How many hours are you getting out of your oil changes?

[crazy-mp]

I try to get my equipment at the 250 hour mark. Most companies equipment we are running say 250 but there are a few that say 500. Most of our road tractors get a change about every 8 months and they are typically in the 5-6000 mile range.

We have a few pieces of equipment that get a yearly change even if they do not get hours put on them , I have seen two pieces that had less than 5 hours in a years time and other ones get changed in less than a month.

While you should go by your manufacturers recommendation your company may have a different service schedule depending on the type of oil your running and your situation. We have 2 Kawasaki Mules we use for flagger vehicles on overlays, Kawasaki recommends oil change intervals at 25 hours, at that rate I would be changing the oil every 2-3 days.

One other thing you may consider is a filter cutter so you can open your oil filter up and see if there are any particles in there, and you can understand the construction of various manufacturers products.

 

[ddigger]

I change my engine oil and(cat brand) filters every 250hrs, I only use chevron delo 400 15-40. I am currently at around 23.300hrs. And have never been into the engine (Cat 3306). And it still uses no oil between changes.

 

[Nige]

I change my engine oil and(cat brand) filters every 250hrs, I only use chevron delo 400 15-40. I am currently at around 23.300hrs. And have never been into the engine (Cat 3306). And it still uses no oil between changes.

A resounding confirmation that when it comes to lubricants and filters - you get what you pay for. I'm not saying Brand X is better than Brand Y, simply don't go buying 5 gallon jugs of oil and filters from your local "Joe Blow's Gas & Groceries" - you will regret it.

 

[Randy88]

I use oil sampling to determine drain intervals, they give recommendations for either shortening or extending intervals. No matter what they say, I won't go over 250 hours on engine oil, even if the samples are good enough to be extended more, all other oils we'll extend as recommended though, but pull samples between drains to see how things are going or if we are having problems or water contamination.

It was also not stated how many hours per season or year the machine gets run, that plays into drain intervals too, how much time is spent sitting doing nothing or in storage.

 

[joispoi]

I put 400 hours on the machine this year (that leaves 8,360 hours of sitting and doing nothing per year ). I have the answer to my question, but this thread doesn't have to be specific to my machine.

 

[DPete]

I change my engine oil and(cat brand) filters every 250hrs, I only use chevron delo 400 15-40. I am currently at around 23.300hrs. And have never been into the engine (Cat 3306). And it still uses no oil between changes.

Exactly what I do, that's some serious hours digger.

 

[CM1995]

Me too. I am religious when it comes to the yellow iron getting oil changes at 250 hrs. Use Cat filters and cat dealer oil, which is formulated to Cat specs. I have found I can buy the dealer brand oil very competitive with other brands.

Skids and mini gets oil changed at 100-150 hrs and I use Bobcat filters and the cat dealer oil.

 

[ValleyFirewood]

Why so soon on the Bobcat oil?

 

[Delmer]

Smaller harder working engine with a smaller oil capacity.

How often do you change a small air cooled engine? 10-20 hours at most.

 

[CM1995]

Delmer said it. The Bobcat engine is smaller, packed inside the machine and runs WOT pretty much all the time.

 

[Scrub Puller]

Yair . . . Delmer

How often do you change a small air cooled engine? 10-20 hours at most.

In my experience over here twenty hour oil changes would be unnecessary and just don't happen. Apart from the whipper-snipper (line trimmer) engines that run five to seven thousand revs and get changed each working day I have always tried to oil change at around a hundred hours.

We have Kohler, Kawasaki and Honda air-cooled engines in mowers at around seven thousand hours and have done over two thousand on the little Honda line trimmers and I am constantly amazed.

On various forums I see mention of the poor engine life and reliability of air-cooled generator engines in the US. I assume the basic gen-set uses a two pole alternator which would run at three thousand six hundred revs to get your sixty cycles versus the same engine here doing three thousand to get our fifty cycles, would this be a factor do you think?

Cheers.

 

[td25c]

The manual for the air cooled Onan engine on my miller welder states first oil change (break in) at 25 hours. After that they suggest changing oil & filter at 50 to 100 hours depending on conditions. I use the "In field oil analysis" to decide after 50 hours. At least I dont have to check for antifreeze in the oil .LOL

 

[Delmer]

Eh dar Scrub

Maybe comparing the oil change interval on a modern car vs an old Ford tractor would be more appropriate. Modern engines are much better tuned so they stay cleaner. Small diesels tend to be "less refined" than the same age of larger diesel.

Over here Kohler and Honda are premium engines, not sure on Kawasaki? But even then, I'd never intentionally let a GX160-390 go 100 hours, it just seems like they are so exposed to dirt and abuse, plus there's no oil filter??? Go down to the low end engines that lack oil filters plus bearings, cylinder liners, overhead valves... First oil change looks like quicksilver. We even have an EPA sticker right on the engine that basically tells you this engine won't last till it's first oil change. Your assumption is correct on RPM, that can't help generators, but the engines are cheap, cheap, cheap.

 

[ValleyFirewood]

Smaller harder working engine with a smaller oil capacity.

How often do you change a small air cooled engine? 10-20 hours at most.

I go by the manual which is 250hrs. Mine holds around 3 or 4 gallons.
I hardly ever run it wide open.

Small engines? 50-100hrs depending on what.

 

[Pyro4x4]

40% of engine oil is changed to early. Another 40% is changed too late. 20% of oil is changed on time. Those 20% are doing oil samples. Everyone runs their equipment differently and in different environments. You won't know what your oil is doing and can do for you until you monitor it with samples.