Cost of combine oil changes

ewald · Jul 8, 2022

I have a New Holland TX34 that does about 80 hours a year - I have usually changed the oil every year, the filters every other year, because oil is cheap - but it isn't now.
20l of oil is just short of £50
Should I carry on changing annually, or is it a waste of money with modern oils?

davidroberts30 · Jul 8, 2022

ewald said:
I have a New Holland TX34 that does about 80 hours a year - I have usually changed the oil every year, the filters every other year, because oil is cheap - but it isn't now.
20l of oil is just short of £50
Should I carry on changing annually, or is it a waste of money with modern oils?

whats the hours interval for changes?

Hampton · Jul 8, 2022

I’d change it. It’s still only £50.

daveydiesel1 · Jul 8, 2022

50 quid wont buy many parts. Oil quality lowers over time so ud be better buyin a drum of oil for it every year. At the end o the day if your an arable farmer your combine is the most important bita kit in the yard

PSQ · Jul 8, 2022

£50 a year might be a luxury for 80 hours of cutting. But TX34 engines are like hen’s teeth, and after having had one *”stick a leg out of bed” I’d suggest you spend the cash, and a bit more.

[*~ In our case a belt drive mysteriously caught the oil drain hose that runs down the LHS of the combine. The low pressure warning system was also defective, and the first the driver knew about it (apparently) was when it went bang. Dealer said that it was a known issue on TX34’s, and now they advise the owners on their books to coil up the drain hose and secure it to the engine mount.
A short engine was £8k plus fitting, 15 years ago ]

Andy26 · Jul 8, 2022

ewald said:
I have a New Holland TX34 that does about 80 hours a year - I have usually changed the oil every year, the filters every other year, because oil is cheap - but it isn't now.
20l of oil is just short of £50
Should I carry on changing annually, or is it a waste of money with modern oils?

I'd change it and the filter, which is probably only another tenner?

40 series · Jul 8, 2022

Timbo · Jul 8, 2022

ewald said:
I have a New Holland TX34 that does about 80 hours a year - I have usually changed the oil every year, the filters every other year, because oil is cheap - but it isn't now.
20l of oil is just short of £50
Should I carry on changing annually, or is it a waste of money with modern oils?

In short. Change it annually.

balerman · Jul 8, 2022

PSQ said:
£50 a year might be a luxury for 80 hours of cutting. But TX34 engines are like hen’s teeth, and after having had one *”stick a leg out of bed” I’d suggest you spend the cash, and a bit more.

[*~ In our case a belt drive mysteriously caught the oil drain hose that runs down the LHS of the combine. The low pressure warning system was also defective, and the first the driver knew about it (apparently) was when it went bang. Dealer said that it was a known issue on TX34’s, and now they advise the owners on their books to coil up the drain hose and secure it to the engine mount.
A short engine was £8k plus fitting, 15 years ago ]

Yeah ive heard this before,its the chopper belt that will catch that pipe if it goes.Im in same situation,mine only does 50 hours a year now,changing oil and filter every other year.If you change it just before harvest one year,then again after harvest the following year the used oil is only sat in the sump for one winter rather than 2.Makes sense to me anyway...

davidroberts30 · Jul 8, 2022

balerman said:
Yeah ive heard this before,its the chopper belt that will catch that pipe if it goes.Im in same situation,mine only does 50 hours a year now,changing oil and filter every other year.If you change it just before harvest one year,then again after harvest the following year the used oil is only sat in the sump for one winter rather than 2.Makes sense to me anyway...

then the following year its sat for 2 winters....

balerman · Jul 8, 2022

davidroberts30 said:
then the following year its sat for 2 winters....

But the first winter it will be fresh oil…

e3120 · Jul 8, 2022

balerman said:
But the first winter it will be fresh oil…

You're changing it 2 years out of 3 by the sounds of it.

feilding · Jul 8, 2022

Oil and grease are cheaper than lumps of metal.
Cheapest work you'll do on any machine long term.

JeepJeep · Jul 8, 2022

£1.60 Hr for Oil... Just change it

Will 1594 · Jul 8, 2022

ewald said:
I have a New Holland TX34 that does about 80 hours a year - I have usually changed the oil every year, the filters every other year, because oil is cheap - but it isn't now.
20l of oil is just short of £50
Should I carry on changing annually, or is it a waste of money with modern oils?

How much is ; and who services your car , do you queery that
£50 and a filter , piece of mind , ,no brainer

ewald · Jul 8, 2022

feilding said:
Oil and grease are cheaper than lumps of metal.
Cheapest work you'll do on any machine long term.

This is what I have always thought - I saw the invoice for the new barrel of oil this morning and it gave me a nasty turn though.....

I will carry on changing it every year

Drillman · Jul 8, 2022

I had a mechanic tell me the other day you can change the oil too often.

I disagreed with him

annual oil and filter change on everything here at the very least.

think the record is 15hrs between changes on the drier genny.

Lincsman · Jul 8, 2022

What about combines with 600 hour change periods and 120 hours work/ year?

ewald · Jul 8, 2022

Lincsman said:
What about combines with 600 hour change periods and 120 hours work/ year?

That is pretty much what I am asking - does the oil degrade over winter when it is idle? Don't think I would like to go 5 years between changes!

Lincsman · Jul 8, 2022

ewald said:
That is pretty much what I am asking - does the oil degrade over winter when it is idle? Don't think I would like to go 5 years between changes!

You could ask does the oil degrade in the 200 l drum that will be there for 3 years to do oil changes every year, suspect the oil is ok its the other stuff that gets in there but is filtered out.

Cost of combine oil changes

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0 %

Up to 25%

25-50%

50-75%

75-100%

100% I’ve had enough of farming!

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