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Nycz reports that the number of customers currently optimizing oil drain intervals is a small portion of the population. As petroleum prices and disposal costs increase, there will be more of a demand to optimize oil drains. However, the fluids and filter costs are still a small piece of the overall operating cost of the machine when you consider fuel, operator, tires, tracks and other items that wear out and need to be paid for on an hourly basis.

In addition, oil drain optimization is only for the very well-managed fleet. "The real key is whether or not the customer has the discipline to do the job correctly," says Nycz. Do you really drain your oil today at regularly scheduled intervals, or does it sometimes creep up 100 or 150 hours? "A customer that doesn't have a good maintenance program is likely to drift off and get himself into trouble. Also, don't try this if you have a fleet full of machines that are falling apart or are badly in need of an overhaul."

Another consideration is the timing of the service intervals. You don't want the extended service interval on one component to lead to servicing of other fluid compartments out of sequence. "It is so expensive to send a person out there to take a sample or to change a filter that a lot of times they will just change the oil," says Nycz. "You still have to consider your service time."

To determine if it makes sense, weigh the increased risk against the benefits. "We would advise anyone who is going to do this to actually calculate how much money you are going to save in your particular fleet," says Nycz. "Throw the numbers into a spread sheet and figure out how much you are going to save on oil, disposal costs, service costs. Consider that you are taking a bit of a risk and see if you are willing to take that risk for $10,000, $30,000 or whatever that number may be."

Important points to ponder
Optimizing oil drains is not something that can be done overnight. "Extending drains is a process," says Papacek. "Work with your lubricant supplier to determine realistic expectations, then test at various intervals to find the optimum interval. You may find you change the oil less often, but you should test more often to effectively monitor the affects of the extension. Caution should be taken to control the type of lubricant being used. Be sure the proper lube is also used when topping off."