How many hours do you go between oil changes?

[phillip d]

Many manufacturers recomend 250 hrs between changes.Growing up,Dad always changed the oil in our tractors every 100.He still to this day keeps an eye on me to make sure that I keep it up!Some tell me that I'm wasting good oil,but he keeps saying that it is cheaper to change oil than sleeves.Do some of you change the hardest workers more often and the light workers at 250?Thanks for the input,I will likely keep changing at 100 anyways,but it would give me a sense of what's going on if I knew what most people do.pd

 

[jimont]

Philip, I agree with your father ----every 100hrs. It's an easy number to remember and oil is cheaper than repairs. Dunno, maybe it's a hangover from the old car/truck oil change interval of 1000 miles (although I've gotten over that)!

 

[Anonymous-0]

oil and filters are cheaper than bearings and crankshafts. 100 hours.

 

[Steven f/AZ]

100 hours... we figure there is a reason why the oil is clean and doesn't use any until 75 hours on it. Been doing it that way forever, usually end up with an overhaul around 8000 hours on the 400 series IH diesel. 806 went 13,000 hours.

I'll keep doing it every 100 hours.

 

[Pair-a-dice farm]

I change every 100 hrs or every 6 months whichever comes 1st. usually the 100 hrs.
I change my pickup every 3000 miles, and usually get at least 250K out of one.

 

[Dairy Farmer in WI]

i usually change oil in the fall on the ones that get used all winter like the Case 970 and the 4010 and the 60 and the Farmal M. then change them again in the spring or summer depending on how much i use them. otherwise i change oil on teh ones i use spring through fall in the spring just before i use them

 

[RodinNS]

It varies here. Some at 100. Some at 300. The Cat at 250 or once a year.
Trucks get run well over their mileage recomendation....
If the operators manual said a 400 hour interval, that's roughly what I'd follow unless it was at 350 and needing oil. Then I'd change it rather than top it off.
I've got one that burns a gallon every hundred hours. It gets topped off and changed at 300 hours.
So, I don't have any set schedule. Haven't had any lube failures yet either.

Rod

 

[Sam in MI]

Hourmeters have changed. Back when hourmeters were mechanical they were basically revolution counters. It took a lot more than 100 hours to register that many on the meter. Now that they are electric and count actual hours no matter how fast or slow the engine runs, the engine has spun quite a bit less in the same recorded time.

Sam

 

[Jimmy King]

I always changed oil every 100 hrs, now that I am not Farming I change it once a year if I use the Tractor much.

 

[Walt Davies]

I change it when it get dirty never have been one to make a big deal out of changing oil at specific hours or mils.
Put 206 K on Samaria and 350k on Saab sonett with no trouble.
The Saab is in the barn with the original oil in the tranny and they it will not go over 100K on the same oil. Well its way over 350K now and going strong.
new oils are a lot better than what your Daddy used they stand up to high heat and cold and lube far better than the old 30 or 40 weight non detergent oils.
You need to look at the what the manufactures says and follow his recommendations not your Father's even if you do love him and think he's the greatest thing since white bread.
Walt

 

[Anonymous-0]

If you can find a Shaeffer Oil dealer around you that is the best oil around. You can go three times as long without changing the oil. That stuff even makes your engine run alot smoother and qiueter. They even make grease to. Never had to work own anything we used it in.

 

[Burnie]

It depends on how often you run your tractor. I usually go by the book, 200 to 250 hours plus or minus 10 hours or every 6 months which ever comes first. Changing oil more often is fairly cheap if you only have a couple of tractors that do low hours but if you have a bit of a fleet, with each doing 700-1000hours per year, the costs mount up rather quickly. Where I am, we farm pretty much all year long so you can rack up the hours fairly quickly. Combines and pickers I like to change at the start of the season. It's also important to change hydraulic oil regularly. Transmissions and hydraulic systems can also be expensive to repair.

 

[Tx Jim]

On my JD 4255 that I've owned since '93 I change oil and filter according to operators manual which states 250 hours. It now has 9800+ hours on digital tach. Engine has not been over-hauled. Tx Jim

 

[Mike M]

Some of the tractor books say something like 100-150 hrs. Then I see in some of the construction equipment they say 300 hrs. ? which surprizes me !
If I have something I run regularly I "try" to do them around 100 hrs. and the cars and trucks at 3000 miles.
I have alot more equipment that just sits and hasn't been ran in years. It is keep inside a heated garage and haven't had oil changed in years either. It was never very old in there when parked so I hope it isn't hurting anything.Got to be better than all the sludge and junk I cleaned out of them during restoration.

 

[Doc Larry]

Sam,

I don't think that is correct for all hour meters. On my Silverado, 100 hours is about 5,000 highway miles, and about 3,000 commuting miles. So my hour meter is recording total revolutions....I don't know about modern equipment, but I suspect at least some are the same.

Larry

 

[Lee in Iowa]

Everything that has a working hourmeter gets changed every time it comes up on an even 100 hours. Hydraulic filter every 200. Easy to keep track of. Lee

 

[T_Bone]

Hi Phillip,

I read a article about Chevron Delo using OEM filters that stated they didn't see a change in the oil properties until after 400hrs average.

I change oil at every dew point change in temperature or in cold climantes, twice year minimum or every 200hrs if I'm using the engine heavy.

At about $40/change, that's pretty cheap maintance every year for maximum protection.

If you wanna really see what's in your oil, let your oil set in a 5gal can for 6mths then look what settled on the bottom. This would be a good visual indicator of the effect of changes at 100hrs, 200hrs or 300hrs. This works well for hydraulic oil too.

T_Bone

 

[Ken Macfarlane]

Filters actually get better at filtering small particles with age until they clog too badly. And new oil tends to be dirtier particle wise than new oil going in. The new oil does restore the additive load and gets rid of acids and ash etc.

Big fleets often pre filter oil before filling equipment to get more time between rebuilds.

My tractor has a 100 hr interval on a straight hours meter. I change at 100 hours but if it had a larger sump I would go out to 250 hours. It holds less than half the oil my last tractor of the same hp held.

 

[farmer boy]

Every 150 hours on the Kubota and 1 time a year on the Allis'. The Kubota is supposed to be 125 hour oil change and 250 hour filter change

 

[Anonymous-0]

100 Hours. Tom