Outdoor Equipment Maintenance Log

Who this is for

One log for every machine in the shed. Each service, repair or blade change gets a row with the date, hours, work done, cost and next due; the register lists the machines.

Households with more than one petrol or battery machine, smallholders, groundskeepers and anyone whose mower has a service history they cannot quite remember.

What this helps you track

• What was done to each machine and when, in one place instead of a drawer of receipts
• Hours or the date at each service, so you can see how hard a machine is worked
• What the fleet costs to keep running, totalled across the year
• The next job due on each machine, so spring does not start with a mower that will not

How to use it

1. List the machines in the register at the foot of the first page — make and model, serial number, fuel or battery type and when you bought it.
2. Each time a machine has anything done to it, add a row to the log: the date, which machine, the hours reading if it has one, and what was done.
3. Record parts and consumables used and what the job cost, whether you did it or a dealer did.
4. Write the next due date or hours for that job so the log doubles as a reminder.
5. The browser and spreadsheet versions total the cost and count the jobs; on paper, total the cost column at the end of each page.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

How often should each machine be serviced?

The handbook for the machine sets that, by hours or by season, and it differs between makes. The next due column is where you write the interval the handbook gives; the log does not supply one.

What if a machine has no hour meter?

Leave the hours column blank and go by date. Some people write an estimate from how long a typical cut takes; if you do, mark it as an estimate in the notes.

Should winter storage go in the log?

Yes — draining fuel, charging batteries, oiling blades and covering are jobs with a date and sometimes a cost. There is a winterising checklist on this site that pairs with this log.

Is there a separate sheet per machine?

The printable sheets for mowers, chainsaws and generators on this site are one machine each. This log is for the whole shed on one page, with the register to say what the shed contains.