Maintenance Schedule “Replace” Items — Stupid..? ?

[GeoHorn]

My Owners Manual has what I consider pretty stupid Replacement Schedules for some Items.

Example: Oil filer.
It calls for an oil change every 100 hours…. but Oil Filter change only every 200 hours. I.E. every OTHER oil change. Running clean oil thru a dirty filter…. I call that stupid!

It calls for replacing the radiator hoses and clamps, the fuel lines (hoses I presume) , the power steering hoses, …Every TWO Years!
Hell… my tractor is 29 years old with 725 hours, …and they’ve NEVER been changed ….and since they are flexible, dry, and not leaking…. I call That Stupid!

I just changed the coolant last year …and I believe that was the only time in 29 yrs it’s ever been changed…the factory fluid was still clean….and the hoses are flexible and in good condition so I left them alone. I might consider changing them in another 5 yrs when I change the coolant again on MY schedule.
While on that subject of radiator hoses…. Even if I called the dealer and ordered the radiator hoses…. the ones I’ll likely receive will be only a fer years newer….if at all….than the ones I’d be removing. I wonder what the “shelf life” of those things are….

Just for discussion….
Does anybody out there think the factory recommended “replace” schedules make any sense ?? Or do you too agree with me that those items oughta be “on condition“ .

 

[NCL4701]

There was a very short time many years ago I worked in the engineering section of the maintenance department of a reasonably decent size manufacturer. We replaced most routine maintenance items when they got to 75% to 90% of their life expectancy. Replacing piecemeal was inefficient and caused unacceptable downtime. But the scale was such that replacing the overhead lights on one floor of a factory might be 2,000 units and replacing light bulbs 50’ above a factory floor is a bit more of a logistical challenge than swapping a bulb in a desk lamp. There were hundreds of fork trucks, about 5,000 medium and heavy road trucks, etc.

So if I was running a fleet of say 500 tractors mowing roadside right of ways for DOT, I’d probably replace things like belts and hoses on a set schedule of calendar days and/or hours. I run a handful of equipment and vehicles and while downtime isn’t pleasant, it’s not critical. That and all my ICE powered equipment other than the wood splitter resides in climate controlled buildings, quite protected from the elements. So, as you suggest, I inspect the “replace every two years” items, but replace based on condition.

The fan belt on the Farmall is probably older than I am. Admittedly I don’t run it much. If the fan belt ever breaks, I’ll replace it, but not before. If the belts and hoses had been replaced on that thing every two years they would have been replaced 37 times by now, and they’d be due for replacement next year. That would be a bit much IMO.

 

[Hugo Habicht]

Does anybody out there think the factory recommended “replace” schedules make any sense ?? Or do you too agree with me that those items oughta be “on condition“ .

Replacing parts as a regular maintenance schedule does make sense when the machine is used constantly and commercially.

For private use it is at every owners discretion what they do, I personally would not change the coolant hoses every two years.

I would agree with you that the time periods for replacing the hoses for example is very short, I would imagine that this is based on marketing rather than engineering decisions.

The oil filter change every second oil change I have seen with a lot of car manufacturers as well, again, I agree with you and I have the feeling (not first hand engineering knowledge) that it does not make sense. I change filters with every oil change, they are cheap and very quick to replace.


p.s.: I do have a set of coolant hoses on the shelf, I have the same concerns about shelf life as you have, but the reasoning here is that the tractors in question are 30-40 years old and at some stage Kubota will stop supplying them. Properly stored (cool, dry, dark) and softened before use I hope they will be fine when I need them.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

There are certain situations where it makes sense to me......aircraft maintenance is one of them for instance.

If my hose "pops" on my tractor, the worst thing is that I have to walk my fat ass home. If a turbine blade lets loose at 50,000 feet, well thats an entirely different scenario.

Obviously, you can't just "pull over" if something goes wrong in some situations.

But "by and large" I see your point, and yes I concur. Ain't no way in hell I am changing hoses every 2 years.

I recently "overhauled" the axles in my truck. Partly because it has nearly 300K on it, and partly because I "sensed" something was wrong.

Turns out, I was 50% right........If I was a Pro Baseball player that would be batting .500.....(I think thats considered good?)

I agree that some things are just plain "silly' , as you pointed out.

 

[Hugo Habicht]

If my hose "pops" on my tractor, the worst thing is that I have to walk my fat ass home.

 

[Hugo Habicht]

I think Runs With Scissors brings it to the point: what can happen worst case?

A professional relying on the machine losing potentially thousands of dollars of business when the machine breaks down (in a remote location) will not worry too much about the cost of coolant hoses, reliability is way too important for them. And the Kubota maintenance schedule is based on those users.

My own lawn tractor breaking down? No big deal, apart from the HST making it impossible to tow into the work shop.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Aside:

Speaking of "turbine blades"........

I "know of a guy" that actually went to prison for lying about the hours on some turbine blades that he sold to someone else.

I don't recall/know the entire story, but......

They ultimately hung him on "mail fraud" because he sent them USPS and had lied about the hours.

Just a crazy story from "back in the day".

 

[GreensvilleJay]

losing an engine at 50,000 is not a big deal. Plenty of time to pick a landing strip while you retrim and do the 'routine'. Just do NOT pick a field full of tall corn or next to a chicken farm.

 

[mikester]

 

[DaveFromMi]

My owner's manual states that after the first 50 hours, change the engine oil and filter every 400 hours. I figure that must be a typo.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

Like any topic we can always pick around the edges and look for the absurd.

For example someone has a 30 yo tractor with 500 hours.... that's a 1/3 of an hour a weeks use so hardly a critical piece of equipment. A toy? A nice to have versus a must have, a hobby? Or maybe a nice to have at best.

If the equipment is commercial and critical I would follow the recommendations set by the engineers. Downtime when the crop has to come off before a rain, or snow needs to be removed before rush hour starts in a few hours and would risk injury or loss of contracts, etc... all make the decisions to take the risks and costs of part failures a very uniqud decision.

For a machine that is a toy then I say go ahead a stretch out maintaince schedules but for guys who rely on uptime I would be very pissed if I heard my family was delaying part replacements until point of failure or past recommendations intervals.

I would be pissed not only for potential loss of downtime, money, and work contracts but even more so for safety reasons if that was in play. Ones health and life and life always trumps saving a few bucks

Personal choice / free will. My choice is almost always follow what the engineers who designed suggest. But free will says do what you want as long as it doesn't put others at risk can be anyone's choice.

 

[pigdoc]

It's a good idea to write the date and/or the hour-meter reading on every wear-part you install.

-Paul