Low Hour Oil Change

[jeepcj7]

Technically you should replace the engine oil once per year if you don't hit the hour limit. or sure I would recommend changing the oil after the first year even if you don't hit the hour limit - you never know what might have been left floating around in there during manufacturing process. Break in oil as some one mentioned before is a thing of the past. The purpose of break in oil was essentially to help the pistons and rings seat themselves faster. However, machining capabilities have come a long way over the years and tolerances are much closer now than before. There is not need for pistons and rings to seat them selves, they are already seated. Some new tractors now don't require first engine oil change for 500 hours. Engine oil and filter changes add to cost of ownership which is actually a hot topic for some people.

 

[def38]

Oil gets worn out when it shears to a different viscosity, gets contaminated with soot, raw fuel, condensate, looses TBN (TBN less than 2 is time to change), the corrosion inhibitors are depleted and a myriad of other reasons. Today's quality HDEOs often go 50K-75K miles in over the road diesel engines. Our 50 HP and under tractor diesel engines don't work engine oil very hard unless you are abusing your machine. Therefore, a couple hundred hours on engine oil is rather light duty for say, Rotella 15w-40, Delvac 1300 15w-40 or Delo 400 15w-40 HDEOs. I would be more concerned about the oil filter. Mann, Bosch, Purolator, WIX and Mahle filters are top of the line (there are some others, as well). Fram oil filters are not found on any of my internal combustion engines.

If you run your factory fill for 100 hours, all will be fine. Just keep the oil level topped up. If your tractor lives in a shed or garage, so much the better. If you are located in a mild climate, even better yet. Remember when you cold start your tractor engine (or any engine for that matter) load the engine lightly until the coolant reaches normal temperature. Following this advice, your tractor engine will outlive you.