Lubricants News and Updates

In today's high-performance automotive landscape, engine oils are under increasing pressure to meet the demands of modern engines. As engines operate at higher temperatures with less oil, lubricants must evolve to maintain peak performance. With challenges like low-speed pre-ignition (LSPI) and the need for advanced detergent additives, engine oils must withstand several factors that degrade their quality over time. These include contamination from water and fuel, oxidation, shearing forces, combustion byproducts, and corrosion. To address these issues, highly refined base oils combined with cutting-edge additives such as anti-wear agents, antioxidants, and friction modifiers are essential in extending both engine life and oil durability.

Environmentally Friendly Hydraulic Fluids are a great choice for Landscapers, DPWs, Golf Courses, Tree Services, Paving Companies and Municipalities – Schools, where green, lawns and the environment are a concern or consideration. Environmentally Friendly Hydraulic Fluids can be manufactured with either Mineral based oils or Vegetable based oils. They can be either Inherently Biodegradable or Readily Biodegradable. They consist of the latest technologies in additives which eliminate the additives that are considered toxic, like Zinc and other heavy metal-based additives.

One of the most important aspects of proper lubricants and lubrication, but widely overlooked, is storage, handling and transport of the lubricants.

Industrial gear lubricants are essential to maintaining the efficiency and longevity of gearboxes across a wide range of industries. From reducing friction and heat to protecting against wear and corrosion, choosing the right gear lube ensures optimal equipment performance. In this blog, we’ll explore the three main categories of gear lubricants, their applications, benefits, and key factors to consider when selecting a lubricant, including special considerations for cold weather conditions.

The 3 Categories of Industrial Gear Lubricants

Situational awareness and common sense are crucial for proper lubrication, especially in harsh environments. This applies to automotive, commercial, and industrial applications alike. Understand your equipment, its needs, and the surrounding environment for optimal performance and longevity.

Quality hydraulic fluids have advanced formulations, high VI and the most advance additive packages to provide operating and maintenance benefits for increased productivity and less downtime. Two rules of thumb for hydraulic fluid are to keep it - “Clean and Dry”, because research and testing has proven that over 80% of hydraulic pumps wear and system failures are due to particulates and/or water contamination. Production downtime and labor costs for repairs often outweigh the cost of replacement of hydraulic components or systems.

As the fall and winter months approach, preparing your heavy-duty (HD) fleet for colder temperatures becomes critical for maintaining optimal performance and avoiding costly breakdowns. Cold weather presents unique challenges that can significantly impact the operation and longevity of your fleet. In this guide, we'll cover essential steps to ensure your fleet is ready to tackle the harsh conditions ahead.

Propylene Glycols have many uses including but not limited to:

Why and where to use a Hydraulic Fluid with a good Dielectric Strength?

Not all RV and Marine Antifreezes are created equal. Formulations or blends can differ from one manufacturer to another.

Why use CK-4 or FA-4? CK-4 and FA-4 are the current Heavy-Duty Diesel Engine oil spec.

Whether it is Automotive or Heavy Duty, a quality antifreeze/coolant should be used as it has several jobs to do!

The days of having just two types of Automatic Transmission Fluids (ATF) have been gone for years. In days gone past, it used to be either a Type A or a Type F.

Calcium Sulphonate Complex (CaS) greases do not function like other greases. In most greases the thickener releases the base oil to provide elastohydrodynamic lubrication in a bearing load zone. A Calcium Sulphonate (CaS) thickener is more like a gel. The base oil and gelled CaS thickener form a permanent emulsion. A well formulated CaS grease maintains the emulsified state, and the entire combination of thickener and base oil ‎pass through the bearing load zone. If the emulsion should break and the base oil bleed from the thickener, the CaS thickener left behind would still lubricate.

Environmentally Friendly Hydraulic Fluids are a great choice for Landscapers, DPWs, Golf Courses, Tree Services, Paving Companies and Municipalities – Schools, where green, lawns and the environment are a concern or consideration.

Types of Power Plants

Fluid Management – Hydraulic Oils

Here at Dennis K. Burke Inc. we strive to only sell the best products to our customers. There has been a lot of confusion in the marketplace with RV Antifreeze and manufacturers have intentionally blurred the lines by labeling very different products all as “-50 RV Antifreeze”. This issue became much more prevalent around the beginning of the pandemic as propylene glycol became scarce and prices soared.

As the leaves change colors and the cold winds blow in, it's time to gear up and prepare your heavy-duty fleet for the fall and winter seasons!

Last week we had the pleasure of meeting with Petro-Canada to discuss the benefits of their Duron line of Heavy Duty engine oils. There are a lot of resources available that we thought might be helpful for fleet managers and operators, so we are going to share some of the tools and info below and hopefully its helpful as you are looking at the numbers for your fleet and deciding on products and service intervals.

What can High Copper Levels mean?

Calcium Sulphonate Complex (CaS) greases do not function like other greases. In most greases, the thickener releases the base oil to provide elastohydrodynamic lubrication in a bearing load zone. A Calcium Sulphonate (CaS) thickener is more like a gel. The base oil and gelled CaS thickener form a permanent emulsion.

Quality hydraulic fluids have advanced formulations, high VI and the most advance additive packages to provide operating and maintenance benefits for increased productivity and less downtime. T

An oil analysis report contains results on as many as 40 different parameters that each have acceptable ranges identified. The type of oil, its formulation, how it should be maintained, and the operating conditions all are considered when evaluating an oil sample and setting acceptable ranges. Also considering the type of equipment and the operating environment is just as important.

Renegade race fuels are premixed and factory sealed so no more guessing at mixing or additizing, and no more spending time and money to hit the gas station and juggle multiple containers. 

Renegade Ratman Bushwacker Juice 50/1 & 40/1 premix drums and pails are ready to use immediately.   From Renegade: "RENEGADE RATMAN BUSHWHACKER JUICE premix fuel is a specialty fuel developed with the lawn care industry in mind. This premixed product is not only an affordable premix fuel, but also offers quality that can’t be found at the pump.  Use of this product will reduce maintenance cost and increase time in service of all of the 2 stroke power equipment it is used in. RATMAN BUSHWHACKER JUICE utilizes race fuel technology along with premium HP synthetic 2 stroke oil to give your power equipment a performance edge"

Ethanol free options mean reduced repair costs and equipment replacement due to ethanol issues. Fewer repairs and equipment downtime combined with less downtime at the shop which makes it a no brainer.  

A common question amongst maintenance personnel is around the life expectancy of our Hydraulic Oils in their machines. For the most part, many maintenance personnel say that they expect a very short time because of the aggressive environment surrounding the manufacturing equipment.

Maintaining Proper Oil Levels in Reservoirs, Sumps, Gearboxes and Crank case

Since December of 2020, we have seen an unprecedented SIX price increases roll out on base oil, additive & finished lubricant products. Now we are additionally seeing essentially all major suppliers move to allocations on products because of increasing difficulty on supply/sourcing.

In 2015 we moved out of our longtime corporate headquarters in Chelsea MA into our new facility in Taunton MA. In 2020 we also added another state-of-the art lubricant plant in Saco, Maine.

While current COVID protocols limit our ability to show our facilities to our customers, we thought a photo "walk through" and explanation might be helpful while we wait for things to open up in Massachusetts so we can return to the real thing (which thankfully should be soon!!) 

Below is a quick run through some of the key parts of our main facility in Taunton, Mass. 

As a PetroCanada distributor, we're excited about the release of their new Duradrive HD Synthetic 668 transmission fluid.  This product not only has the hard to get Allison approval, it's the new global factory fill fluid for the Allison TES 668, and the only Allison approved fluid for new transmissions (Allison Approval List)

The next generation of passenger car motor oil (PCMO) is on the horizon. The new ILSAC (International Lubricant Specification Advisory Committee) is GF-6A and will be backwards compatible with ILSAC GF-5 and prior. The new spec will begin licensing as of May 1,2020. 

AFS AWDA Cold Flow Additive is now in stock for the winter months. This additive helps reduce diesel fuel pour point and CFPP  8-12 degrees below the fuel's non additized temperature rating.

We're excited to officially announce that we are a distributor for Berkebile's 2+2 product line, which includes Protection First Class products. We have brake parts cleaner, white grease, aerosol grease, and PFC - Protection First Class Undercoating. 

Dennis K Burke is proud to announce that we are now the Phillips 66/Kendall Lubricants distributor for the Northeast. Kendall has been on the forefront of advances in lubricant product technology since the early 1900's and we are excited to be able to offer their premium, cutting edge products to our customers.  

Dennis K Burke is excited to announce that we are now an official distributor of Castrol automotive & heavy duty lubricants throughout the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont! 

Dennis K Burke, Inc is pleased to announce that we are now a Petro-Canada distibutor for the Northeastern United States!

Check out the feature article in "Waste Advantage Magazine" on BioBlend Lubricants, and a feature on Charles George Companies' success with BioBlend as a full stream waste management and recycling company. (We got a little mention too!)

We're excited to announce that we have partnered up as a Master Distributor for Renegade Racing Fuels for the Northeast!

In case you missed it - this July we received our first shipment of our FleetlineDEF cases! This is a fully API licensed product. The cases contain two 2.5g jugs each, and are an economical choice for an ultra high spec product, like the rest of our Fleetline offerings. 

For pricing and quantity options, or if you have any questions, feel free to contact us at lubesales@burkeoil.com 

We just got this in the mail - NESSARA, or the New England Service Station and Automotive Repair Association is a non profit group that works very hard on behalf of small, independent service stations, repair facilities, and similar companies in the industry to keep them informed of policy changes that can affect their business, and lobbies  against legislation that hurts small business' bottom lines. 

We are proud to announce that we are now official supporters of the PQIA - the Petroleum Quality Institute of America. The Institute's focus is testing and ensuring that lubricants, transmission fluids, and motor oils available in the marketplace have been tested and verified to be of high quality.