How often should someone change their tractor’s oil and filters?
“It depends on the exact tractor they’re driving. Follow the guidelines of the operator’s manual. Many tractor’s first initial change in engine oil is at 50 hours. At that point, producers should then follow the guide. Hydraulic fuel may be 500 hours for some models, or it may be 250 hours. After the first change, engine oil will be 100 hours typically, and a few tractors, depending on their size, are longer than that.” The best rule of thumb, Gray said, is to just stay within the guidelines of the operator manual.
“We are seeing many engine failures due to tractors coming in with 900 hours of use, and they’ve never had an oil filter changed, never had an air filter changed. They’ve never had any service of any type. That will cause a very good piece of equipment to be short lived.”
Does it matter the type of engine oil they use?
“Yes. You need a good detergent engine oil. Again, as far as 10W-30 or 30 weight, whatever, it goes back to staying with the guidelines of what the operator’s book says. Today, tractors being manufactured are diesel. There hasn’t been a gas tractor engine made in 30 years. Use diesel-grade engine oil that is specifically designed for diesel engines.”
Does the grade of hydraulic oil for your tractor matter?
“Yes. It does matter. If you put the wrong hydraulic fluid in, you can damage many components in your tractor, the transmission, rear end or the hydraulic system itself. Tractors are requiring specific hydraulic fluids, a UDT type fluid. Using the incorrect oil will damage a tractor.”
Steve relayed a story:
“Several years ago I had a customer come in to purchase the correct oil. It was more expensive than other places. So, he went somewhere else and bought cheap oil. He started using his tractor, and immediately one of them failed. He started to work with another tractor on the same day, and within 1 hour and 45 minutes the other tractor failed. When he opened them up to work on them, the oil had formed a honeycomb around the hydraulic pump. That decision (to buy the cheaper oil) cost him in excess of $2,000 to repair the tractors. You do get what you pay for.”
What maintenance needs to be done on air conditioning systems?
“Air conditioning systems are in front of the radiator in almost any brand of tractor. One of the major causes of failure is chaffing. Chaff gets into the area around the radiator and is not cleaned out by the customer. If it’s not cleaned out it causes the tractor to not pull air through the condenser, which causes the air conditioner to fail, and the air conditioning compressor to fail if continued to run like that. If you keep a tractor clean, the AC component will last longer.
The front around the radiator area needs to be cleaned or examined on at least a daily basis, especially in hayfield use. Running over the top of windrows, pulls all that stuff up. That small cooling hole up front can’t pull air. That’s what stops up first. Most models have a filter you can slide out to the side and clean it out really easily, but you’ve got to do it.”
What maintenance needs to be done on the radiator and cooling system?
“Especially this time of year you want to make absolutely sure you have enough antifreeze in the system. Outside of that, periodically check to make sure your coolant levels are where they should be, and no debris is plugging up radiator.”
What maintenance needs to be done on the injector pump and fuel systems?
“Really, you don’t have to do much as far as maintenance concern there. One of the problems, especially in winter, customers have more water problems in diesel fuel now than at any other time. Any type of good diesel fuel conditioner, especially this time of year when tractors are not being used several hours at a time, this conditioner will get rid of water in the fuel tank and fuel system, which will really eliminate a lot of problems. Many tanks have glass bowls below the fuel filter. In extra cold weather, they’ll often break because the water hasn’t been let out of the fuel filter. You can release water below the fuel tank, but people can really help themselves by using a good fuel conditioner.”
What other point should producers keep in mind for maintenance?
“Keep a grease gun. A tremendous amount of customers don’t grease their tractors, for example at tie rod ends and front loader pins. A small amount of grease goes a long way in preventing premature failures.”
