John Deere Plus 50

[OCDLubeman]

Hi everyone,

I have been studying this message board as well as several others (Edmunds.com, bobistheoilguy, and noria) and now it's time I jumped into this mess. I maintain several J.D. tractors and one Kubota and am considering changing to the Plus 50 oil. Can anybody answer the following questions:

1. Who makes this oil?

2. Even though it says it exceeds API standards, the API licensing symbol (donut) doesn't appear on the bottle - therefore it's probably not certified. Isn't this a bad thing?

3. Does anyone have real life, long term experience with this oil - tell me about it.

4. I wonder if all of John Deere's marketing hype about Plus 50 is just that, hype: extend change interval 50%, superior "test" results, exclusively designed for unique tractor operating conditions, lifetime engine warranty if oil fails. It seems every company makes the best product - how can anyone go wrong?

5. How does it compare to the most popular fleet oils: mobil delvac, chevron delo, shell rotella?

Thank you all for your input. As a "recovering **** retentive" I feel I might be in good company here, am I wrong?

Thanks - I'm ready to have some fun!

 

[JohnMiller3]

<font color=blue>... extend change interval 50%...</font color=blue>

Well... with the price of oil being only pennies on the dollar is pretty darn cheap insurance for any engine... unless you're running a "fleet" of equipment... even with "extended 50% interval stuff"... I'd still stick with the regular oil/filter change schedule...

One thing that baffles me is why someone in the southern tier of the US would spend upwards of 4-5 times the cost -for "synthetic oil"...? What benefit does that possibly serve...? (other than bragging rights)

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I smell an oil change debate!/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I for one don't see the advantage of longer oil change intervals, may save on oil changes - may pay in mechanical wear. I do know that I will take a "hammerin" by people with reasons of special oil filters and chemical breakdowns, but I'm pretty bullheaded about this. I would not extend the oil life of my rig that is only driven on the street and, I would cut the intervals in half with rigs that see dirt duty. Theres only one way to get the dirt out./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[OCDLubeman]

Well, since you started it.........my J.D. manuals call for a 250 hr./once per year minimum oil/filter change interval. Many of us only put 100 to 150 hrs. /year on our tractors. The dealer and John Deere both said it was perfectly fine to leave the oil/filter in for a whole year. They claim that engines and lubricants are better than they used to be. I used to do spring/fall changes regardless of hours. ANY OPINIONS?

Also, I'm still looking for answers to my original post.

Thank you!

 

[vutch]

I'm not positive, but I have heard that JD oil is Mobil Delvac. Supposedly this came from a JD dealer, but it is basically just hearsay, so take it for what you will. As far as the quality, I'm sure that it is as good as anything out there. I think the plus 50 means that JD says you can run 50 more hours between changes (250 vs. 200) with their oil. I imagine that you could run 250 with Delvac, Delo, Rotella, etc. with just as good of results, but it is a good marketing point for Deere's own brand. As for anyone else using it, I worked for a 4000+ acre grain/dairy farm, and JD oil is all we used in everything from the pickups to the 9000 series 4wd's to the combines to the 400 hp chopper. This equipment ran at least 12 hours a day, seven days a week during peak seasons, and I never heard of an oil-related problem. Would other brands have worked as well? Probably. But the Deere oil didn't give any problems.
Chris