Oil & Fuel First oil change..

Daronspicher · Mar 22, 2015

Bought a m5400dt about a month ago. I didn't run it much, a couple hours so far. It was nice out this weekend so I went after an oil change..

I have the two plug divided oil pan, that was an interesting first.

Had to take the bolts out of the mesh on the right side to get the filter off.

Old filter date was 2009, 180 hours ago. Bummer on that, I know the filter spec is 200 hours which seems nuts. That is just way too many hours and years on an oil change for a guy like me.

I'm thinking of changing it about every 10 hours this summer, let the new oil have a chance to pick up some of that old oil just long enough to put it in the waste oil bucket and go back new again, and again, and again.

What do you think guys? Good plan? Overreact?

C4Ranch · Mar 22, 2015

Every 10 hrs? Overkill and a waste of money. IMO

George2615 · Mar 22, 2015

I don't think you need to do an oil change every 10 hours. I'd check the oil before every use and see if it looks dirty. Maybe change the oil and filter after 25 hours then next time stretch it to 50 hours, then to 100 hours. I guess it depends on your use and always change the filter when you do the oil.
Approx. how many hours a year do you plan on using the tractor.
Transmission hydraulic fluid and filters can be changed at longer intervals usually around 200 hours. It probably wouldn't hurt to change your hydraulic fluid and filter if that's been over 6 years too.

I change my oil and filters once a year on all my vehicles and tractors. My new tractor hit 65 hours in 1 year. I did the first change at 50 hours and I will probably do my oil and filter changes at 50 hour intervals. That's overkill according to my owners manual but that is the way I am.

LLS · Mar 22, 2015

I use my tractors for my seeding business and average around 450 hours on my L and 275 hours on my B per year. If I changed my oil every 10 hours I wouldn't make any money. I change my engine oil every 125hours and hydro oil filter every 200 and hydro oil every 400. Every 100 is fine.

Will_C · Mar 22, 2015

I change oil yearly on my B and my RTV. That works out to about 90 hours on the tractor and around 45 on the RTV. I can understand your concerns, but I would do something like George suggested.

Will

oosik · Mar 22, 2015

I normally put 75 hours a year on my tractor. I change the engine oil & filter annually. I do the change not because of time on the tractor but because of the total length of time since the last oil change.

Daronspicher · Mar 23, 2015

Thanks for the feedback.

I'm not thinking 10 hr oil changes for the long haul, but maybe for 3 or 4 times coming up this summer with the aim to be to get the legacy gunk out of the engine from that seeming 6 year, 180 hour neglect it appears to have gone through.

Thinking that if I get this new oil running around, it will pick up and mix up some of the gunky old oil. Get the motor hot and work it a bit, then, BAM.. dump that oil out and go back in new again and repeat. 3 or 4 times of that to come up a much cleaner engine inside than what I have now.

The oil didn't come out like grease/tar, but it was a little more glue / tacky than I like.

varmint · Mar 23, 2015

Seems like getting it nice and hot, and changing the oil should get almost all of whatever you are worried about out... and if you feel the need to do it twice, then I'd consider going to the once a year or 100 hours routine (or how many ever hours the manual recommends.) If you have an HST, then the S UDT 2 will get pricey! Not to mention the filters, if you start changing that more often than needed. But, of course, unlike diesel engine oil, the HST oil should be clean and clear.

5030 · Mar 23, 2015

You probably already disposed of the drsin oil but in retrospect, a sampler to Blackstone Labs would net you a snapshot of what's going on inside as well as how much life the oil had left (if any). I have Blackstone analyize all my oils both engine and hydraulic, on every change, on every engine, tractor and vehicle.

As a rule because I use my large frame Kubota's for farming, I change my engine oils and filters, every fall. Hydraulic oils and filters get changed once every 1000 hours as do the cabin air filters and the engine air filters and prefilters.

Loadstar · Mar 23, 2015

Not sure how your oil filter is, but if it's a regular spin on you could just change that and not the oil. This would help clean things up a bit and keep the cost down.