Victorian farmer and contractor, Richard Stecher, has been using John Deere lubricants on his fleet of tractors, harvesters and balers – and even his trucks and utes – for more than 20 years and says the value for money has made the decision “a no brainer”.
“In summer, we’re pulling balers through the paddock at 50km/h in 40-degree heat,” Mr Stecher said.
“That’s punishing on gearboxes and hydraulics. The fact we’ve never had a failure says it all.”
Operating near Seymour, Richard runs a 4,000-hectare broadacre cropping operation, a successful hay and harvesting contracting business, Stecher Ag, and a beef cattle enterprise.
His fleet has grown over the past two decades to include 15 John Deere tractors, two S-Series harvesters and two balers, and has clocked up more than 250,000 machine hours. He says some tractors are pushing 10,000 to 12,000 hours and still running strong.
“We’ve never had a major transmission failure or tractor split – ever. That’s over a quarter of a million hours.”
Mr Stecher credits much of the reliability to a strict maintenance regime, and the use of premium-quality lubricants including John Deere’s Plus-50 II™ engine oil, Hy-Gard™ transmission and hydraulic oil, GL-5 gear oil and Cool-Gard™ II coolant.
“Twenty years ago, when I bought my first John Deere tractor, the salesman at Haeusler’s had been a well-regarded technician and spoke very highly of the lubricants, so I started using them and we’ve stuck with them ever since.
500 hours extended drain interval
“We always take the engines out to 500 hours and when we drain it, the oil still seems quite viscous. We have very little or no oil burn, even out to those intervals,” Richard said.
“We might pay a few hundred dollars extra for a 205-litre drum of Hy-Gard, for example, but out of every drum of oil we get a couple of major services. If you calculate that over a 9000-hour lifespan, a tractor only has six major services.
“If you do the economics on the low failure rate of the product, it will stack up every time.
Calculate the savings for yourself
Haeusler’s Group Aftermarket Manager Jason Hannig said customers can use a simple online calculator to see how Plus-50 II engine oil and filters compare to competitors’ products.
“It’s really quick and easy to use and it gives you a simple number that shows how much you would spend each year on oil and filters in three different combinations – all genuine John Deere oil and filters, all non-John Deere products, or a mixture of the two,” Mr Hannig said.
“Given you can take Plus-50 II engine oil out to 500 hours, it really drives savings over the year and the life of the machine especially when you multiply it out across your entire fleet.”
To try the oil calculator visit haeuslers.com.au/lubricants
500 or 750 hour drain interval applies to John Deere diesel engines when the following criteria are met: 1. Engine is equipped with an extended drain interval oil pan. 2. Machine operates with Plus-50™ II engine oil API CK-4. 3. Machine uses a John Deere engine oil filter 4. Machine uses only ultra low sulphur diesel fuel.