Spring Startup: Getting Your Skid Steer and Attachments Ready After Winter

Spring startup isn't complicated, but it's not the same as a regular pre-shift walkaround either. A machine that sat through a Canadian winter — even a properly prepared one — has been through six months of freeze-thaw cycles, condensation, and thermal contraction. Things move. Seals dry out. Water finds places it shouldn't be. The fluids you put in last fall may not look the same coming out.

This guide covers the machine startup sequence and attachment readiness inspection before you get back to work. Not theory — the actual sequence, in order, with the things that bite people in April.

Start With the Machine, Not the Attachments

Attachments can wait 20 minutes. The machine needs to come first, because a hydraulic problem in the machine will show up as an "attachment problem" if you connect everything before diagnosing.

Engine Oil

Pull the dipstick. Look at the colour and consistency. Engine oil that sat all winter shouldn't look dramatically different from when you last changed it — but check for a milky or frothy appearance, which indicates water contamination (usually from condensation in the crankcase or a coolant leak). If it's milky, don't start the engine. That's not a "run it a bit and see" situation; water in engine oil causes bearing damage fast.

If the oil looks normal but you haven't changed it since last fall, change it before your first full work day. Cold-season oil doesn't have to be drained immediately, but fresh oil for the first high-load season work day is just good practice.

Coolant

Check the reservoir level. A machine that stored properly shouldn't have lost coolant over winter, so a noticeably low level is a signal — either there's a slow leak you didn't know about, or the cap seal let in air and there's been some evaporation. Check the coolant condition with a test strip (pick them up at any NAPA or Princess Auto) — if your freeze protection has dropped below what you need for next winter, now's the time to address it, not in October.

On Bobcat, Case, and Deere machines, the coolant recovery tank is usually visible from the engine compartment without removing panels. Takes 30 seconds to check.

Hydraulic Fluid — This Is the Critical One

Check the hydraulic reservoir fluid level. Then check the condition. Pull a sample if you have access to a sight glass or drain plug that lets you get a clean sample without contaminating the system.

What you're looking for:

• Colour: New hydraulic fluid is amber and clear. Fluid that has been working hard will darken. Very dark, opaque fluid is overdue for a change. Black fluid with a burnt smell means overheating has occurred and you need to investigate why before running hard again.
• Water contamination: Milky, hazy, or foamy appearance. Water in hydraulic fluid is serious. It corrodes internal components, reduces lubricating properties, and can cause pump cavitation. A machine that sat with a bad reservoir cap seal in a humid environment can accumulate meaningful water contamination without ever running.
• Particulate: Rub a drop between your fingers. Gritty texture means abrasive contamination. If you feel grit, change the fluid and inspect the filter bypass before running any attachments.

If you're running a Bobcat S650, T590, or comparable mid-size machine, the hydraulic reservoir capacity is typically around 40–50 litres. Most operators use AW46 or the OEM-spec hydraulic fluid (Bobcat recommends their own fluid or equivalent ISO VG46 anti-wear hydraulic oil). For spring startup in Canada, ISO VG46 is appropriate — it's the mid-weight that handles both cool spring mornings and summer operating temperatures without requiring seasonal fluid changes.

Hydraulic Filter

Spring startup is the right time to change the hydraulic filter if you haven't already, or if it's been more than the recommended interval (usually 1,000 hours or annually, whichever comes first). The filter captures particulate from normal wear — changing it now means you're starting the season with clean filtration rather than progressively loading a filter that's already partially full.

Keep the old filter after removal. Cut it open with a filter cutting tool (they're inexpensive and available at most equipment dealers). Look at what's in the media. Fine gray metallic particles in small amounts are normal wear. Large chips, spiraling metal ribbons, or heavy accumulation of any kind signals something that needs investigation before the machine works hard.

Walk the Machine — Visual Inspection

Walk all four sides before you start it. Winter does specific things to machines that a pre-shift walkaround in summer won't catch because you're looking for different things:

• Tire condition: Cold temperatures accelerate cracking in rubber. Check the sidewalls on pneumatic tires — surface cracking in the outer rubber that goes down to the cords means the tire is near end of life. On tracks, inspect for delamination of rubber from the steel core, cracked guide lugs, and missing track bolts.
• Loader arm pivot pins and bushings: Grease if needed. Check for visible wear — a worn pivot bushing produces an audible clunk when the loader moves and can often be seen as movement when the arm is loaded.
• Quick attach carrier: Inspect the carrier hooks for wear on the contact faces. Worn hooks disengage more easily under cyclic load — the top hook face should have consistent contact with the attachment's top bar without excessive clearance. If you're seeing vertical play in attached implements, the carrier hooks or the attachment attachment bar (or both) are worn.
• Hydraulic hoses on the boom and tilt circuit: Look for cracks, abrasion, and any bulging that wasn't there in fall. A hose that cracked internally over winter will fail under operating pressure. An external bulge means the outer jacket has failed and the braid is the only thing holding pressure — it won't hold long.

Cold Start Procedure

Don't start a cold machine and immediately run it hard. This is true in any season but matters more in spring when fluid viscosities are still working down from cold-soak temperatures.

Let the engine warm at low idle for a minimum of five minutes before operating the hydraulics. Then operate the loader and auxiliary circuits at low pressure (no attachments, gentle movements) for another five minutes before picking up load. On particularly cold mornings — anything below 5°C — extend that warm-up. The hydraulic fluid needs to thin out before the pump is working against heavy load resistance.

Attachment Inspection: Do This Before You Connect

Inspect each attachment before connecting it to the machine. It's faster than diagnosing a hydraulic problem after you've already connected and started working.

Hydraulic Coupler Faces

This is where most spring hydraulic problems originate. Remove the dust caps from every hydraulic port. Inspect the coupler face — specifically the flat sealing surface. You're looking for:

• Visible corrosion or pitting on the seal face (even capped ports can get condensation inside the cap over a long winter)
• Debris, dirt, or ice crystals on the face or inside the body
• O-ring condition on the face seal — if the O-ring has visible cracking or deformation from cold exposure, replace it before connecting

Wipe the face with a clean rag before connecting. A dry, clean face with an undamaged O-ring will seal properly. Contamination on the face goes directly into your hydraulic system on connection — ISO 16028 flat-face couplers are specifically designed to prevent this, but only if they're actually clean when you mate them.

Cylinder Rods and Seals

Extend any cylinders on the attachment slowly and watch for immediate weeping at the rod seals. A seal that dried out over winter will often show a light oil weep on the first extension. That's a warning — run the cylinder through a few full cycles at low pressure to re-seat the seal. If the weep continues, the seal is damaged and needs replacement before serious work.

Check the rod surface itself. Any corrosion pitting on the chrome rod surface will accelerate seal wear dramatically. Light surface rust can sometimes be polished out with 1500+ grit wet/dry paper without removing the rod (controversial but common practice in the field for minor pitting). Deep pitting means a cylinder rebuild.

Structural Inspection

Cold temperatures make cracked metal propagate cracks faster than warm-weather conditions. Anything that had a hairline weld crack in fall has potentially grown that crack over the winter. Run your hand along main structural welds on each attachment — quick attach plate, lift arms, bucket corners, grapple frames — and look for fresh rust bleeding from a crack that wasn't there before.

Particularly check the quick attach plate at the top hook engagement points. This area takes the highest stress concentration of any weld on the attachment, and it's the failure you least want to discover with a full bucket 8 feet in the air.

Pins, Bushings, and Grease Points

Grease every grease fitting on every attachment before first use. Winter depletes grease from bearings differently than summer operation — thermal cycling causes small amounts of oil separation and migration away from the bearing surfaces. A bearing that felt fine in November may need fresh grease in March.

Check pin retention on all pivot points. Snap rings, cotter pins, and lock pins can be displaced by thermal contraction. A cotter pin that worked loose over winter is a missing pin by spring — and a missing pivot pin is a field failure waiting to happen. Takes two minutes to check; grab each pin and confirm it's retained.

Attachment-Specific Spring Checks

Auger Bits

Canadian spring ground is usually still partially frozen in the top 30–60 cm depending on how far north you are and how late in the season. In Alberta and Saskatchewan, you can still hit frost in May in sheltered areas. Carbide teeth on auger bits that are already chipped or worn will fail fast in frozen ground — inspect the bit tips carefully and replace worn or missing carbide before you hit frozen soil. A $150 tooth replacement before work is better than a bent bit or a wrecked drive motor after.

Snow Attachments Going Into Summer Storage

If you ran a snow pusher or snow blower all winter and now you're putting it away: clean it before storage, not in October. Road salt and sand are extremely abrasive and corrosive. A snow pusher blade that gets pressure-washed in March and stored with a coat of fluid protectant will be in far better condition than one that sits with a winter's worth of packed salt and grit on it until fall. This is covered in more detail in the winterization guide, but the flip-side principle applies: treat the end of every season, not just the one that lasts the longest.

Sweepers and Brooms

Bristle condition is critical for sweeper performance. Cold temperatures harden and can crack rubber and polypropylene bristles. Inspect the broom core before spring cleanups — parking lot sweeping on a brush that's lost 30% of its bristle length means more passes and more wear on what's left. Replacement broom core sections are available from most attachment dealers without replacing the entire sweeper frame.

Hydraulic Breakers

If your breaker has a nitrogen charge, verify it before working. Nitrogen pressure drops very slightly over a long storage period and can drop more noticeably if there's a minor leak in the gas circuit. The correct nitrogen pre-charge varies by model — typically in the 6–12 bar range depending on the manufacturer and model weight class. Atlas Copco, Epiroc, and Rammer publish these specs; they're also on the data plate on the breaker body itself. An under-charged breaker still fires, but with reduced performance and increased stress on the tool steel chisel.

The "First Hour" Test

Run any attachment for the first hour of the season at moderate load, not full dig-and-dump cycles. Watch for:

• Any hydraulic fluid leaks appearing at fittings, hose connections, or cylinder seals after the system reaches operating temperature
• Unusual sounds — clunking at pivot pins, squealing at hydraulic motors, cavitation noise from the pump
• Sluggish hydraulic response that doesn't improve as fluid warms (suggests a pressure relief issue or bypass)
• Heat buildup faster than normal (plugged filter or restricted return line)

After the first hour, shut down and do another visual. Look for any fluid on the ground. Check hose connections at the attachment. Feel the hydraulic reservoir — warm is fine, hot is not.

Most of this takes less than an hour for the machine and 20–30 minutes per attachment. That's a couple of hours before the season starts. Compare that to what it costs when something fails on the first real job day.