Oil... to change now or later???

[Rowdy Raven]

Hey folks, I have a L3010 that has given me great service over the last decade. This tractor does everything I need it to do, not to big, not to small. As much as I like the tractor I've not had as much seat time in the last few years as I would have liked. I changed the oil 3.5 years ago and since then I have operated it under 75 hours. I run Shell Rotella Synthetic oil. With this low number of hours should I change the oil or am I good for another year. Plus, what about my tranny fluid, I also changed it out 3.5 years ago. Thanks so much!!!

 

[cat fever]

I look at it this way; an oil change is not that expensive and cheap insurance. I'd change it.

 

[seville009]

I don't use mine much anymore either, but like to change the engine oil at least every two years. I just use regular (non-synthetic) oil.

takes me a year of telling myself "just do it" to get it done......

 

[Wagtail]

cat fever has it right regarding the engine oil; it's a quick, cheap, procedure.

Personally, I'd just top the hydraulic fluid up as required until the Owner Manual recommended change 'hours'.

 

[Thomas]

I would change the oil and filter just to be on the safe side more so if living in cold region.

 

[RalphVa]

Synthetic is good for at least 200, maybe 400 hours. No time limit on synthetic. Our pickup only gets used about 1k miles/yr. Change only every 4 or 5 years.

Isuzu diesel generator has synthetic Castrol 5w30 in it. Been about 6 years on it. Due for its 10 year change this year. Has about 190 hours on this oil.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Every two years for me even if it's under the number of hours recommended in the maintenance schedule.

 

[Jrasband]

No reason to change it if it still good, just a waist of good oil.

 

[RjCorazza]

We all have our personal maintenance beliefs, and generally speaking, the type of person that thinks of these oil change interval issues will be doing more than adequate maintenance.
I personally go by hours (or miles for road vehicles) within reason. I did my first full interval oil change on my Kubota L4060 at 400h and 4 years. I doubt I would go over 4 years without a used oil analysis.
I use synthetic oil and never run the tractor without getting the engine up to operating temperature for a while. "Short trips" are hard on engine oil.

 

[jyoutz]

I have a truck with a Cummins diesel. It isn’t a daily driver and sits under a carport most of the time. I drive it when I need a truck, usually only about 5-10k miles per year. I use Rotella T6 (or used to when you could buy it). I change the oil and filter annually even though the mileage indicates that I could go longer. I worry that there is moisture condensation that gets into the crankcase during periods of no use and figure that fresh oil couldn’t hurt.