So what is high hours for a tractor ? or miles for a car ?

[Lazy-Farmer]

Will it keep getting stripped down indefinitely or does what is left have a service life too?

We have two hydrogen compressors that have 5600hp motors and they were built in the early 60’s they run all day every day and get a minor overhaul every year and a major every two. Major is everything out measured and back in. Well except the crank as it’s huge and you can remove everything with it in place. Oil is changed on the run with them. They take about 1200L and it gets partial changes on a every few weeks.

They have had loads done over the years but still mostly original.

Assuming about 10-14 days maintenance a year they will be on 478,800h.

 

[nick...]

We have two hydrogen compressors that have 5600hp motors and they were built in the early 60’s they run all day every day and get a minor overhaul every year and a major every two. Major is everything out measured and back in. Well except the crank as it’s huge and you can remove everything with it in place. Oil is changed on the run with them. They take about 1200L and it gets partial changes on a every few weeks.

They have had loads done over the years but still mostly original.

Assuming about 10-14 days maintenance a year they will be on 478,800h.

Any pictures ,please
Nick...

 

[Lazy-Farmer]

Any pictures ,please
Nick...

Not much of the compressor. Got these tho. Can see if I have more on my work computer on Monday.

 

[vantage]

Not much of the compressor. Got these tho. Can see if I have more on my work computer on Monday.

Looks a serious amount of engineering there !

 

[8100]

The Sulzer engines in locomotives were not possible to start until the oil pump had primed the system and well oiled the valve train .This was in the 1950s .Still better than lighting a fire 3 hrs before steam was required i think . Some of the Sulzer loco's went on earning their keep until the late 80's so how many hours they run must be impressive

 

[nick...]

Those huge engines in super tankers and container ships are massive.have seen pictures of them and it’s possible to climb inside the bores.they must do massive hours but their rpm speed is pretty slow which must contribute to longevity.maybe someone has some pics they could post
Nick...

 

[8100]

300 odd tons of fuel a day to run

 

[Lazy-Farmer]

The Sulzer engines in locomotives were not possible to start until the oil pump had primed the system and well oiled the valve train .This was in the 1950s .Still better than lighting a fire 3 hrs before steam was required i think . Some of the Sulzer loco's went on earning their keep until the late 80's so how many hours they run must be impressive

Yeah that’s the key. Get the oil hot and moving before start up. That one I posted pics of has electric oil pumps and steam heating for the oil. Plus has manzal lubricator that injects extra oil into key locations. All of which is run up for hours prior to starting. Most of your damage on an engine is done at startup as the journal bearings are. It running on the wedge of oil and have settled down onto their seats. Until oil pressure is up your running metal to metal, just hoping a small film of oil is is still in their.

 

[oil barron]

This depends very much on how hard the engine is used, the sump capacity, the engine and the performance quality of oil used. All other things being equal, the most significant ones are the engine's duty cycle and the oil quality.
There is nothing to stop engines being designed for long drain intervals using really high performance oils and filtration. Some engines are not suited to this of course but most engines fitted to tractors in the last decade are OK at 400 and some to 600 if not hammered on continuous full power operations. The oil used is critical though.

Many truck engines have run perfectly well for hundreds of thousands of miles on approximately 1500 hour service intervals.

I’m not sure about the modern service intervals. The old 7.5 liter powerstar which took 19litres of oil at each service interval had a 250hr oil change and the oil cane out like new at that. The new 6.7FPTs have double the service interval but much smaller sumps and the oil comes out black as night.

This is my truck currently. 3000 hrs and 95000 miles. So a 1500hr service interval could be close to 50,000 miles. I find that hard to believe.

 

[Cowabunga]

I’m not sure about the modern service intervals. The old 7.5 liter powerstar which took 19litres of oil at each service interval had a 250hr oil change and the oil cane out like new at that. The new 6.7FPTs have double the service interval but much smaller sumps and the oil comes out black as night.

This is my truck currently. 3000 hrs and 95000 miles. So a 1500hr service interval could be close to 50,000 miles. I find that hard to believe.View attachment 837913

Not sure why you would find that hard to believe in a medium to heavy truck. The current Ford Ranger has a 20,000 mile change interval, while Transit vans have 36,000 mile/two year service intervals.

 

[Jon Boy]

I’m not sure about the modern service intervals. The old 7.5 liter powerstar which took 19litres of oil at each service interval had a 250hr oil change and the oil cane out like new at that. The new 6.7FPTs have double the service interval but much smaller sumps and the oil comes out black as night.

This is my truck currently. 3000 hrs and 95000 miles. So a 1500hr service interval could be close to 50,000 miles. I find that hard to believe.View attachment 837913View attachment 837913

I would be more concerned by the fact the engine has been sat on idle for 25% of its life, nothing worse for a engine than sitting on idle for extended periods.

 

[ridger]

I would be more concerned by the fact the engine has been sat on idle for 25% of its life, nothing worse for a engine than sitting on idle for extended periods.

Could be on a lorry pumping oil ticking over, used to do a bit of walking floor work and at 25 minutes to empty a loadbit soon adds up

 

[ridger]

I would be more concerned by the fact the engine has been sat on idle for 25% of its life, nothing worse for a engine than sitting on idle for extended periods.

Could be on a lorry pumping oil ticking over, used to do a bit of walking floor work and at 25 minutes to empty a load it soon adds up

 

[Wellytrack]

Could be on a lorry pumping oil ticking over, used to do a bit of walking floor work and at 25 minutes to empty a loadbit soon adds up

Had to wait an hour on an artic blowing pellets into a pair of feed bins earlier in week.

 

[kiwi pom]

Could be on a lorry pumping oil ticking over, used to do a bit of walking floor work and at 25 minutes to empty a loadbit soon adds up

Could be but I think that's recorded under PTO hours?
I never used to get any excessive idle finger waving from management when pumping milk on my tanker, as the monitoring system recorded it differently.
May differ from brand to brand though.

 

[ridger]

Could be but I think that's recorded under PTO hours?
I never used to get any excessive idle finger waving from management when pumping milk on my tanker, as the monitoring system recorded it differently.
May differ from brand to brand though.

Lorry probably wasnt modern enough to split PTO hours from idle hours. Think it counted idling as running but not registering a speed on tacho

 

[kiwi pom]

I think oil drain intervals depend on application don't they?
I seem to remember some CAT motors had oil changes based on volume of fuel burnt but I could have dreamt that

I'm not sure extended oil drains on some of todays vehicles are set by the manufacturer with the best interest of the machine in mind. Its more a case of advertising a vehicle as having very low service cost over its first life which is often the duration of its warranty.
People buying trucks, tractors etc and running them in warranty for 2 or 3 years then trading them in aren't interested in a vehicles whole life they just want low service costs for the short time they have it.
I'd include transmission, diffs, coolant, etc. in that as well.
Good luck if you're the second or third owner.

I have no proof of this mind, just a theory.

 

[oil barron]

I would be more concerned by the fact the engine has been sat on idle for 25% of its life, nothing worse for a engine than sitting on idle for extended periods.

Meh. You would be shocked how much of your tractors life is idle if you could see it

 

[oil barron]

Not sure why you would find that hard to believe in a medium to heavy truck. The current Ford Ranger has a 20,000 mile change interval, while Transit vans have 36,000 mile/two year service intervals.

Interesting. A transit is 15,000 miles and 1 year in the states

 

[Cowabunga]

Interesting. A transit is 15,000 miles and 1 year in the states

I'm surprised. I was under the impression there were only two types of service intervals in the States.
1. Every 3000 miles
2. Never. Run it until it seizes up.

Seriously though, plenty of Transits run perfectly well on this regime up to beyond 300,000 miles on intensive delivery type work. For less intensive work, the biennial time limit catches them at a far lesser mileage. Note that Transit is meant to have a short workshop safety inspection a couple of times between main services, which is only sensible.