you’ve done everything you need to do in order to make sure your Stageline unit is ready for the road!
Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any question.
Have a great season!
