PDA

View Full Version : bulk motor oil



slim616
02-14-2010, 10:05 PM
just wondering where's a good source to get bulk motor oil in 30 or 55gallon drums?

fpkites
02-14-2010, 10:16 PM
Sam's Club?
Costco?

dp96zj
02-14-2010, 10:22 PM
Maybe ask a local mechanic and see where they get it? I know if I wanted some, my mechanic would buy a barrel and just ask me for the $$

slim616
02-15-2010, 09:23 AM
Sam's Club?
Costco?

really, i would of never guessed that they would sell something like that. Ill have to give them a call.

Most of the local mechanics I mess with don't do oil changes on a bulk level. For the few oil changes they do do, they just use quarts.

MoonWorks
02-15-2010, 09:26 AM
If ya'll have Carquest up there...they should be able to take care of that as well.

paulkeith
02-15-2010, 10:11 AM
pretty sure amsoil sells 55gal drums. pretty sure they're also like 1100 bucks.

dp96zj
02-15-2010, 11:15 AM
Most of the local mechanics I mess with don't do oil changes on a bulk level. For the few oil changes they do do, they just use quarts.


That makes sense, but I know that 2/3 of the places the I've been to here have a series of oil guns all around the shop (they specialize in oil changes) and the guns must be hooked up to a series of tanks or reservoirs. Maybe you could buy it at somewhere like pepboys or oreilly?


EDIT: Just checked oreillyauto.com

Castrol - Motor Oil (http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/CST0/104055.oap?pt=N0435&ppt=C0162)
Part Number:10-40-55
55 Gallon 10w40 GTX Oil
Mfg. Defect Warranty
Store: Call Store Usually Available in 2-3 Days
Price: $789.99 Each

O'Reilly - Motor Oil (http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/ORY0/104055.oap?pt=N0435&ppt=C0162)
Part Number:10-40-55
55 Gallon 10W-40
Mfg. Defect Warranty
Store: Call Store Usually Available in 24 Hours
Price:$549.99 Each

slim616
02-15-2010, 09:38 PM
damn, we don't have any o'reilley's around here, just napa's and autozones which seem not to carry 55 gallon drums. i got a number this evening for a company that goes around and refills the drums. I'll give them a call tomorrow and see what the can do.

CurtP
02-16-2010, 09:15 AM
How fast are you going through oil? Water contamination from condensation is a real concern with barrels and the problem gets worse as the headspace gets larger. If you can burn through a barrel in just a few months, you'll be fine, but at 6+ months, I'd be looking at buying quarts instead. My vendor offers free shipping with 6+ cases (24 bottles in a case) and they would discount the price if you bought 10+ cases (the more you buy, the bigger the discount). I don't go through that much oil, so I usually only buy a case or two at a time.

slim616
02-16-2010, 10:17 PM
10w30 i burn through real fast seeing that i run it in all my gas motors (about 16 different pieces) and that 3 of my machines use 10w30 instead of hydrulic oil. My one machine blew a line and dumped about 14 quarts in a blink of a eye before I could shut it down. For 15w40 i run about 45 to 65 quarts every few months not including when i do oil changes on other peoples Diesel equipment.
After looking at all the empty cases of oil at the shop I figured it may be time to look into getting bulk oil.

dp96zj
02-16-2010, 10:20 PM
What about buying it in 5gal buckets?

iluvtruenos
02-23-2010, 09:14 PM
Sam's club in Wheeling, IL (Northern suburb of Chicago) has Shell Rotella 15w-40 non-synthetic for right around $650 or so. I realize that it's quite a ways away, but see if they can move some inventory around from here to up by you.

ATL ZJ
02-23-2010, 09:27 PM
How fast are you going through oil? Water contamination from condensation is a real concern with barrels and the problem gets worse as the headspace gets larger. If you can burn through a barrel in just a few months, you'll be fine, but at 6+ months, I'd be looking at buying quarts instead. My vendor offers free shipping with 6+ cases (24 bottles in a case) and they would discount the price if you bought 10+ cases (the more you buy, the bigger the discount). I don't go through that much oil, so I usually only buy a case or two at a time.

Would it be worth the trouble to plumb a check valve into the barrel and use some kind of a pump to draw the oil out so that the oil was in a vacuum rather than exposed to air?

iluvtruenos
02-24-2010, 05:03 AM
Would it be worth the trouble to plumb a check valve into the barrel and use some kind of a pump to draw the oil out so that the oil was in a vacuum rather than exposed to air?

Wouldn't that eventually crush the barrel as it gets down to a gallon or so?

CurtP
02-24-2010, 09:34 AM
Would it be worth the trouble to plumb a check valve into the barrel and use some kind of a pump to draw the oil out so that the oil was in a vacuum rather than exposed to air?
You would need to draw around 30 in hg over a period of time to boil the moisture out (the more headspace, the longer the boil) and I don't think a drum can take that kind of pressure differential. A better solution would be to purge the headspace and slightly pressurize the barrel with nitrogen to maybe 1psi. With a barrel in a cradle you can gravity drain instead of using a pump and with a slight pressurization, you won't need a vent. You would have to have a pressure regulator to maintain the pressure and a constant source of nitrogen though. Most people won't go through the trouble to plumb such a setup.

Atmospheric air in the barrel causes more problems than just condensation - oxidation is another concern, especially with oils made from conventional base stock. Usually it's best to figure out how much oil you use over a 6-month period and buy it in containers that are as close to that as possible. Most oil manufacturers offer their products standard sizes - quart, gallon, pails (5 gallons), 30 gallon, 55 gallon and totes (250+ gallons). Sometimes you can get them in other sizes too (10, 15, 20 or 25 gallon), depending on the vendor/distributer.

One thing to keep in mind is that many people will buy the cheapest oil they can when buying it in bulk because of the up-front expense.

ZJ TINS
07-30-2012, 12:44 PM
Try lubriplate (http://www.lubriplate.com) and look up local dealers by zip code.

ajmorell
07-30-2012, 12:49 PM
2 1/2 years later....:smt064

ZJ TINS
08-03-2012, 09:10 AM
2 1/2 years later....:smt064


Yah I know did not want to start new thread. But most people dont know about Lubriplate products, and now when someone searches they can at least find. it.

tjswj
08-03-2012, 11:18 AM
lubriplate is awesome stuff. we use it at our shop on a daily basis.

indy242003
08-03-2012, 11:32 AM
I know it's an old post.

My dad owned a trucking business and bulk oil is just part of the gig. We did all of our own service and repairs. Big trucks run through oil changes to damn fast to worry about condensate in the barrels. I did notice that years ago that we switched to barrel liners to combat this though. My dad was a stickler for oil changes and none of his trucks ran over miles, before a change. He always bought in bulk, and went to the bulk plant (Shell Rotella at the time) to purchase. We ended up doing everything though PO's and got good pricing. They even dropped it off at the shop for us. If you can justify why you would need to have 55 gallons on hand, try getting it as direct as you can. Middle men will kill the deal for you sometimes. We had 2 barrels at the shop all the time, just because we needed to. You would need several vehicles that see a lot of miles a year to justify 55 gallons. a 30 would be plenty for most.