Oil change frequency

I think 2 years is fine on low hour stuff possibly even 3. That’s what I’ve been doing. I suspect many tractors have went much longer than that and are still going.  Todays oils are much better than they were years ago.

I try and convince myself that I change the oil on everything at least once a year for the major equipment and once every two years for the lesser stuff. But it tends to slide on several tractors. I think 2-3 years is fine with good oil and filter. I always throw a bit of that Lucas oil stabilizer stuff in. It has some light tackifiers in it, so it keeps a coating of oil on all the top end components that might elsewise sit dry.

Edited by DanielW - 09 Feb 2024 at 9:14am

Spend 20 bucks and take an engine oil sample and have it analyzed. They can tell you if your change interval is too long or not.

... The different tractors are also very different in how much moisture they accumulate - how large and how much air space is in the rear end and tranny castings. The Fordson, W6, and Massey 555 with their massive, hefty castings provide lots of cold surface area for the water to condense on...

I work for a construction equipment manufacturer we use fpt(cnh) engines. These things see hard use. Fpt requires 600 hour intervals. One large customer of ours installs oil bypass filtration kits on
and extends that to 1000 hours with oil routine oil samples.
I would never run any engine i own that long before an oil change.

Oh you’re all going to hate on me. The gassers, C-WD45, haven’t been changed in 15 years. The 8050 pulled the planter and gets fresh oil every year. All others, every two years. Big Blue and the combine every hundred. My 76 Olds went 20 years once. I change it every 2000 miles. I still ended up changing it early. It still looked good.

What brand/type of oil Codger  ???

When I first got my D17 I used it a lot and I would change it every year, since I bought my 190 and D15 the D17 sits most of the year and only does loader and snowblower work. Got maybe 10 hours since the last change. I use conventional oil and always add Seafoam to my oil so I'm guessing by everyone's responses 2-3 years between changes wouldn't be an issue.

You lot are a trip! I'm a former neurotic dealership mechanic and I can't not follow maintenance schedules to a T for cars. For the cars snd trucks, I usually get Mobile 1 Advanced full synthetic when it goes on sale for around $25 with a filter for like another $10 that claims to last for 10K miles or 12 months and a matching filter and then set a reminder on my phone. My pickup got 380 (hard) miles last year. Waste of money? Maybe. But everything I have is over 30 years old and runs like it's brand new. I'm buying piece of mind. For someone with my mentality, it really helps me sleep at night. Otherwise I lay awake imagining bearing and rocker arm damage.

However, I've only been a tractor owner (Head over heels for my old B!) since November. I was just going to do oil, finals and UTF every spring before I started mowing. It'll get firewood in the fall and then sit until mowing season again.

Edited by resurrection20 - 29 Feb 2024 at 11:18pm

Recently read an article that claims oil life doesn't matter as much as actual usage. Hard to know what to believe. I still change my old D 15 about once a year.

Hey Codger,

What do you think of putting Delo 400 SAE 30 in a Model B? It was on sale and it wasn't until I got home that I saw that the only API spec on the jug was CF. The Chevron website says it's also SJ...but then why isn't it on the jug?

I live on the Oregon Coast, which is one of the most temperate places in the world (Fortuna, CA is the most) based on lack of temperature variation. The hottest month is August with an average of 59 F and the coldest is December with 46 F. The yearly average is 52F. We had three days this winter below freezing and they were high 20's at night and in the high 30's during the day.

On Sunday I did go out joyriding and it was 36 F overnight and then in the low 40's during the day. 45 F at noon and then trended down the rest of the day. I thought anything above 32 was okay for SAE 30?

The ocean has a temperature modulating effect, the California Current brings warm water up from the Sea of Cortez in Mexico and raises the water temp to 54 F. Southern winds bring warmer air all winter, too. We actually don't have a wind-chill effect here, we have a wind-warming. The windiest days are the warmest. We get the most surfers in the winter due to warmer water and air and bigger waves from offshore storms. Oregon has had a disgustingly warm winter this year. I'm a huge snowboarder and have only made it to the mountains twice because there's almost never any powder. Just rock-hard icy groomers and early season conditions.

All summer we get cold water and wind down from the Bering Sea and Alaska/Canada and even though it's sunny, it's colder outside! The ocean temp drops to 52 F!

Edited by resurrection20 - 05 Mar 2024 at 11:03am