oil changes

[WinterDeere]

So, my trusty old 855 owner's manual puts the oil change interval at 200 hours. I put less than 100 hours per year on this machine, maybe even less than 67 hours per year. But, something about waiting 2 - 3 years to do an oil change just doesn't seem right to me. I'm thinking best practice might be to just change the oil yearly.

That said, if that system is designed to have the oil filter changed every 200 hours, I see no point in changing the filter after a 60 hour year. Might as well wait the 2 - 3 years it takes me to accumulate 200 hours, for the filter change. That's more about the inconvenience of getting to a dealer to buy the filter, than cost.

What's the wisdom of the group?

 

[JD 4520]

You really should change the oil and filter yearly and the manual likely states so. Every 200 hours or yearly, whatever comes first. It is cheap insurance

 

[RalphVa]

I don't know. On my generators and pickup, I'm going to changes about every 3rd year. Using synthetic. May do every other year on this new tractor after the first 50 hours, as I only put about 60 hours/yr on it.

Ralph

 

[Henri88]

I may be wrong, but my understanding for changing the oil yearly (if hours are not met) is not because oil breaks down in a year, but because of contaminant that will accumulate such as water due to condensation during a year. There is a reason why every manufacture starting from lawnmowers to cars right up to heavy equipment will ask for an oil change after a year if hours or mileage have not been reach. To me it is a small price to pay, inconvenient or not, just to know I have good clean oil when doing hard work with my equipment. And yes, you should change oil filter. jmo

 

[greg_g]

Yeah, I don't get the rationale in stretching out oil changes, or - for that matter - preventative maintenance in general. Compared to the $36k I paid for my 3720, a few bucks for oil and a filter to protect that investment - seems like chump change.

//greg//

 

[Dusty45701]

Yeah, I don't get the rationale in stretching out oil changes, or - for that matter - preventative maintenance in general. Compared to the $36k I paid for my 3720, a few bucks for oil and a filter to protect that investment - seems like chump change.

//greg//

+1
That is also the time you should be looking around to make sure everything is operating correctly.
That being said, my dump truck filter is now just over a year old

 

[WinterDeere]

I'm with you guys 100%. I do all maintenance on all equipment like clockwork, however (unless I somehow missed it), the 855 manual does NOT state "or yearly". It just says 200 hours, period. Hence the question.

My oil was last changed 11/27/12, so I was planning to do it this weekend. Unfortunately, this means I'm going to need to kill half my Saturday morning, running to the Deere dealer and back.

There's only two in my area, neither particularly close to my home, and both parts counters are very busy on Saturday mornings. They still keep the hours they kept 40 years ago, with no evening hours, even though their entire business has shifted from Ag (no farms left here!) to homeowners. One dealer told me they haven't sold an Ag tractor in 8 years, but they sell plenty of CUT's and Gators.

 

[Katahdin]

The only way to know if the oil is ready to change is to send a sample away to a lab and await the results.

I've sent in one two-year-old-oil sample to NAPA's test service with about 100 hours on it. The lubrication and moisture content report came back fine. This is what most people here are probably concerned about. However, the lab recommend an oil change for other reasons: high iron and silicon contaminants. Note this oil sample was from the engine of a 47-year-old surplus military truck, so those results should not be a surprise.

 

[hosspuller]

You may consider looking for a closer Deere dealer. Know that Deere has different dealers for different markets... Construction, lawn & turf, Ag. But all can get any part you want. Price is the same. I get all my tractor, lawn mower, backhoe parts from a nearby Deere construction dealer . The Ag dealer is many miles away. L&G is only 30 miles away. but the construction dealer was on my way to work.

Also many filters are used across a lot of equipment lines. My Deere construction dealer stocks all the oil & air filters for ALL of my machines. Many other parts (hose, fittings, fasteners, etc) are common too. On parts that aren't in stock ... I ask for parts to be in their regular semiweekly part shipment to avoid shipping charges. But If needed, I could have any part overnight or sooner if I pay freight.

 

[techwrtr2]

You may consider looking for a closer Deere dealer. Know that Deere has different dealers for different markets... Construction, lawn & turf, Ag. But all can get any part you want. Price is the same. I get all my tractor, lawn mower, backhoe parts from a nearby Deere construction dealer . The Ag dealer is many miles away. L&G is only 30 miles away. but the construction dealer was on my way to work.

Also many filters are used across a lot of equipment lines. My Deere construction dealer stocks all the oil & air filters for ALL of my machines. Many other parts (hose, fittings, fasteners, etc) are common too. On parts that aren't in stock ... I ask for parts to be in their regular semiweekly part shipment to avoid shipping charges. But If needed, I could have any part overnight or sooner if I pay freight.

The 855 takes a Wix 51334 oil filter or NAPA 1334. There are other which cross to it as well. I was more than slightly happy when I discovered this as this means I have 3 engines using the exact same oil filter. My 855, the Satoh Beaver and my Subaru. 4 if you count my mother's Subaru which I also maintain.

As for my change interval, haven't concluded which is really better. The oil currently in my 855 is about 2 years old and I plan to change it soon. When I do, I'm going to get it analyzed for condition and engine wear. Probably do the same with the Satoh.

One thing I make a practice of doing is avoiding short duration operation. Sometimes cannot avoid it, but for the most part I try to do enough with the engine to bring it to full tempurature prior to parking it again. I've been known to allow it outside overnight so I don't run it for 90 seconds and shut it down.

 

[techwrtr2]

Wix filter list for 855

Part No. Engine Comments
Air Filter 46453 855 w / Yanmar 3TN75 Engine (Inner)
Air Filter 46452 855 w / Yanmar 3TN75 Engine (Outer)
Air Filter 42123 855 w / Yanmar 3TN75 Engine (Single)
Fuel Filter 33263 855 w / Yanmar 3TN75 Engine M801101
Hydraulic 51586 855 w / Yanmar 3TN75 Engine AM102723
Oil Filter 5133453 855 w / Yanmar 3TN75 Engine M801002
Transmission Filter 51586 855 w / Yanmar 3TN75 Engine AM102723

 

[fieldman12]

I use to change every year many years ago. I finally quit doing that. We just have so much equipment and some of it don't get enough hours to change every year. I just check it every time I use the machine that it looks good and clean and when It gets close to hours I change it. I also watch oil when I drain it and could never tell any difference between oil changed every year versus every two to three years. I know allot of big farming operations that practice this same routine and never have any issues. I know guys that have had it tested also with no issues. Oil is allot better these days than years ago.

 

[Henri88]

To me ,it is not as much the quality but how contaminated the oil could be. Unless you have your oil analyses on a regular basis, there is no other way to know how contaminated it is. Ask yourself this question, if you had to choose between 2 tractors with the same amount of hours but one of them had and oil change every year, the other well who knows maybe at every 2 or 3 years, wouldn't you go for the one that had the regular maintenance? It's a no brainer for me. jmo.

 

[techwrtr2]

I'd be interested in how the individual operators used the equipment.

If the guy who changed it every year frequently ran it for under 5 min at a time, I'd be more concerned than if the guy who changed it every couple of years always took it up to operating temperature.

I plan to get my oil analyzed since in the almost 7 years I've owned it, I've never had it checked out.

 

[fieldman12]

To me ,it is not as much the quality but how contaminated the oil could be. Unless you have your oil analyses on a regular basis, there is no other way to know how contaminated it is. Ask yourself this question, if you had to choose between 2 tractors with the same amount of hours but one of them had and oil change every year, the other well who knows maybe at every 2 or 3 years, wouldn't you go for the one that had the regular maintenance? It's a no brainer for me. jmo.

I know what your getting at but really if you watch all your lubricants and nothing is changing how likely is it you have any contamination? In my opinion there are two main contaminations that are destructive to your engine and that is water and coolant. Both are easily visible. Yes everyonce and a great while there can be very tiny small amounts of coolant that may not be visible but usually you will see coolant level drop over time. Now motor internal problems that are mechanical issues opens another can of worms. I wonder how much water contamination happens to a jug of oil setting around a barn on the floor or a shelf? I dont have a problem buying a piece of equipment if the oil is not changed every year. I would be worried more about if it never gets changed, gets changes way past due as far as engine hours, or uses cheap fluids in stead of a good quality brand.

 

[greg_g]

Don't minimize the seriousness of contaminants that are not "easily visible". That might be a reasonable rule of thumb for gear boxes and hydraulics, but not so for diesel engines. How "visible" do you think contaminants are going to be in oil that turns black within the first few hours of use? That black is actually soot, which is a by-product of diesel detonation. I don't know the chemical composition of this soot, but I do know that it can interact with oil additives and condensation to produce harmful acids - not to mention degrading the actual lubrication effectiveness of the oil.

Oil analysis is a good and accurate method, but typically runs $25 or more per sample. For example, you're a trucking company. You buy a dozen new trucks that all haul in similar driving conditions. After xx number of miles, you take and test a sample from one truck. If it generates a negative report, you change the oil in all the trucks. If it comes back positive, you keep on truckin'. If you have large diesels, as in the case of locomotives/ships/generator plants, do the test so you don't unnecessarily have to change out hundreds or thousands of gallons of oil. But in many cases - particularly in the case of most of the members here - it's cheaper to forego the test - and actually follow the manufacturer-recommended oil/filter change interval.

//greg//

 

[Mechanos]

Oil analysis is also used as a diagnostic tool. The analysis can pick up all sorts of trace metals, etc. that can let you know well in advance that a rod bearings or main bearings, or piston rings, etc. are wearing excessively. This can continue to be monitored and the engine taken out of service for repairs before serious or catasprophic failure occurs.

 

[fieldman12]

Like I said if you have internal problems because of a bearing or so on that is a totally different animal. Most of todays new Diesel engines do not get the black color they once did years ago because of soot. I am very familiar with oil analisys. We have had semis tested at 10,000, 20,000 and even 30,000 miles with the same engine oil and the test still come back negative believe it or not. We finally decided to change it just because we though it was allot of miles with a normal conventional oil. We have used it with the Alcohol and Super Stock Diesel pulling tractors also but I feel the computer is the best indicator of internal issues on them.

 

[Henri88]

In the 60's till the mid 90's we had a fleet compose of school and motorcoach buses. In the 80's we started having are oil analyses on are motorcoachs at every oil change for preventive maintenance as mention by Mechanos. Having an engine grenaded on you 4000 miles away from your garage with 40 some peoples on board can be very costly. But this is the first time I ever heard about oil analyses that will tell you if you are due for an oil change. Not saying it doesn't exist, just never heard of it.

 

[techwrtr2]

When I send in the sample, I'll note that I either changed the oil or just drew a sample. They'll then tell me if it is suitable for continued use. Or not