Warning: Long winded post, skip to bottom for pics and the actual details on the setup.
Recently I decided to switch us to a different oil company. We had been using a small oil company before that sold cheap house blend oils. Their motto was cheap and simple. It worked, and probably works better for a lot of others, but I always like to do more. I wanted things neat and organized and they would not let me set things up the way I wanted. I wasn't happy with lack of cleanliness their solution offered, but lived with it for a year. The company never really impressed me, they would never really give me price sheets, brochures, or a list of the products they offered, but the sales rep would bring it all up on his iPad. As I started to send the UOA's in, things started coming back interesting. Nothing major, just a lot of inconsitent oddities related more towards the oil. For someone doing 3,000 mile/200hr/15,000mile(semi) oil changes it would probably not be an issue, however I run long intervals on everything so I started looking at other options.
This company had come across my radar a few times when looking for things but I figured we were out of their reach. I started to gain a lot of interest in the Delo lineup and really liked what I saw. Their very quiet outside of the trucking industry, but have very good products and make a lot for major OEMs. Their ELC is factory fill in all of the truck factorys and their engine oil is factory fill at many as well. I figured the prices would be out of line but after checking I was surprised that for only $2/gallon more I could have premium oil with better service to back it up. When this companies salesman showed up he had the brochures of the products we talked about and a few others he thought we may need. I could tell he actually knew the lube industry well (retired fleet manager) and like any bad salesman was not pushy and would not answer questions he did not have a good answer for. I say bad salesman because in salesman world, its bad technique haha. Our salesman from the other company lost me when he started trying to talk technical, most of the things he said we not true, not sure if he knew that or if he was fed a line by his boss. When the salesman returned for the new oil company he came with a thick binder tailor made for us, inside were the products we discussed with the pricing in various sizes, as well as the product literature and any MSDS sheets for them. Any other info Chevron provided relating to our operation he put in there as well. Even looked us up and found the logo to put on the front. It's not much, but it really impressed me.
One thing I always bring into any oil discussion is "gut feeling". Its something that just makes you happy and gives you less stress regardless of what the real world may be like. In this case for me it was the peace of mind that comes from running a quality name brand product. I don't have to worry about the odd chance something does go wrong under warranty and an OEM wants to blame the fluid (whether right or wrong). I feel more confident that the Chevron products will be more consistent and better quality anyways, but also feel that if the dealer/OEM asks about the fluids, when they hear a name brand product versus NoName Oil, they will rule out fluid issues more quickly. If they still feel its a fluid issue, I feel this company will help out with all the support needed and get Chevron involved to resolve the case. The only dealings I have had with them was through the salesman and one of Chevrons engineers on reccomendations on which products to use for a few applications as well as what to do for warranty machines, but the responses were quick and helpful.
The pricing still surprises me, but that't not bad. We settled on running the Delo 400LE 15W40 and Delo 400XLE 10W30 for our main diesel engine oils. The few gas engines we have we just buy in quarts as they are all different. Delo 400 is a very high quality Dino and I felt no need to spend the extra on synthetic as the only advantages we would see without additional modifications to the vehicles would be cold start performance and high heat/high performane applications. Our semis get parked inside during the winter and the few other things that start up in the winter were not enough to make me want to run it. We get cold up here but not terribly cold. It also gets hot, but no applications I really felt a synthetic was needed. The fewer the products on the rack the better.
For coolant I chose their Delo ELC. For simplicity, I just get it as 50/50. This way I know when others grab it, it is mixed properly. I thought about getting 55 gallons of concentrate from them, then pumping up 55gallons of Deion water but could not locate the water easily, and figured the cost and hassle was just not worth it at all. The Delo ELC pre-diluted was $3 gallon more than regular green diluted. Green antifreeze is rated for 2yrs/50,000mi/1000-2000hrs. Delo ELC is rated to 8yrs/800,000mi/15,000hrs with no extendeds or additives. If you add one at 500,000 it will go to 1million. We used to have Dexcool, Green and CAT ELC. Chevron makes both CAT ELC and Dexcool. Dexcool is rated to 150,000mi/5yrs and has mixed opinions. The Delo ELC, like any other HD ELC, is compatible with most coolants. It will turn green brown but is compatible. Within 2 years the green will be flushed for the Delo anyways. Like any HD ELC coolant its also much better for wet sleeve motors especially. The minimal price difference didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that even without considering any other advantages, it will be cheaper in the long run.
ATF is one I have never really made my mind up on. I wasn't on the synthetic wagon with it really, but wanted to reduce the number of fluids we had to stock. I ended up biting the bullet and going with Chevrons Synthetic HD ATF which is compatible with everything on our farm but the one Ford that uses Mercon SP. It is not TES295 approved at this point, but we also have no need for a TES295 fluid as we have no Allisons on extended warranties.
Tractor hydraulic fluid is just Chevrons THF 1000 which is their equivalent to many other brands universal THF. They do offer many other alternatives for more specific applications though.
Gear lubes, I stuck with synthetic as always there. Delo 75W90, Delo 80W140, Delo SAE50. I used to keep some 80W90 around for other stuff, but do not anymore. Could save some money in those cases, but again, trying to reduce the amount of products. I chose to get the gear lube in 120#(16gal) kegs and purchased kits from Alemite that include a roller stand, hand pump and dispensing meter along with a hose whip with a gooseneck on the end. Used to us 5 gallon pails with pumps, I am thinking this setup will be much cleaner and nicer. Its not really any cheaper when you consider the price of the pumps, but it is nicer and we can now monitor, record and bill (if needed) what was put in.
We have been using the Delo HD EP2 grease for a little while now, that was when we got things rolling a little more. I had heard great things about that grease but could not find it. Now they filled our shop with Delo haha. I am now considering going to two types of grease, keeping a Moly seperate for all of the loader pins and such and having the lithium for roller bearings and other high speed parts where moly would be bad.
We also decided to get our DEF from them as well. The first time I had heard of the company was two years ago when I was looking for DEF. I somehow ended up talking to a marketing manager at one of the larger DEF producers. Talked for an hour or so about DEF, then he gave me their name as the local distributor for them. They had the best price, but we ended up grabbing a tote locally for a few cents more since it was closer. Their pricing now is even lower due to bulk delivery and is competitive with others.
Can't forget the little things. Windshield washer fluid is also delivered in bulk. They also sell Oil Eater which from the samples they gave me was fairly impressive for an eco-friendly degreaser. A 55 of it was cheaper than simple green and super clean as well. They also supply a used filter barrel as well.
Down the road we may switch fuel to them but they only do bulk deliveries currently in our area. Currently we have 1000gal off-road, 500 on-road and 300 of gas. Our current fuel company delivers weekly and more often when needed at peak times. During chopping hes here daily. We have wanted to go to tanker load storage for awhile but put it on the back burner lately. The new oil company said they are removing a lot of dual wall 12,000 gallon horizontal tanks and replacing them with verticals for people in confined areas so they have a lot of used ones for sale often. Our current fuel company has been good and we have never had a fuel related issue since switching to them. They do not offer bulk delivery as they are a one man one truck show.
Anyways, onto the actual setup. I had always wanted the tanks in the air on pallet racking with the spigots over a waste oil tank that the drain pails could also be poured into. This would save space and keep the mess in one spot. Apparently I found the right guys because that is their preferred method. They put up a section of pallet rack, fill it in with 2x4s to prevent any chance of sagging, then band the rails together for a little added protection. We put in 6 120 gallon totes but probably should've went with 180s for the 15w40 and THF. They deliver in our direction one day every week so its not a big deal. Then they plumbed everything nicely to a "sink" with enough capacity to allow you to dump drain pails without issues. The sink obviously has a grate across it. The spigots are all lined up there along with the quick couplers for the trucker to refill the tanks. They use a different spigot for the antifreeze and washerfluid. They said the ones that come with the Rhino tanks will leak overtime with those types of products.
Under the sink they install a Y strainer, then an air operated diaphragm pump which sucks the waste oil out of the sink(not drain, its setup to trap the debris in the sink) then pushes it along the wall over to the 300 gallon waste oil tank they installed. We had previously been using an IBC for waste oil which was a mess. They also plumbed the waste oil fired boiler into the waste oil tank and installed an alarm so we don't overfill it.
For the DEF they start with a fresh tote, installed the pump from the PIUSI kit, then plumbed it along the wall over to the 25' hose reel from the kit. They mounted it to a pedestal that they fastened to the waste oil spill containment. We are working on a stainless pass through (think doggie door) that will be mounted into the shop wall so that people can pull up to the front of the shop, reach inside and grab the nozzle (which will be sitting in a holster with the tip in water to keep it clean per their suggestions) and then pull it out to put it in the tractor/truck. We will be wiring the pump to a kitchen timer mounted on the inside wall but turned 90* so that the person reaching in from outside can turn it. We'll also install a colored light outside to show the pump is on. The timer will help to prevent a lot of issues hopefully. Its not like a fuel pump where the pump is noisy and right next to you so you remember to shut it off.
Our old system was nothing more than the 3 totes stacked with the jugs buried in the dirt. A messy IBC for waste oil and multiple pumps that never worked to transfer pails and such into it. DEF was a handpump from a 55 of DEF we had that we just stuck in the IBC. It didn't thread in (different threads) and we were always going to do something different but never did. We were going to just gravity feed it, but with the amount of DEF we go through now with all of the newer stuff, this new setup will be much nicer. To empty the rest of our current DEF tank they gave me a fitting to put on with a spigot so we can gravity feed the rest out.
Onto pictures finally. Sorry for the long winded post, maybe I get a little to into the oil thing. In my defense it did take forever for my phone to upload the pictures.
Here is the old oil setup, you can see the fresh stuff on the right and the waste oil to the left of the pipe. We did not own these tanks, they were supplied by the old oil company and will be returned to them. The new oil company would've supplied the same setup, but we chose to take things a little further. The new setup we do own.
Here is the old DEF setup.
Here is the entire new setup. L-R top is 15w40,THF,10W30. L-R Bottom, W/W,ELC,ATF. DEF on ground. I will be making some shelfs and other organizers underneath so that all of the grease, quarts of oils, along with funnels and oil jugs can be stored neatly. The gear lubes and used filter barrel will be rolled under there as well.
Here is the top of the sink, you can see the spigots they labeled nicely (sprayed additional adhesive on sticker, then covered with shipping tape) the cam lock caps above them are where the driver connects his hoses for refilling the tanks. Safer, faster and easier for him than a ladder.
Diaphragm pump for waste oil. The additional line with the ball valve is for the wand they installed so we can use the pump to transfer waste oil that we collect from others to feed the burned throughout the winter. Also works for emptying larger drain pails and such, but since installing Fumoto valves we have been able to limit most things to only needing a 5 gallon pail which keeps things neater.
Here you can see both the waste oil tank and DEF reel. You can also see some of the stuff from New Pig we use. Their Mats and socks. Pricey but worth every penny over floor dry. No dust, no mess, no parts being dropped in floor dry, and we get full use out of them versus floor dry. Floor dry gets wasted because excess is always put down. Its hard enough just to get people to sweep it up and throw it away imagine getting them to reuse it. With the mats, there are never messes on the floor anymore because they are easy to pick up and throw away, we also can get more use out of them as its much easier to only use what you need, any mats that are not saturated we just store over by the fresh ones so they get used up first. I’ve tried a couple cheaper brands, while they absorb fine, it’s the other areas they fail. I like to use the Pig Mat’s to scrub the last little bit off the floor, or to clean up some other things. Cheaper ones do not hold up to that at all. Pig mats always seem to tear off perfectly on the perforations whereas the others I tried were a mess. The pig mat always impressed me with its holding ability, they do not drip/leak when carried to be disposed of whereas a couple others seem to.
That’s all for now, sorry for the long winded post. Thanks for looking.
Recently I decided to switch us to a different oil company. We had been using a small oil company before that sold cheap house blend oils. Their motto was cheap and simple. It worked, and probably works better for a lot of others, but I always like to do more. I wanted things neat and organized and they would not let me set things up the way I wanted. I wasn't happy with lack of cleanliness their solution offered, but lived with it for a year. The company never really impressed me, they would never really give me price sheets, brochures, or a list of the products they offered, but the sales rep would bring it all up on his iPad. As I started to send the UOA's in, things started coming back interesting. Nothing major, just a lot of inconsitent oddities related more towards the oil. For someone doing 3,000 mile/200hr/15,000mile(semi) oil changes it would probably not be an issue, however I run long intervals on everything so I started looking at other options.
This company had come across my radar a few times when looking for things but I figured we were out of their reach. I started to gain a lot of interest in the Delo lineup and really liked what I saw. Their very quiet outside of the trucking industry, but have very good products and make a lot for major OEMs. Their ELC is factory fill in all of the truck factorys and their engine oil is factory fill at many as well. I figured the prices would be out of line but after checking I was surprised that for only $2/gallon more I could have premium oil with better service to back it up. When this companies salesman showed up he had the brochures of the products we talked about and a few others he thought we may need. I could tell he actually knew the lube industry well (retired fleet manager) and like any bad salesman was not pushy and would not answer questions he did not have a good answer for. I say bad salesman because in salesman world, its bad technique haha. Our salesman from the other company lost me when he started trying to talk technical, most of the things he said we not true, not sure if he knew that or if he was fed a line by his boss. When the salesman returned for the new oil company he came with a thick binder tailor made for us, inside were the products we discussed with the pricing in various sizes, as well as the product literature and any MSDS sheets for them. Any other info Chevron provided relating to our operation he put in there as well. Even looked us up and found the logo to put on the front. It's not much, but it really impressed me.
One thing I always bring into any oil discussion is "gut feeling". Its something that just makes you happy and gives you less stress regardless of what the real world may be like. In this case for me it was the peace of mind that comes from running a quality name brand product. I don't have to worry about the odd chance something does go wrong under warranty and an OEM wants to blame the fluid (whether right or wrong). I feel more confident that the Chevron products will be more consistent and better quality anyways, but also feel that if the dealer/OEM asks about the fluids, when they hear a name brand product versus NoName Oil, they will rule out fluid issues more quickly. If they still feel its a fluid issue, I feel this company will help out with all the support needed and get Chevron involved to resolve the case. The only dealings I have had with them was through the salesman and one of Chevrons engineers on reccomendations on which products to use for a few applications as well as what to do for warranty machines, but the responses were quick and helpful.
The pricing still surprises me, but that't not bad. We settled on running the Delo 400LE 15W40 and Delo 400XLE 10W30 for our main diesel engine oils. The few gas engines we have we just buy in quarts as they are all different. Delo 400 is a very high quality Dino and I felt no need to spend the extra on synthetic as the only advantages we would see without additional modifications to the vehicles would be cold start performance and high heat/high performane applications. Our semis get parked inside during the winter and the few other things that start up in the winter were not enough to make me want to run it. We get cold up here but not terribly cold. It also gets hot, but no applications I really felt a synthetic was needed. The fewer the products on the rack the better.
For coolant I chose their Delo ELC. For simplicity, I just get it as 50/50. This way I know when others grab it, it is mixed properly. I thought about getting 55 gallons of concentrate from them, then pumping up 55gallons of Deion water but could not locate the water easily, and figured the cost and hassle was just not worth it at all. The Delo ELC pre-diluted was $3 gallon more than regular green diluted. Green antifreeze is rated for 2yrs/50,000mi/1000-2000hrs. Delo ELC is rated to 8yrs/800,000mi/15,000hrs with no extendeds or additives. If you add one at 500,000 it will go to 1million. We used to have Dexcool, Green and CAT ELC. Chevron makes both CAT ELC and Dexcool. Dexcool is rated to 150,000mi/5yrs and has mixed opinions. The Delo ELC, like any other HD ELC, is compatible with most coolants. It will turn green brown but is compatible. Within 2 years the green will be flushed for the Delo anyways. Like any HD ELC coolant its also much better for wet sleeve motors especially. The minimal price difference didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that even without considering any other advantages, it will be cheaper in the long run.
ATF is one I have never really made my mind up on. I wasn't on the synthetic wagon with it really, but wanted to reduce the number of fluids we had to stock. I ended up biting the bullet and going with Chevrons Synthetic HD ATF which is compatible with everything on our farm but the one Ford that uses Mercon SP. It is not TES295 approved at this point, but we also have no need for a TES295 fluid as we have no Allisons on extended warranties.
Tractor hydraulic fluid is just Chevrons THF 1000 which is their equivalent to many other brands universal THF. They do offer many other alternatives for more specific applications though.
Gear lubes, I stuck with synthetic as always there. Delo 75W90, Delo 80W140, Delo SAE50. I used to keep some 80W90 around for other stuff, but do not anymore. Could save some money in those cases, but again, trying to reduce the amount of products. I chose to get the gear lube in 120#(16gal) kegs and purchased kits from Alemite that include a roller stand, hand pump and dispensing meter along with a hose whip with a gooseneck on the end. Used to us 5 gallon pails with pumps, I am thinking this setup will be much cleaner and nicer. Its not really any cheaper when you consider the price of the pumps, but it is nicer and we can now monitor, record and bill (if needed) what was put in.
We have been using the Delo HD EP2 grease for a little while now, that was when we got things rolling a little more. I had heard great things about that grease but could not find it. Now they filled our shop with Delo haha. I am now considering going to two types of grease, keeping a Moly seperate for all of the loader pins and such and having the lithium for roller bearings and other high speed parts where moly would be bad.
We also decided to get our DEF from them as well. The first time I had heard of the company was two years ago when I was looking for DEF. I somehow ended up talking to a marketing manager at one of the larger DEF producers. Talked for an hour or so about DEF, then he gave me their name as the local distributor for them. They had the best price, but we ended up grabbing a tote locally for a few cents more since it was closer. Their pricing now is even lower due to bulk delivery and is competitive with others.
Can't forget the little things. Windshield washer fluid is also delivered in bulk. They also sell Oil Eater which from the samples they gave me was fairly impressive for an eco-friendly degreaser. A 55 of it was cheaper than simple green and super clean as well. They also supply a used filter barrel as well.
Down the road we may switch fuel to them but they only do bulk deliveries currently in our area. Currently we have 1000gal off-road, 500 on-road and 300 of gas. Our current fuel company delivers weekly and more often when needed at peak times. During chopping hes here daily. We have wanted to go to tanker load storage for awhile but put it on the back burner lately. The new oil company said they are removing a lot of dual wall 12,000 gallon horizontal tanks and replacing them with verticals for people in confined areas so they have a lot of used ones for sale often. Our current fuel company has been good and we have never had a fuel related issue since switching to them. They do not offer bulk delivery as they are a one man one truck show.
Anyways, onto the actual setup. I had always wanted the tanks in the air on pallet racking with the spigots over a waste oil tank that the drain pails could also be poured into. This would save space and keep the mess in one spot. Apparently I found the right guys because that is their preferred method. They put up a section of pallet rack, fill it in with 2x4s to prevent any chance of sagging, then band the rails together for a little added protection. We put in 6 120 gallon totes but probably should've went with 180s for the 15w40 and THF. They deliver in our direction one day every week so its not a big deal. Then they plumbed everything nicely to a "sink" with enough capacity to allow you to dump drain pails without issues. The sink obviously has a grate across it. The spigots are all lined up there along with the quick couplers for the trucker to refill the tanks. They use a different spigot for the antifreeze and washerfluid. They said the ones that come with the Rhino tanks will leak overtime with those types of products.
Under the sink they install a Y strainer, then an air operated diaphragm pump which sucks the waste oil out of the sink(not drain, its setup to trap the debris in the sink) then pushes it along the wall over to the 300 gallon waste oil tank they installed. We had previously been using an IBC for waste oil which was a mess. They also plumbed the waste oil fired boiler into the waste oil tank and installed an alarm so we don't overfill it.
For the DEF they start with a fresh tote, installed the pump from the PIUSI kit, then plumbed it along the wall over to the 25' hose reel from the kit. They mounted it to a pedestal that they fastened to the waste oil spill containment. We are working on a stainless pass through (think doggie door) that will be mounted into the shop wall so that people can pull up to the front of the shop, reach inside and grab the nozzle (which will be sitting in a holster with the tip in water to keep it clean per their suggestions) and then pull it out to put it in the tractor/truck. We will be wiring the pump to a kitchen timer mounted on the inside wall but turned 90* so that the person reaching in from outside can turn it. We'll also install a colored light outside to show the pump is on. The timer will help to prevent a lot of issues hopefully. Its not like a fuel pump where the pump is noisy and right next to you so you remember to shut it off.
Our old system was nothing more than the 3 totes stacked with the jugs buried in the dirt. A messy IBC for waste oil and multiple pumps that never worked to transfer pails and such into it. DEF was a handpump from a 55 of DEF we had that we just stuck in the IBC. It didn't thread in (different threads) and we were always going to do something different but never did. We were going to just gravity feed it, but with the amount of DEF we go through now with all of the newer stuff, this new setup will be much nicer. To empty the rest of our current DEF tank they gave me a fitting to put on with a spigot so we can gravity feed the rest out.
Onto pictures finally. Sorry for the long winded post, maybe I get a little to into the oil thing. In my defense it did take forever for my phone to upload the pictures.
Here is the old oil setup, you can see the fresh stuff on the right and the waste oil to the left of the pipe. We did not own these tanks, they were supplied by the old oil company and will be returned to them. The new oil company would've supplied the same setup, but we chose to take things a little further. The new setup we do own.
Here is the old DEF setup.
Here is the entire new setup. L-R top is 15w40,THF,10W30. L-R Bottom, W/W,ELC,ATF. DEF on ground. I will be making some shelfs and other organizers underneath so that all of the grease, quarts of oils, along with funnels and oil jugs can be stored neatly. The gear lubes and used filter barrel will be rolled under there as well.
Here is the top of the sink, you can see the spigots they labeled nicely (sprayed additional adhesive on sticker, then covered with shipping tape) the cam lock caps above them are where the driver connects his hoses for refilling the tanks. Safer, faster and easier for him than a ladder.
Diaphragm pump for waste oil. The additional line with the ball valve is for the wand they installed so we can use the pump to transfer waste oil that we collect from others to feed the burned throughout the winter. Also works for emptying larger drain pails and such, but since installing Fumoto valves we have been able to limit most things to only needing a 5 gallon pail which keeps things neater.
Here you can see both the waste oil tank and DEF reel. You can also see some of the stuff from New Pig we use. Their Mats and socks. Pricey but worth every penny over floor dry. No dust, no mess, no parts being dropped in floor dry, and we get full use out of them versus floor dry. Floor dry gets wasted because excess is always put down. Its hard enough just to get people to sweep it up and throw it away imagine getting them to reuse it. With the mats, there are never messes on the floor anymore because they are easy to pick up and throw away, we also can get more use out of them as its much easier to only use what you need, any mats that are not saturated we just store over by the fresh ones so they get used up first. I’ve tried a couple cheaper brands, while they absorb fine, it’s the other areas they fail. I like to use the Pig Mat’s to scrub the last little bit off the floor, or to clean up some other things. Cheaper ones do not hold up to that at all. Pig mats always seem to tear off perfectly on the perforations whereas the others I tried were a mess. The pig mat always impressed me with its holding ability, they do not drip/leak when carried to be disposed of whereas a couple others seem to.
That’s all for now, sorry for the long winded post. Thanks for looking.
