Time To Embrace The New Generation Of Lightweight Engine Oils

By: Ray Bohacz

For those of you who have seen more growing seasons than you care to admit, few things today are the same in farming. Procedures that 20 years ago were considered the norm are now relegated to nostalgia. Long gone are the days of moldboard plowing, walking the beans, cultivating between the rows, and high-viscosity (thick) engine oil. As accepted as the modern agronomic practices are, so is the need to embrace the new engine oil theories.

In the same way that switching from conventional tillage to no-till involves much more than adding a set of coulters to the planter, the evolution that brought about the newer oils encompasses many factors. It wasn’t that the oil companies decided to make lower viscosity oils and the engine manufacturers agreed by changing the decal on the oil fill cap. Quite the contrary.