Be still my heart!

[GreeCguy]

Brothers!
Just returned from Sam's Club where I looked at a 55 gallon drum of Shell Rotella 15W40 for $298.66. That makes it $5.43 per gallon. I was wondering, does anyone know if Super Tech comes in 55 gallon barrels? I think it would be so cool to have a BARREL of oil in my shop.

 

[ericgl]

Case goods only.

 

[pitzel]

Careful what you wish for. Infrequently used oil in 55 gallon drums is just an invitation for using contaminated oil.

 

[GreeCguy]

Pitzel, I don't understand. Do you mean that the oil would go bad over time or that I would get junk/dirt in it over time? Or, would the metal drum "sweat" and thus ruin the oil?
I go through a lot of oil, four vehicles of my own, plus now that my Dad is "an old geezer" (his words), I do all his oil changes, (one truck, one car, 7 tractors. Plus lawn mowers, (mine, his two, and my sisters one) So I'm pretty sure I would use the oil fairly rapidly. I'm here to learn so what should I be wary of?
Thanks for the help!
Glenn.

 

[pitzel]

Sounds like you have pretty good volume there GreeCguy. No need to worry.

I was thinking more along the lines of an at-home do-it-yourself oil changer that might go through 5-10 gallons a year. If the drum was not properly sealed and stored in a heated environment indoors, moisture ingression and other contamination could be a serious issue over time.

The oil itself won't go bad over time, however contamination may occur. Get yourself a drum pump and you're set. Save the drums and make some biodiesel

Don't know how competitive $300 a barrel is. Perhaps give your local Shell, XOM and Chevron distributors call and price out what they charge (Delvac 1300S, Delo 400) for comparison's sake.

 

[k1xv]

To me that is insufficient savings compared to what you can buy CI4 oils for in gallon containers at WalMart or other discount places.

And as others have noted, after years of sitting around your shop, by the time you use it all up, the last oil out will be real "bottom of the barrel" stuff.

Sorry, I just could not stifle myself

 

[GreeCguy]

"What if your car starts burning oil and you want to keep some spare 15w40 in your trunk? Are you going to put some in a tupperware?"

Of course not! I drive a truck and would just carry the barrel around in the bed

 

[Gary Allan]

The only reason that it sometimes doesn't pay to buy in bulk is if the oil you're using gets superceded by a new evolution in oil. In the (relatively) short time I've been here ..there have been major creations and extinctions of oils ..and I've got about two or three years (if I go like I should) of "oil reserve". If some new "Holy Grail" comes out and proves to be the hot setup ..my reserve just got depreicated to junk.

Since I've been here (in no particular order):

Mobil came out with a line of 0w-X oils
Mobil eliminated some of the 0w-x oils
Mobil came out with "R"
Mobil "R" can't be found
MC 5w-20 came out.
GC came out ..or was at least I became aware of it
Mobil EP oils debute
M1 T&SUV came out
We've gone from SL to SM (it may have been SJ when I joined

)
G4 and a variety of other evolutions occured
I've seen MB 229.X been expounded upon for mulitiple threads ...and then had a new focus upon VW 505.X

I could go on. This is sorta like the upramp in cpu speeds. Today's hot setup is tomorrow's old news.

So unless your fleet is going to remain stable for the next year ..and you can realize no advantages in improvements in oil formulations, it doesn't really pay to keep too much of an inventory.

 

[eljefino]

What if your car starts burning oil and you want to keep some spare 15w40 in your trunk? Are you going to put some in a tupperware?

Seriously, you just missed out on some good sales when the SL went SM. If a new, better diesel or gas rating comes out when you've got half this drum, then what?

If you just want to show off, get an empty barrel somewhere (there's probably a deposit) and refill it with bottled oil. They sell oil in 5 gallon pails, too, and you can tap those with the bulk hose paraphenalia too.