Who follows manufacturer's oil change recommendations

[Doc_Bob]

Who follows manufacturer's oil and filter change recommendations? If you follow it, why and if not, why not.


New Holland suggests 300 hours before each are changed on my TN70A. What do other manufacturers suggest for their machines? For example, does New Holland suggest 300 hours for filter and oil for all their machines? What about Kubota? John Deere? Montana, etc?
Bob

 

[roxynoodle]

The owner's manual for my Yanmar recommends changing the oil every 100 hours, so I do it. I would like this tractor to last me for life, if possible. I also change the dino oil in my trucks and cars every 3000 miles. I have driven nearly all of them to more than 200,000 miles before I sold them (all still in excellent running condition). I attribute their long life spans to being meticulous in my maintenence (sp?). That being said, many members of this forum have told me the 3k oil changes are unnecessary and a scam. Maybe they are, but I drive a lot of miles each year and my vehicles keep running. I am giving consideration to changing over to synthetics and getting a longer interval between changes. I can with my car, but my truck is still under warranty and requires documented oil changes every 3k miles.

 

[Volfandt]

The manual on my BX23 called for oil & filter change at 50 hrs, the next at 100 hrs and every 100 hrs thereafter.
I follow Kubota's recommendations for scheduled maintenance as well as use their branded oil & filters.
I just did the 200 hr and haven't had to add any oil inbetween changes yet.
My older tractors didn't have hr meters and I always changed the oil every spring. Ends up I avg about 100 hrs a yr so it appears I've stayed pretty consistant with that old habit

 

[Willl]

My JD 790 manual says first 50, then every 200.

 

[DieselPower]

For the ultimate in accuracy as to when to change your oil use a UOA (used oil analysis). Every machine is different, run in different conditions, different temperature's and different loads. With a UOA program you can easily judge the optimum oil change interval. Some of my tractors get changed at around 300 hours while others that run very clean go as long as 900 hours. My 1998 Ford Powerstroke pickup that I run recycled/refined cooking oil (biodiesel) in gets oil changes has only had the oil changed 6 times. It now has 216,000 miles on it. I average 34-36,000 miles per oil change on it. I do the oil filter half way through a oil change and run a seperate additional oil filtration system on it as well.

Some companies I sell oil to get 30,000 mile oil changes on their over the road truck/tractors while others get as much as 65,000 miles per oil change. It all depends on the driving conditions. With the UOA program they only change the oil when it needs to be changed. It's also great for catching thing's like faulty air filters (silicon count goes up) and leaking oil coolers or cylinder liners (glycol count goes up) thereby reducing major break downs since the faults are found before they become bad. Any high quality oil supplier will offer free UOA's with their oil.

 

[Turbys_1700]

I changes my oil in my old Yanmar once a year with filter changes...
I'll do the same with my NH 1720...
My Yanmar averaged 50 hours per year but my NH will average around 85...
They add hopurs faster and at lower RPM's...
DieselPower is correct in his UOA thread...
I just change my Powerstroke at 5K intervals and my Caddy at 6K intervals...
The Caddy has 187K and still going strong...

 

[Doc_Bob]

For the ultimate in accuracy as to when to change your oil use a UOA (used oil analysis).

UOA sounds like a very good approach. Who do you use and cost?
Bob

 

[williekioti]

Kioti manual first 50 all fluids/filters. Afterwards; engine oil every 100, filter 200, hydraulic filter 200 and fluid 400. Just picked up supplies for my 50 hr service, know what I'll be doing the next rainy day. I will probably follow most of the manual's intervals in the subsequent services except will change engine filter with oil. Something just doesn't seem right to me putting new oil into a system with an old filter. If anything it would make more sense to change a filter first. Maybe the printer put the dots in the wrong column on the chart.

Good post DieselP, I'll have to look around for someone to do UOA. That would be good info to have and follow throughout a machine's life.

 

[shaley]

My NH 2120 is 100 hrs engine lube filter at every other. 300 hrs on the hydraulic oil. Just did the engine lube yesterday. $10/gal for shell rotella, what next $3 gal gas!!!

 

[DieselPower]

You can do a web search for "used oil analysis" and pick from a large number of providers. Personally I use WearCheck for all my UOA's. It dosen't cost me anything because the service is provided free if you use Texas Refinery Corp. lubricants. WearCheck is the lab that TRC uses. Other high quality lubricant manufacturers also provide free UOA's if you use their product. Some with in house lab's and some use outside firms. I like the outside firm better because they are not biased to the lubricant manufacturer or the end user.

I know alot of people that have been using Blackstone Laboratories and like them.

The average UOA cost between $15-25 depending on exactly what test you have performed and who does them. Is it expensive? No, not really if you think about it. How much oil does your oil pan hold and at what cost? Cost more than the UOA in most cases and in addition to that you are also finding out if there are other problems. Bad injector that's not bad enough to be noticed yet? Easy to tell with a UOA because the fuel dillution count goes up. Is bearing wear suddenly happening to your engine without you knowing it? Easy to tell with a UOA because the wear metal count's will start to go up letting you fix the problem before it becomes a rod stuck through the side of your block (which is a sound no one ever wants to hear).

Think of it this way. Even if you have to pay for the UOA it's cheap insurance and a good way to keep a eye on the internals of your engine without ever having to take it apart.

UOA's can be done on almost any lubricant. Engine oils, gear oils, hydraulic oils / UTF's, fuel, transmission gear oils and ATF's and even grease. If it's a lubricant it can be tested.

By now you are probably wondering what the heck is checked in a UOA. WearCheck has a great literature section on their website that should answer most all of your questions. WearCheck - Condition Monitoring through Oil Analysis

Two of the most informative articles are the "Greek for beginners (part 1 and 2) - or the test and what they tell us". Both articles are in the " Oil Analysis Fundamentals" section.