# Oil Change Question



## Jesse135 (8 mo ago)

Is it necessary to change oil annually (Kubota L3901) if the present oil has only a minimum of run time, say less than 50 hours since changed?

A Kubota salesman said yes, because the oil breaks down over time; an auto mechanic said no.

Thank you for your reply.


----------



## BigT (Sep 15, 2014)

Hello Jesse, welcome to the forum.

I change engine oil in my tractor every year, and I only put 50-60 hours operation time on it per year. To my knowledge, oil does not break down ever at normal operating temperatures, but I think it accumulates extremely fine solids that will pass through a filter, plus acids, etc. Most guys change their oil every year. Hey, it's up to you....


----------



## Jesse135 (8 mo ago)

Thanks, BigT, for the reply. Well, if you''re correct about the trash passing through the filter, then the oil should be changed; that's what I've always done, but wondered if I could skip a year.

Any other comments from anyone?


----------



## LouNY (Dec 15, 2016)

I do annual changes on any low hour engine.


----------



## Jesse135 (8 mo ago)

That's it, then; thank you both for the good advice.


----------



## unsquidly (Jul 13, 2021)

I agree with all the above, no matter what the hours put on an engine I do at least one oil and filter change a year.....As far as the oil breaking down, I don't think that oil has been prone to that in many years......The old oil would but not the newer stuff, in my experience......I drive a on highway semi tractor trailer for a living and our Freightliners are on a 30,000 change interval and I have never seen or heard of the oil breaking down.....


----------



## Jesse135 (8 mo ago)

unsquidly, I'm sold on the annual oil change. Just got back from the store with $60 worth of Shell's T6 synthetic.
Thanks


----------



## unsquidly (Jul 13, 2021)

Jesse135 said:


> unsquidly, I'm sold on the annual oil change. Just got back from the store with $60 worth of Shell's T6 synthetic.
> Thanks



Just my thought, I probably would not spent the extra $ for full synthetic for something that I put very low hours on......I run T-4 on low hour equipment and T-5 on the rest.....But that is just me......We run T-4 on our highway semi trucks with no issues,.....


----------



## Jesse135 (8 mo ago)

unsquidly, I'm glad you added that. I didn't know which to buy; I started with T4, then T5 and now T6 just because I thought I should buy the latest. I'm returning the T6 for the savings on T4. Thank you.


----------



## unsquidly (Jul 13, 2021)

Jesse135 said:


> unsquidly, I'm glad you added that. I didn't know which to buy; I started with T4, then T5 and now T6 just because I thought I should buy the latest. I'm returning the T6 for the savings on T4. Thank you.



You are welcome...............Just my opinion but I really think that a lot of folks get caught up just like you did and the oil companies make bank on that...........There are 100% legit uses for full synthetic but not every engine needs/requires it......


----------



## Jesse135 (8 mo ago)

I think that's the bottom line.


----------



## unsquidly (Jul 13, 2021)

Jesse135 said:


> I think that's the bottom line.



And this is one of the reasons that a place like this is so useful and good........😀


----------



## DPx2 (Jan 22, 2021)

This is a really good question Jesse - Thanks for posting it.

A follow-up question, should you change the filter on it every year then if only 50 hours on the oil? I know it's cheap insurance, but if a filter is good for 200 hours, and it only has 50 hours of oil run thru ot, would it be unnecessary?


----------



## Jpinion (Mar 28, 2020)

BigT said:


> Hello Jesse, welcome to the forum.
> 
> I change engine oil in my tractor every year, and I only put 50-60 hours operation time on it per year. To my knowledge, oil does not break down ever at normal operating temperatures, but I think it accumulates extremely fine solids that will pass through a filter, plus acids, etc. Most guys change their oil every year. Hey, it's up to you....


I know it's probably overkill but I change all fluids once a year. I normally put 45 to 50 hr. On my tractors


----------



## LouNY (Dec 15, 2016)

DPx2 said:


> This is a really good question Jesse - Thanks for posting it.
> 
> A follow-up question, should you change the filter on it every year then if only 50 hours on the oil? I know it's cheap insurance, but if a filter is good for 200 hours, and it only has 50 hours of oil run thru ot, would it be unnecessary?


I change my filter every time I change fluids.
If I was going to try and cut costs, I'd change the filter and have an oil sample sent out for a analyzes.


----------



## unsquidly (Jul 13, 2021)

Jpinion said:


> I know it's probably overkill but I change all fluids once a year. I normally put 45 to 50 hr. On my tractors



Not overkill at all.....Just smart practice on my opinion........


----------



## unsquidly (Jul 13, 2021)

DPx2 said:


> This is a really good question Jesse - Thanks for posting it.
> 
> A follow-up question, should you change the filter on it every year then if only 50 hours on the oil? I know it's cheap insurance, but if a filter is good for 200 hours, and it only has 50 hours of oil run thru ot, would it be unnecessary?



Some filters might be good for 200 hours but why put new clean oil through a less then new and clean filter......Filters are not that much money and well worth.......My thoughts are if you change the fluid then change the filter also.....


----------



## Harleyron74 (May 31, 2020)

If your tractor is still under warranty change the oil. If it is out of warranty it's still a good idea to change the oil but on the other hand the U.S military has oil on many vehicles checked by laboratories to see what may be lurking in said oil. There are laboratories that will check oil for anybody that sends in a sample. One company is Blackstone Laboratories. I have heard good reports on them but have not used any oil testing facilities myself.
There is a fellow on YouTube named Scotty Kilmore that has been a professional mechanic for over 50 year's and he answers questions from viewers on a regular basis. Many people ask him about oil changes and his advice is it's your equipment/vehicle so only you can decide what to do but he leaves almost every time saying " Oil is cheap, engine rebuilds are not"


----------



## Captain Mal (Jul 15, 2020)

Well let's be practical.

I own 9 motorcycles, boat, pressure washer, tractor, two generators, car, truck, mowers and more. To change oil each year would take oil for maybe 20 or more different engines. Some have filters and some don't. Add on filters and all the things needed to change. To do that yearly on all would be quite daunting and extremely expensive. 

Forget it. some of my things go years without an oil change. My tractor goes about 15 hours a year. After the oil gets a bit dirty I go just one more year. Figure three years per oil/filter change. On all my "stuff" I have rarely to never had to do an engine rebuild.


----------



## 42343 (Mar 19, 2017)

The next question would be how well do filters hold up over a year? I know it depends on what the media is made of. I just wouldn't take the chance, its just too big of an investment to not do yearly changes IMO. 
Oil companies seem to only guarantee oil for up to 1 year.


----------



## StudeHudson (11 mo ago)

Relevance of changing the oil filter every OCI


When i got my car with 100k km, the inside of the engine was already clean like new thanks to being serviced at the dealer every 10,000 to 15,000 km with 5W40. In my 100k km of ownership i changed to oil approximately every 6,000 km with whatever was on sale, mainly synthetic or semi synthetic...



bobistheoilguy.com








__





Used Oil Analysis - Diesel


Post your UOAs for diesel engines here.



bobistheoilguy.com





Link to Bob is the oil guy, concerning this very thing. Also one for oil analysis.


----------



## KPS80 (Jul 3, 2020)

As the oil sits the pH changes. Eventually the bearings will get pitting from the acidic and corrosive oil. The degree and amount of pH drop will determine this point requiring the oil to be changed. It isn't about how dirty or how the oil looks. A yearly change out is safe. A regular running of the tractor will help get any moisture out of the oil. Filters rarely fail on their effectiveness due to low use. If they do it is the seal and that is apparent by sight. If you can't afford oil changes, you definitely can't afford the repairs. My previous job had guest lecturers come in and talk about lubricants from start, base extraction, to finish. You can send an oil sample out for testing if you want to lengthen the change interval. If you don't, how lucky are you feeling?


----------



## Will S (11 mo ago)

Do as you like, but here is the rest of the story.


----------



## KPS80 (Jul 3, 2020)

Will S said:


> Do as you like, but here is the rest of the story.


The bottom line is testing. To say 12 month oil change is a myth ignores all of the conditions the oil experiences in the different operating and storage conditions. YouTube and Facebook "experts" can end up costing you a lot of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Fun watching though.


----------



## unsquidly (Jul 13, 2021)

Harleyron74 said:


> If your tractor is still under warranty change the oil. If it is out of warranty it's still a good idea to change the oil but on the other hand the U.S military has oil on many vehicles checked by laboratories to see what may be lurking in said oil. There are laboratories that will check oil for anybody that sends in a sample. One company is Blackstone Laboratories. I have heard good reports on them but have not used any oil testing facilities myself.
> There is a fellow on YouTube named Scotty Kilmore that has been a professional mechanic for over 50 year's and he answers questions from viewers on a regular basis. Many people ask him about oil changes and his advice is it's your equipment/vehicle so only you can decide what to do but he leaves almost every time saying " Oil is cheap, engine rebuilds are not"



After over 21 years in the US Navy Seabees I can tell you that the US Navy, at least, does oil and filter changes along with other regular maintenance on regular intervals and yes, once in awhile they do send samples to outside labs to verify that their processes are working just the same as about any fleet of any sizes does.....

Most fleets that have equipment still under warranty will save a sample of the oil from every oil change and label it as such until the equipment is out of warranty.....This has been my experience.....


----------



## Will S (11 mo ago)

KPS80 said:


> The bottom line is testing. To say 12 month oil change is a myth ignores all of the conditions the oil experiences in the different operating and storage conditions. YouTube and Facebook "experts" can end up costing you a lot of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Fun watching though.


Yes, and changing it by the calendar also ignores those same things.
I have been using Caterpillar oil sampling in my engines, for 25 years, so I know exactly what is going on with the oil. I have a Cat330 in a Freightliner chassis, and I've received many oil analysis reports back that summarize by saying "Suitable for continued service", even on oil that was more than 3 years in that engine. Nothing but Amsoil 15w-45 in that engine, for 20 years. Except for an occasional bad load of bad diesel while on the road, never an issue with the engine.


----------



## Don't know what I'm doing (Aug 14, 2020)

Captain Mal said:


> Well let's be practical.
> 
> I own 9 motorcycles, boat, pressure washer, tractor, two generators, car, truck, mowers and more. To change oil each year would take oil for maybe 20 or more different engines. Some have filters and some don't. Add on filters and all the things needed to change. To do that yearly on all would be quite daunting and extremely expensive.
> 
> Forget it. some of my things go years without an oil change. My tractor goes about 15 hours a year. After the oil gets a bit dirty I go just one more year. Figure three years per oil/filter change. On all my "stuff" I have rarely to never had to do an engine rebuild.


I have to agree. I also have a makeshift fleet of 2 dozen vehicles. I tend to perform a combination of a visual inspection of oil and level check along with a ballpark amount of hours on machine before i change the oil on low use vehicles. I have to knock on wood, i haven't had any issues but prior to this discussion, it was not high on my priorities list. It would be prudent to analyze the oil, but as my username hints, I will not.


----------



## JB Freeman (9 mo ago)

Just make sure you get a quality oil filter. You can YouTube oil filters and find some great info


----------



## Tom Hockett (Apr 14, 2007)

I will pass on a negative vote. Of course it will not hurt anything if you change your oil every two weeks if you choose to do so. It is only money and resources that you are wasting. I see it said all the time that you should change your oil based on time as well as usage. That's mostly propagated by people who stand to make money off you doing it, and others who buy into the concept based on conservatism as opposed to fact. If you were to do a professional quality oil analysis on your one year old oil with only a few hours of use, and ask an expert to do a blind recommendation based on oil quality analysis alone, they would say the old oil is good to go based on factual data.


----------

