Hello All. Really looking for the good, bad, neutral feedback. It seems to be pretty obvious that their products are better and most times you get what you "PAY" for and you definitely pay for schaeffer. I went and got quotes for a life time supply for me as everything is bulk purchases. 30 gal hyd fluid 30 tubes grease Final drive gear oil Engine oil for my road vehicles Diesel eng. oil Diesel labrisity additive Penetrating fluid And needed to go apply for a loan you know what I mean. Now I know a lot you you would trade with me in a minute. but to a small business with pay dodger customers it can be difficult to splurge and I really don't mean keeping my equipment up is splurging. But I could realistically get other products for a 1/3 of their cost. Now money isn't all that matters as it may sound. When you start talking about seal conditioners and additives and it's hard to turn away and even consider any other products regardless how much you may save. And if I'm going to do this, it's time to. I appreciate all comments. And Thank you.
Really. Almost 70 views and not a single comment.
MHO, most likely a fantastic product, I have no experience with. I have worked as a mechanic for the same contractor for 29 years, when I started they used Cenex oil, we rarely replaced an engine, and none due to Cenex oil!. As times change we then went to Mobil oil, Last 18 years, I can say the same of Mobil. I have listened to many oil salesmen over the years, very few have heavy equipment experience, most road tractor experience, and brag about extended drain periods and the money it saves you. That being said there is no comparison between hiway and a construction site. Is it worth the extra money!, I would say not, Does it contain better additives, most likely so, and if your willing to sample it and run extended service you may find benefit to it. MHO, Lee
We all know the benefits of the synthetic oils as they all claim. I`m not sold totally on them. They used to use the Schaffer products for the outfit I work for. We slowly phased them out. Schaffers best product is their Citrus cleaner for asphalt/tar. It`s only problem is it is water viscosity so if you use it on a tank trailer as we do, it quickly runs off on the floor and down the drain. Sidewalk clean up it`s the perfect product. I think they are over priced for what they claim their advantages are. My $.02
That was some of my feeling exactly. Well the rep gave me a can of citrol. The 30 gallon hyd. Fluid was quoted a little over $500.00 if my math is right that's $16.00 a gallon. But he did give a fabulous sermon on how much cooler the system would operate and the extent of the additives that they provide that exceeds the industry standard and how the seals are better conditioned and extended life of pumps... And so on. The grease price I'm fine with. But still it's a bunch o money and it's hard to find and it has to be shipped after its paid for and then I'm reading and digging deep in these threads and seeing about contaminants in drums. I started this thread as this subject is not really discussed.. It's tip toed around And Salesrep has not signed in, in about a year. What happened to him.? I was starting to feel like I'm out of the click. 6 hrs. And 80 views before a reply Thank you for the replies.
I will step in where other fear to tread LOL Seriously, save your money. Buy GOOD BRAND NAME products, and change frequently. Not sure of what you have south of the 49th, but Mobile or Chevron spring to mind. IMHO you are better off instead of using the dreaded "Snake oils" Schaeffer's might be a good product, I don't know, I just know that some times the claims that they make are unjustified and unproven. Good oil, change often in engine Use synthetic in gears Use the PROPER grease where it needs to go and grease as per the service schedule As far as synthetic hydraulic oil, one blown hose and your $500 investment in oil is on the ground Fuel additive, take your pick My $0.02 worth
Ive never used any Shaeffers synthetic products, other than their synthetic allison oil for the 2100 series. But i do like their greases and the old pariffin base 40 wt engine oil for Detroit Diesel engines. Using their AW 40 hydraulic fluid in wabco scrapers with piston pumps, Ive seen a 10 to 15 degree reduction in oil temps. Just my experience. As far as a fuel additive, Hydrotex made a good cleaner/lubricant. Essentilube or something like that.
One of the reasons we switched to Mobil oil is the availability, every truckstop sells it, and most parts stores, we often get jobs out of our local supply area and Mobil is well represented. Again nothing against shaeffer oil but you need to stock it yourself as you cannot run locally and buy it, if you have a brakedown and run short, your in trouble, same can be said of D-A lubes, we used to use there grease, great stuff but a PIA to get it. Lee
My dad started using Schaeffer in the farm tractors in 1980 and got the construction company he works for into it in the late 80s. I can tell you that we have had one tractor overhauled ever. And we still have all the tractors I grew up with, never trade just add to the fleet. We've never had any engine problems on the farm. We have a case 580 super m+ that was bought new and has 4800hrs on it with no problems and the original pins are tighter than most 1000hr machines. The construction company samples everything now and last I heard the trucks r around 18000 mile changes. Pickups are around 12000. And the machines very from 400 to 1000hrs depending on what it's in/used for. They rarely have engine related troubles. And drivetrain trouble is all but nonexistent. The pit loaders went from greasing everyday to every 3 days. When I was on the road we had slot saws with 3" shaft roller bearings that ran in cement slurry that burned bearings in 12-15 hours. I convinced them to let me try Schaefer grease and bearings would last 200+ hours. I quit before I could try comparing engine oils It's good stuff. This pry sounds like a sales pitch but it ain't. I'm actually an amsoil dealer but this is the experience I have with Schaefer And citrol is a good laundry detergent too
My bet the reason for the delay in response here is your question is difficult to answer accurately without lab testing and I doubt many of our members have those resources. That being said, my buddy ran Schaeffer's in all his trucks and equipment religiously and I don't recall him ever having an engine or hydraulic system fail due to lubrication problems. I run Schaeffer's grease on my skid steer and all attachments, including the backhoe and found that after the initial greasing it required fewer pumps of the gun on each fitting and the backhoe was noticeably quieter. I also use their penetration oil in the aerosol can and find it works great. The grease was worth the cost to me, but it's difficult to say if the oils are that much better.
First off I want to thank everybody for their views and comments. And I respect and value every opinion. Rather than address each individual I'm going to kinda try to address all at once and give my stance on it all as I'm replying from a not so smart phone. I've been kicking this around awhile and have been using their greese for a while with good/great results. I ran their oil in my stroker Harley years ago, and had forgotten that but knew that it seemed familiar for some reason. It's all coming back now. I remember it was a superior oil in a odd label bottle for about 6 bucks a qt. in the 90's. My machine takes about 22 gallons of Hyd. Fluid and I'm running auxiliary attachments that are in my mind creating excessive heat as I can reach over from in the seat and touch the tank and filter cap/cover. I'm going to inferred shoot the tank in the weeks to come and note the ambient air temp along with tank and filter cover temps. And note digging or aux usage. And then get back to you all on "my findings" and field results. Again this is going to take a while as I don't run the machine that often and I have to get the order completed and shipped here, then start turning wrenches. This is going to be what I consider maintenance with an added investment in "hopes" of some noticeable difference or outcome. And if not I'll do something different next time and we will have note of it here for future reference. In the mean time maybe we will get more input on this subject as the days go on as I did start this on a weekend. Again thanks to all for the input. Hope I didn't leave anything out.
Have you cleaned you hyd. Cooler or radiator first? Changed hyd. Filters or flushed coolant system? Could be that simple!
For what it's worth, I ran Mobil 1 in an '86 Escort I was commuting with to see if it worked any better than regular oil. I installed an oil pressure gauge and kept record of every gallon of gas I put in it. I bought the car new and within 5 years had racked up over 200,000 miles on it. The oil pressure remained constant, from idle to highway speed from the day I made the switch (about 10,000 miles) as did the fuel mileage. In other words the engine didn't show any decline in performance in spite of the high mileage. This was a little 4 cylinder engine that I ran at 80 mph for the majority of the miles. I'm a firm believer in the benefits of synthetic oil and run it today in my small air (and oil) cooled equipment, hydraulic system of my skid steer and cars that I've bought new. I fel the benefit of the added heat resistance is worth the cost for added insurance. I lost contact with the Schaeffer's salesman and am using Amsoil now that a friend sells. I can't say anything bad about Schaeffer's, it just isn't as easily available for me. When you are doing your temperature checks, a good spot to test would be the fittings to your attachments, this is where the oil is most restricted and probably will be at its hottest.
The 252 Wabcos had a piston pump for steering and another piston pump for the elevator. The oil cooler was a big hayden type under the hood where the fan blast would blow on it. We kept those as clean as possible and did filter changes regularly, The oil is what dropped our temps and increased the pump life.
The radiator is clean, have not flushed coolant, or changed the hyd filter. I keep things pretty clean. Was going to change hyd oil and filter at the same time. Machine had 900 hrs when I got it, and at 1400 now. So as I said earlier, it's time. If for no other reason not knowing the history. I had momentarily forgot about the quick connect fitting restriction. Thank you. My motive for this is. 1- looking for a better product. 2- would like to see lower temp in aux. 3- just know for sure if there is a noticeable differance.
I didn't know how to respond to this thread, I work for a lubricant company that competes with Schaeffer so my views are obviously biased. That said I would highly recommend never buying a lifetime supply of any lubricant. All lubes have a shelf life. Grease is typically 2 years at most 5(except for polyurea thickened grease). Oil is usually 5 years, PAO maybe up to 8 years. Schaeffer is a good product if a bit on the spendy side.
Ok. Here it is explained. I typically buy oil for the intended change at hand. Usually I buy a couple or few tubes of greese. With the Schaeffers, to get free shipping, I ordered engine oil for 2 vans. 6 gallons. 30 tubes of greese, that I will sell to my buddies that won't track it down. Enough deisel eng. oil for about 4 changes. 6 gallons. Hyd. oil I need about 20 gallons, I bought a 30g drum. That leaves me some for a busted hose or 10 gallon toward next change. Diesel treatment I think was 4 gallons, and that will be like the greese. Somebody will buy a couple of those too. Hope this clears up what I said. To me at the rate I use it it will last pretty good. And I met the 350/375 min order for free shipping X's 3 or 4
Yup that clears it up.
We had a Schaeffer sale's rep pull in the driveway about 15 years ago . Nice guy , took time to show us all his products and give a demonstration comparing other oil brands against Schaeffer on a 110 volt powered friction bearing unit . Demonstration went like this www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wLugkZrUUQ I ended up buying some engine & hydraulic oil and a few tubes of gun grease from him . I think the minimum order back then was around $200.00 at the time . About a week later a semi pulled in the drive with my order . I put the engine oil in my white 4000 290 cummins tractor and the hydraulic oil in the transmission on the dozer . Dozer ran fine but couldn't really tell any difference as far as running cooler . Truck ended having engine trouble shortly after changing the oil . While I was going to pic up the dozer one afternoon all the sudden I notice massive blow buy coming out of the engine . I turn around & head back to the shop . Pulled the heads and the number 6 hole it had started firing past the piston . So we done a quick in frame on it . I don't think the Schaeffer oil had anything to do with what happened to the engine but after just spending the extra cash on the Schaeffer oil I was a bit discusted at the time . Ended up putting Shell Rotella 15/40 back in it . I was impressed with the Schaeffer gun grease how it seemed to hold up better and resist water . I'm probably somewhere in the middle on this topic . I think www.schaefferoil.com is a good company with a great line of products . However with the big difference in cost compared to other known name brands that work I'm not sure if it's worth it ? My guess is it differs with each person & piece of equipment they are using . I know this wasn't a very good answer lectro88 but that was my experience with it
One thing that I have wondered. And could see my luck going this way. I have 2 high mileage road vehicles. Wouldn't it be a joy if I changed to this and it loosened up some sludge or crud and plugged a oil gally or a main seal or harmonic seal starts gushing irreversibly. I did hear of a situation where a newer engine was smoking and investigated. The way it's told is the rings couldn't seat with the oil. May be fact. Could call bs. That's why I've asked everybody that will post their experience. Salesmen are going sale. The people that have used it can attest to their experience. Be it good, bad, or inconclusive. Appreciate all the replies, this is starting to take shape.
Lectro88 your fear is well placed. Mineral oil has a lot of paraffin wax in its make up. In older machines that have run dino oil for their whole life, the seals will wear, as they wear the paraffin in the oil replaces the seal. If you switch to a PAO (synthetic) it will clean the paraffin and start leaking like a sieve. Also with new engines your supposed to wait until 10k miles before changing to a PAO so the rings will seat. The PAO can hinder the engine break in because of the superior protection, does this make sense? There are many benefits to running PAO oils but there are applications that its not. I dont pay for lubricants because I work for a lubricant manufacturer (yes I am one of the dreaded sales guys) and I use dino oils in my pre 1980 machines.
Isn't this also due in part to the different amount of swell in the seal material, especially the early synthetics? ISZ
Yes this was an issue with earlier synthetics but not anymore. If you are spending the $$ to get PAO it will not "shrink" seals.
I have been using Schaeffer products for about 10 years now and can't say enough good about them.What originally convinced me was the story my rep told me that I checked out to be 100% true:A large trucking co.by me had one of his Cummins powered tri axle dumps in for it's 500K rod bearing inspections.The Cummins mechanic was baffled about their condition,could not believe that they still looked new and were miking out as like new,wanted to know if the odometer was correct.Yes it was--Schaeffer oil it's entire life. A guy I ran into with an identical 410G as mine was complaining about the constant squeal from his swing pins which actually were a fairly well known JD problem.I gave him a tube of my synthetic Schaeffer grease to try.Next time I saw him he couldn't thank me enough,all he uses now are Schaeffer products. My Schaeffer rep is about 5 minutes from me,usually has my stuff in stock and will ALWAYS get me an answer to any concerns of mine. The only place I don't use Schaeffer is hydraulic oils as like someone else said,one broken hose and your high priced liquid gold is all over the ground.
Well. I got my shipment today. The 60 tubes of grease was beat to $#!t. At least 4 of the tubes were busted into the grease at the rim. The rest will certainly ooze with time. 28 out of 30 were aluminum rim bent in 1 case. I am less than happy to say the least. And shall see what is the next step and who is to blame. One would think as long as schaeffers has been selling grease and at their already elevated rates, that just went up. they would know how to package to avoid this kind nonsense.
It will probably fall to the trucking company to handle any damage claims. I hope you showed it to the driver if it was apparent before he left.
Nope. It was left on the porch when I got home. And the boxes showed no signs of damage. Matter o fact. The 10 tube boxes were put in a larger box for a tight fitting 3 boxes in the outter shipping box. And the inner boxes were in perfect shape. Almost looks like they put seconds in cases and shipped it. As sad as that sounds.
Don't panic yet. I had an issue with a shipment and my salesman took care of it, you may not have trouble getting them replaced.
Schaeffers got right on it. I had replacements in 2-3 days. Presented damaged goods to my local rep. So yes they made it right. And wow their diesel additive, 1 gallon treats 2k gal of diesel. (I can treat 8k ) The power service I have been using I "think" 32 oz treats 250 g. Diesel
32 oz treating 250 gal would be 1 gal treating 1000 gal. So half of the schaffers. I don't believe there has been any testing proving the schaffers to be a better fuel additive.