Hello, newly minted member here.
I own a small wrecking company and I'm trying to decide on an engine oil for the diesels, as part of an effort to create a robust (i.e. foolproof) maintenance program. I'm based in New England.
The diesel "fleet":
(2) newer 6.7l powerstroke superduties. One is an F350 that is used variously as a daily driver/sales vehicle and regularly tows between 5k and 10k lb. It might spend a week hitched to a gooseneck dump trailer, during which time it's expected to start, haul a load real quick, and come back in the dead of winter. It goes to landfills a lot and sees a lot of dust. The other truck is an F550 packed with tools, fuel tank, etc. It doesn't typically tow, and is used simply to drive tools to a job site, where it stays all day.
(1) 2002 Isuzu npr diesel. Dusty tow pig, attached at the hip to a dump trailer.
(1) New-to-me 2002 cat 3126 motor in a 1995 road tractor. I haven't done much with this truck yet, but I expect to be grossing about 40k lb typically. No short trips. Hauling clean equipment, so not especially dusty.
(1) Kubota V1505 powered telescoping forklift. Enormous amounts of dust. Lots of idling. Lots of cold starts. Depending on the weather, I'll either let it idle for hours with intermittent use sprinkled in there or I will start it as needed, perhaps ten times a day. Sometimes - whether for security reasons or out of respect for neighbors- idling is not an option, so it will get started, then immediately move a big load, then shut down again. We're talking as little as two minutes of work for the machine in some cases.
I currently have Rotella T6 5w40 in everything but the cat motor (which has the previous owners oil still). I like the cold start snappiness of the 5w40, but it doesn't come cheap. And regarding OCIs and getting more out of it, I feel like dumping oil at 5k mi is more intuitive and will require less fussing around. In other words, I guess if I lived in Texas I would use 15w40 and dump it every 5k mi and be done with it. FWIW, I do my own preventative maintenance, in my shop.
I'd like to use the same oil in everything, to keep things simple. I'd really like to use the same spec year round, but we'll see. My biggest concern is my forklift getting beat to death from 15w40 in winter.
What would you do?
EDIT: typo
I own a small wrecking company and I'm trying to decide on an engine oil for the diesels, as part of an effort to create a robust (i.e. foolproof) maintenance program. I'm based in New England.
The diesel "fleet":
(2) newer 6.7l powerstroke superduties. One is an F350 that is used variously as a daily driver/sales vehicle and regularly tows between 5k and 10k lb. It might spend a week hitched to a gooseneck dump trailer, during which time it's expected to start, haul a load real quick, and come back in the dead of winter. It goes to landfills a lot and sees a lot of dust. The other truck is an F550 packed with tools, fuel tank, etc. It doesn't typically tow, and is used simply to drive tools to a job site, where it stays all day.
(1) 2002 Isuzu npr diesel. Dusty tow pig, attached at the hip to a dump trailer.
(1) New-to-me 2002 cat 3126 motor in a 1995 road tractor. I haven't done much with this truck yet, but I expect to be grossing about 40k lb typically. No short trips. Hauling clean equipment, so not especially dusty.
(1) Kubota V1505 powered telescoping forklift. Enormous amounts of dust. Lots of idling. Lots of cold starts. Depending on the weather, I'll either let it idle for hours with intermittent use sprinkled in there or I will start it as needed, perhaps ten times a day. Sometimes - whether for security reasons or out of respect for neighbors- idling is not an option, so it will get started, then immediately move a big load, then shut down again. We're talking as little as two minutes of work for the machine in some cases.
I currently have Rotella T6 5w40 in everything but the cat motor (which has the previous owners oil still). I like the cold start snappiness of the 5w40, but it doesn't come cheap. And regarding OCIs and getting more out of it, I feel like dumping oil at 5k mi is more intuitive and will require less fussing around. In other words, I guess if I lived in Texas I would use 15w40 and dump it every 5k mi and be done with it. FWIW, I do my own preventative maintenance, in my shop.
I'd like to use the same oil in everything, to keep things simple. I'd really like to use the same spec year round, but we'll see. My biggest concern is my forklift getting beat to death from 15w40 in winter.
What would you do?
EDIT: typo
