LETS TALK HRS

[PEANUTGRWR]

OK ALL THIS TALK HERE LATELY ABOUT OIL ANALYSIS HAS MADE ME WONDER. ON MY FARM EQUIPMENT (TRACTORS COMBINES COTTONSTRIPPERS WELLMOTORS ETC.) WE GO BY HOURS USED NOT MILES. AND THATS THE WAY IVE BEEN GOING ABOUT SERVIVE ON MY MY DMAX HERE LATELY IS BY HOURS AND NOT MILES. I WAS WONDERING IF ANY OF YOU GO BY HOURS (USED) INSTEAD OF MILES TOO. THESES $120,000 JOHN DEERES THAT I HAVE BEEN RUNNING FOR SEVERAL YEARS GET SERVICED ANYWHERE FROM 100-150 HRS DEPENDANT ON THE TYPE OF USE AND LOAD THEY HAVE BEEN UNDER FOR THAT DURATION. THAT TYPE OF SERVICE INTERVAL IS WHAT IS RECOMENDED IN THE OWNERS MANUAL. AND MY POINT IS------ IF YOU DO THE MATH WITH THE MILES VERSUS THE HOURS USED SOME PEOPLE ARE CHANGING THE OIL BEFORE THEY SHOULD BE. AND BEILIVE ME I HAVE DONE THIS FOR A LONG WHILE NOW, SOME OF MY TRACTORS HAVE OVER 10,000 HRS ON THEM(WITH NO PROBLEMS) AND I USE THIS (RECOMENDED) SERVICE PLAN AND I WOULDNT JEAPORDIZE AN EXSPENISIVE TRACTOR'S ENGINE TO SAVE A FEW DALLORS, BUT ARE WE CHANGING THE OIL TO SOON IN OUR TRUCKS WHEN GOING BY MILEAGE????? :eek:

[Nels]

I had wondered the same thing, so I installed an "Hours since last service" column to my mileage and service costs spreadsheet (below, in sig). I seem to be averaging between 86 and 90 hours on an oil change. Probably could go longer, but I'm ok with it. Oil is cheap.

[hdmax(mike)]

Nels; I`m new to excel. How does your spreadsheet work? And how would I go about setting one up?

Thanks!

[JEBar]

PEANUTGRWR .... couldn't agree more with you that it appears many change oil much earlier than needed (but guess that beats the alternative) and that hours of use should be considered ... my John Deere tractor(s) (which cost way below $120.000) over the years have all given excellent service when serviced at recommended hours ... will have to go back and check to see how my hours of usage correspond to the 5,000 mile oil change interval I've been following

Nels .... so far as I know things are still on tap to bring your equipment up in September :cool:

[Nels]

hdmax -- Just click on the orange link in my sig that says "Mileage and Service Costs Spreadsheet." When it loads, just save it to your own directory. You will need to delete my information and enter your own. Contact me at GOP4EVR@LSOL.NET and I will get you set up.

JEBar -- Thanks for the update. There will be a check here with your name on it when the time comes. I truly appreciate your help.

[hoot]

wELL PEANUT, JUST LOOK AT PAST HISTORY. eVERYONE HAS ALWAYS CHANGED THEIR OIL IN MILEAGE INTERVALS SINCE HENRY FORD TURNED THE FIRST SHIPPING CRATES INTO FLOORBOARDS. gM IS USING AN OIL MONITORING SYSTEM THAT ACTIVATES THE "CHANGE OIL" LIGHT WHICH IS BASED ON HOURS, MILEAG,E AND DRIVING HABITS. i BELIEVE THEY ARE ONTO SOMETHING HERE. yOU CHANGE THE OIL IN YOUR TRACTORS STRICTLY BASED ON HOURS. wE CHANGE THE OIL STRICTLY BASED ON MILEAGE. gM BELIEVES THERE'S MORE TO IT AND I BELIEVE THEY ARE RIGHT.

mOST OF US PROBABLY ARE CHANGING TOO SOON BUT IT DON'T HURT NUTTIN.

[Paintdude]

something else to be stressed, IMO is how long the oil has been in the crankcase..

Most farm tractors are used spring and fall(in this area ,anyways)..Months will pass before the Hours of use on the oil catch up..

Like many manufactures say change oil every 5,000 miles ot every 6 month's..

what do you recommend in these situations?

[Maxxheadroom]

These are all valid points you all bring up and every situation is a little bit different. I am personally biased toward synthetics since I have a background with it (built engines for Indy cars for years) and the results and benefits were very clear. Now you are thinking an Indy car is not a tractor or truck or Moped right, however they all require the same protection from heat, fuel contaminants, exhaust gases and acids, oxigenation, build up in deposits and chemical breakdown etc...Synthetic oils (100%)have conventional petrolium based oils beat hands down in all categories, the fact of the matter is synthetic oils just don't break down. When ever their is a problem with an engine running synthetic oil the problem can always be traced to a mechanical failure of an engine part or contaminant such as glycol or excessive fuel etc.. these giant oil companies here in the US have an extremely lucrative business with this 3000-4000 mile or even 250-500 hour (tractors) oil change business and have the general public convinced that if they do not change their oil every 3000 miles that this could result in "severe" engine damage which is pure horse puckey. Ever see the commercials on tv.
I have a friend who used to change his oil in his Powerstroke every 3000 miles at the stealer at $130.00 bucks a pop because he thought the dealer had the best oil for his truck, ya right!! This particular dealer buys the oil that they get the best deal on, approx .90 cents a qt in bulk... very lucrative.
There are more benefits to synthetics other than saving a few bucks such as better protection of engine components (longer life), extended change intervals, less man hours, less disposal costs. 100,000 mile oil changes are becoming more popular with over the road trucks and fleets and how about this, there are systems out there where you "never" change your oil, just filters (special bypass system filters). This can only be done with synthetics.
As another example BMW has had engine oil and driveability monitoring systems for years now, they use Mobile 1 synthetic private labeled in BMW bottles at $12.00+ a qt and recommend 15000 mile minimum change intervals...their service contracts include oil changes now (expensive contract)
You can change your oil at the "recommended" intervals from your dealer manual and never have a problem (which is great), however just keep an open mind to the fact that technological advances in engine oil have been around for many years and that there are alternatives to conventional thinking even in mundane ol' motor oil...
:D

[PEANUTGRWR]

HOOT, I DUNNO IF I BUY GM'S BS ABOUT THEIR OIL MONITORING SYSTEM ON OUR TRUCKS. MINE SEEMS TO COME ON AT THE SAME MILEAGE NO MATTER HOW HARD OR EASY IT WAS DRIVEN FOR THAT PARTICULAR SERVICE INTERVAL.

[afp]

Max,

The issue with synthetics has never been the ability of it to maintain it's viscosity. The first issue is synthetics get dirty with products of combustion, so unless a special filtration system is used they need to be changed well before their viscosity breaks down. The other issue is as George Morrison pointed out in another thread. Diesel "explodes" during ignition, and thus a certain weight of oil is needed to properly cushion the bearings. Typically, we use synthetics that are lighter in weight than mineral based oils, and for gas engines that is fine. However, maybe diesels do need the heavier weight and if so, the answer may be to use a XX-40 wt synthetic with a special filtration system.

Blaine