Service Intervals

[dk8019]

So I have a new 3032E with a bit over 20 hours on it so far, great machine no complaints so far. It's been used for a bit of FEL work moving dirt, a good bit of mowing with a 90" RFM, some box blading, and skidding some logs, typical small rural home site stuff.

I was looking at the service intervals today and noted that the oil change interval is 200 hours, and the tranny is every 400! I've seen many references to 50 hour services including both of these, was that the typical service interval in the past for JD tractors? I do service my air cooled equipment on a 50 hour interval, but those are all gas. (GT, air compressor, pressure washer and generator)

Should I be doing these more often than suggested by the manual?

 

[nmu98]

I do my first oil change at 50 hours. I do it mostly because I want to cut open the oil filter and see whats inside. FTMP, the oil still looks clean at 50 hours. I did my hydro tranny at 75 hours on my current 3720, but that was only because I was having a hydo issue when it was cold and I wanted to make sure I had the low vis oil. I would wait to 200 hours to do that one again on my new tractor unless I noticed something that would make me think it was contaminated.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

Should I be doing these more often than suggested by the manual?

I usually go with a similar schedule to NMU98's....50 hours first change, change with break in oil, go another 50 hours and then change again...this time going with normal engine oil. I plan on changing my oil twice every year at the MOST, regardless of hours. I consider my 3520 a "servere duty" machine...not because of how I run it, but because of the lack of use...typical useage is start it, run a few hours, stop it....eat lunch....start, few more hours use...stop for the day...then its parked for 5/6 days, and so on. On the farm you can go 500+ hours on an engine oil change and the oil analysis comes back no problems...but those machines start at 5:30 and run under load till 6:00pm. Biggest killer of Turbos is engine oil related.

On the transmission/hydraulic oil, I changed at 100 hours, mostly only because of the stories & posts I've seen about manufacturing gunk & grit in there...I do plan on going 400 hours on the trans oil....unless I feel the urge to change it sooner.

Oil is cheap "insurance'....I dont see any downside to changing it more often then the manual says other then a somewhat lighter wallet.

 

[RoyJackson]

I think Deere determines the service intervals based upon a machine running 4-8 hours a day (like an ag tractor would do).
Most of us CUT owners aren't going to accumulate hours nearly as fast.

So, engine oil/filter changes annually (this is after the 50 hour break in oil change, BTW). Hydraulic fluids, axle oil every three years, grease the fittings every 10-15 hours (or more frequently).
I normally put between 50-75 hours on the machine annually.

 

[picker77]

Roy, FWIW the 3032E manual doesn't mention break-in oil OR a 50-hour initial service in the hourly maintenance schedule. Just the usual routine bolt tightness checks, etc., up until the first oil change at 200 hours. In my case, that might be 5 years, so I'll do it early every spring instead, when I do all my other machinery--that also gives me another excuse to fool around in the shop during cold weather. Like many auto manufacturers, looks like maybe JD's engineers, in cahoots with Yanmar, have scaled back some of their recommended maintenance intervals, at least for machines intended for lighter/more occasional use, such as CUTs.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

Roy, FWIW the 3032E manual doesn't mention break-in oil OR a 50-hour initial service in the hourly maintenance schedule.

None of the manuals do...
Deere ships all its machines with Break in Oil, and they reccomend changing the oil at 100 hours. So it only stands to reason if you "pre-change" the oil at 50 hours, you should use break in oil to keep with what JD wanted.
Search break in oil, there are a few threads here on TBN which discuss it...google it as well, JD has great documentation on it.

 

[dk8019]

None of the manuals do...
Deere ships all its machines with Break in Oil, and they reccomend changing the oil at 100 hours. So it only stands to reason if you "pre-change" the oil at 50 hours, you should use break in oil to keep with what JD wanted.
Search break in oil, there are a few threads here on TBN which discuss it...google it as well, JD has great documentation on it.

Dave,

This is the confusing part, if JD indeed ships all these with break in oil, why in the world wouldn't they mention it in the owner's manual they ship with, especially if it requires replacement at half the time recommended in the manual?

I think I will do it every spring as mentioned by few others, but not the filters until the required 200 hours is reached. I'm still debating on what to do in terms of hydro oil changes though.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

This is the confusing part, if JD indeed ships all these with break in oil, why in the world wouldn't they mention it in the owner's manual they ship with, especially if it requires replacement at half the time recommended in the manual?

Because if you go by the manual, you should change it at 100 hours to "normal oil"....The manual doesnt mention that the HyGard that ships in the tranny is of a different color then what you buy at your dealer...thats for leak detection....

 

[eepete]

There was a spot I found on the Deere web site about the break in oil. It was in reference to using it on an engine that had things replace on it. It talked about doing a change out at 100 hours, _or_ once it was not using any more oil.

Friday I went to my Deere dealer since my 4520 has 75 hours on it. I asked about changing the oil, when, and what type. He could find nothing on the 4520, but found a list of recommended services for a 4320 on the dealer JD web site. I attach what they had for the First 50 hour service. This seems to be the data used by a dealer when you have your tractor services for either X number of hours and/or an annual sevice.

All in all, it's confusing. The owner manuals have an area for stuff to check at 10 hours, but nothing about when to change the oil for the first time.

My new machine stopped using oil at about 25 hours. Yesterday I changed out the oil for regular 15-40. I'll bet this is all close enough it will be just fine.

I've also asked about the transmission fluid, and both the owners manual and the dealer said they recommend a 1st change at 400 hours. Kinda different from my 1997 Kubota B21 where at 50 hours everything was changed out. I'm probably going to change the hydro fluid this fall, mostly because I want normal HyGuard not low viscosity because my machine sees it's heaviest use in the summer when it's hot. And there is a bit of "I want to see that everything is OK while I'm still in the warranty period.

I miss the HyGuard of days gone by that was red. It was much easier to see in the sight glass on my JD 318.

Pete

 

[RoyJackson]

The old 790 manuals did state to change the oil after 50 hours. I don't know if the current 3005 manual has such a requirement.
It is odd the manuals do not have such a requirement unless they do the break-in at the factory (very doubtful, IMHO).
So, I guess new owners have to do what they think is best. Personally, I wouldn't go 100 hours and definitely not 200 hours. Based upon past experience, somewhere between 50-60 hours sounds about right.