I got to thinking this past weekend about my 50 hour maintenance, which I plan to do myself on my L2501. I got this tractor in the first week of May this year, so Ive had it almost 7 months now. I do not check my oil level every single time I use the tractor like I think the manual suggests. I park it in a closed garage, on a cement floor and I figure if the oil was to leak down Id see it on the concrete. Anyways, I did check my oil this weekend. The level was right in the middle or so, on a cold check, but I noticed the oil is a dark brown color. Not a nice light/amber brown like I expected. It got me to thinking...At the rate I'm using the tractor It may be several many more months before I hit 50 hours - potentially a full year of ownership. Im just wondering if this is a bad thing? Im at 29 hours right now. During the summer months I hardly used it at all, but in the winter now Im starting to use it a lot more. Given my low hour usage would it be a good idea to do the 50 hour service early, or should I just follow the manual and go on toward 50 hours? I know with vehicles the recommendation is always "X number of miles or X number of months, whichever comes first" and I know oil over time loses its viscosity - I'm also now suspect of what this factory oil is in the machine. I just wonder if 30 hours is a sufficient break in period.
Also while I'm on the subject, the next oil and filter change listed in my manual after the 50 hour service is at 400 hours. That will be like 4-5 years for me probably. This will be a fairly low hour usage machine. Surely going that long on oil is a bad idea I'd think. Should I just plan to do it once a year in my scenario? HST Oil filter change after 50 hour is at 200 hours, so again like 2 years probably for me. Is 2 years ok on those? Im almost thinking I should just plan to change all these filters every single year, or maybe every 18 months or something, becuase if I go by the hour benchmarks Im afraid Ill have a lot of stuff sitting in this tractor for far too long.
Also while I'm on the subject, the next oil and filter change listed in my manual after the 50 hour service is at 400 hours. That will be like 4-5 years for me probably. This will be a fairly low hour usage machine. Surely going that long on oil is a bad idea I'd think. Should I just plan to do it once a year in my scenario? HST Oil filter change after 50 hour is at 200 hours, so again like 2 years probably for me. Is 2 years ok on those? Im almost thinking I should just plan to change all these filters every single year, or maybe every 18 months or something, becuase if I go by the hour benchmarks Im afraid Ill have a lot of stuff sitting in this tractor for far too long.
