I am an STO and so I have some equipment that only gets 30-40 hrs a year on them. These items include a swather, sprayer, and a diesel tandem truck that might make 2000 miles a year. They are around 20 yrs old. How often do you change oil in equipment like that as an oil change can cost a fair bit? I some times am going 2 season on an oil change. Most of them sit inside so don't get water in the oil from snow blowing around them or exposure to heavy rainfall.
- Thread starter ajl
- Start date
SodBuster87
Member
Take this for what its worth but a mechanic told me once a year when I asked him the same question. It seems to be working for me.
Similar situation here. I don't change oil yearly in tractors that only get a few hours (less than 100) a year. I may go 2-3 years as long as the oil looks ok and feels ok. Mine all stay under shed when not in use. That's been my practice for 30 years and I've not had a problem.
This is what oil filter look like when oil and filter are not changed for a long period of time. My dad after he stopped dairy farming did some truck gardening and didn't change oil in his Farmall M for 7 years and when i got it the oil filter looked almost that bad and the filter media was starting to fall apart.
gene bender
Well-known Member
so you think air moves thru the breather cap and you get moisture inside the engine
Ultradog MN
Well-known Member
- Location
- Twin Cities
I don't change oil every year. My main tractor only gets used maybe 40-50 hours a year.
When I do run it though I usually put a couple of hours on it working hard. That's enough to get it hot enough to evaporate any condensation out of the engine - and gear boxes. My thinking is; open the oil fill cap and look at it closely. An engine that is run for short hops will get a white buildup under there. If you run it for a couple of hours it won't get that white stuff.
When I do run it though I usually put a couple of hours on it working hard. That's enough to get it hot enough to evaporate any condensation out of the engine - and gear boxes. My thinking is; open the oil fill cap and look at it closely. An engine that is run for short hops will get a white buildup under there. If you run it for a couple of hours it won't get that white stuff.
So I take it you live where you never come out in the shed where tractors are stored and the whole tractor is sweating from moisture in air and tractor does the same thing on the inside. This winter I have seen a number of days when tractors were wring wet setting inside.
BarnyardEngineering
Well-known Member
- Location
- Rochester, NY
Yeah, but that's happening 24/7/365, so by that reasoning you should be changing oil DAILY whether you run it or not.
Ever noticed that milky oil complaints are always about hydraulic and transmission oil, and everyone blames condensation?
How come the engine oil doesn't get milky? It's exposed to the same condensation. Maybe because any moisture cooks out after the engine has been running for more than a couple of minutes?
showcrop
Well-known Member
all, It is difficult to tell from your post but your equipment could fall into a "severe service" category. For a car the most severe service is two short drives a day without coming up to temperature. As DBeatty says, keeping a vehicle covered does not protect it from humidity, which is how moisture gets into your motor, transmission, and rear housing. In order to protect it you need climate control to keep humidity down, unless you live in a very dry climate area.
caterpillar guy
Well-known Member
Change the ones used regularly as needed. The ones that set a lot like heavy tillage tractors set all summer so change them every other year. They work so the oil keeps the condensation evaporated during those long runs spring and fall. I change hydraulic and such filters each year.
showcrop
Well-known Member
Barnyard, Generally when you start your tractor the engine warms up much faster than the transmission and rear housing. I think that you will have to agree with that. Most of us in fact will let a motor warm up before moving the tractor. Due to oil and bearings and there being no combustion going on in the transmission and rear housing there is not much heat being generated. When oil gets hot the moisture that has gotten into it whether from condensation or as a product of combustion, will evaporate out. This happens much sooner in the engine than in the other cases. An example is my forklift. The crankcase oil tends to be milky because it has a large motor. It has to work for 45 minutes to drive the condensation out.
When temperatures are above freezing, it does not hurt to crack the drain plugs open slightly to drain out excess condensation before starting a tractor that has bee in storage for several months. Water tends to separate from engine oil and gear oil pretty well, better than from hydraulic oils that can absorb some water.
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