Anybody using bulk oil?

[Black_Thunder]

I mean like lets say a company/store/dealership would sell bulk oil over the counter. Like you bring in a couple jugs to have them fill....Does anyone do this? Do any companies let you buy bulk oil like this?


Interesting though I had the other day. Would be worthwhile if you could find a place that has what your particular brand is.

I've also noticed that Oreilly's sells bulk oil by 55 gallon drums.

Anyone pondered buying that much oil at a time?

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Black_Thunder
I mean like lets say a company/store/dealership would sell bulk oil over the counter. Like you bring in a couple jugs to have them fill....Does anyone do this? Do any companies let you buy bulk oil like this?

Some dealers will, as will some oil change places, if you have a decent relationship with the management. Also, some heavy industrial places will allow it, and that can come in handy when a certain product one wants is only available in ridiculously large containers.

 

[The_Jeff]

My old boss got a 5 gal pail of 10w diesel oil for the company snowblower-- it'll take a long time to use up. The blower is 12 years old and AFAIK it got changed once. He went whole hog and got the kegerator pumper dispenser doohickey.

It's ok though as we have a 55 gal drum for the used oil... hasn't blown away yet even though it's nearly empty.

 

[fdcg27]

Many bulk oil users are willing to sell some, but I doubt you'd save much money buying oil that way.
As Garak noted, unless you find something really special that you can't get in smaller quatities, it would hardly be worth it.
Drums from the parts store are rarely a deal if you do the math, unless you really need that much oil, in which case it's a matter of convenience.
I've seen 55 gal drums on CL now and then at attractive prices.
The thing is, a fifty five gallon drum is enough for more than forty oil changes with typical sump capacity, so it would take you forever to use it, unless you had a Saturn or something else that drank oil.
If I have six cars and each of them gets two changes a year, a drum would still be more than three years of oil changes, although that wouldn't work either since not all of these cars use the same grade oil.

 

[Shannow]

Sounds easy...convince 5-10 likeminded neighbours that Delvac 1630 meets everything from their Yaris, Subaru, and of course my Nissan and L67...buy said drum for a grand...apportion costing and lubricant appropriately.

 

[salv]

We would sell our bulk at $2.32/qt. Same as we bill it for on an oil change.

 

[IndyIan]

I have bought bulk 2 stroke oil from a skidoo dealer in the past, and that was significantly cheaper than buying decent oil at the regular price. Also it was a short sled ride to get it so it was much more convienent than going to town.
Overall though, I think you can get bottled oil cheaper on sale than garages can buy even in bulk...

 

[Eddie]

There is the question of additives settling out vs time. Ed

 

[Roob]

I go to a Lexus dealership in KW and get TGMO 0w20 for $5 a litre bulk fill in a container.
They will fill up a 55gal drum for you if you brought one in.... Great dealership, cool parts people and everyone is super polite, even to a Honda owner!!!!!

 

[Oldmoparguy1]

Back in the day my dad bought bulk oil for his business. 1 55 gal. barrel of 30 weight and 1 30 gal barrel of 20 weight. It was my job to change the oil on several trucks and 3 tractors. The trucks got 30W in the summer and 20W in the winter. OCI was 1000 miles for the trucks and 50 hours for the tractors. IIRC, we used Shaffers and Golf.

All the equipment had orange colored bypass oil filters mounted high on the engine.

Wayne

 

[hattaresguy]

Typically for equipment and larger boats oil is bought in 55 gallon drums. Its not really that much cheaper than buying it by the quart. You save a bit, but for the average person with a few small 4-6 quart sumps its a lot of oil, and not worth the hassle.

Now for say an excavator that will take 8 gallons or 10 gallons it makes a lot of sense.

 

[HangFire]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
My old boss got a 5 gal pail of 10w diesel oil for the company snowblower-- it'll take a long time to use up. The blower is 12 years old and AFAIK it got changed once. He went whole hog and got the kegerator pumper dispenser doohickey.

It's ok though as we have a 55 gal drum for the used oil... hasn't blown away yet even though it's nearly empty.


Is your old boss on BITOG? Cause it sounds like he belongs here.

 

[Black_Thunder]

Originally Posted By: salv
We would sell our bulk at $2.32/qt. Same as we bill it for on an oil change.



and what kind of oil is that?

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Many bulk oil users are willing to sell some, but I doubt you'd save much money buying oil that way.
As Garak noted, unless you find something really special that you can't get in smaller quatities, it would hardly be worth it.

A lot of these places don't get the oil at ridiculously cheap prices anyhow, at least up here. There's a reason that everyone aside from the dealer charges $50 for a conventional oil change here, and it's not because they're taking their time or paying their techs $100 an hour or using Fram Ultras.

A drum is just too much and way too bulky. Even for the taxis, we never considered it. Had I had more space at the time, maybe, but it's a lot of hassle to save a few bucks. My time is worth something, too.

 

[Kruse]

I live on a farm and we buy our oil in 55 gallon drums, although mainly it's diesel engine oil and because of the convenience of our oil supplier delivering it. More than anything, it's just nice to be able to pump out several gallons of oil at one time without messing with the containers. I guess if I really wanted to, I could be on Amazon all day looking for some oil deals that sometims pop up, but all the savings that I've seen there turn out not to be any saving at all when the oil eventually arrives.
As far as cost savings by buying it by the drum, there really isn't any, especially when buying oil for gasoline motors. Right now, Orschelns has TropArtic on sale for $1.99/quart and if you are patient, you can get it for cheaper than that. Why would I go someplace to buy bulk oil that is more espensive than that?

 

[Kuato]

Originally Posted By: Black_Thunder
I mean like lets say a company/store/dealership would sell bulk oil over the counter. Like you bring in a couple jugs to have them fill....Does anyone do this? Do any companies let you buy bulk oil like this?

Interesting though I had the other day. Would be worthwhile if you could find a place that has what your particular brand is.

I've also noticed that Oreilly's sells bulk oil by 55 gallon drums.

Anyone pondered buying that much oil at a time?



I don't know of anyone in our area that will fill a jug for you; I've thought about getting my own. Both our vehicles can use the same oil, and I was considering getting a 30 gallon or 55 gallon barrel of Amsoil to take us out for 20 oil changes for both.


Originally Posted By: Eddie
There is the question of additives settling out vs time. Ed


My concern also; it's tough to shake a 55 gallon drum that (full) weighs in excess of 1100 pounds/500kg although there are probably things available to stir it with.