500 Hour Service Interval Guide for a Ditch Witch SK755 – Part 1

In this step-by-step guide, we’ll cover how to change the engine oil and filter on a Ditch Witch SK755 mini skid steer.

It’ll be the first in a series of five posts discussing tasks mainly associated with the 500 hour service interval.

You can watch Keith, an expert heavy-duty technician, perform the service on this equipment on the Tekamo HD YouTube channel.

We’ll need access to each side of the mini skid steer, so lift the arms to move them out of the way.

To prevent a crushing accident, lock both arms with the safety supports. Release the locking pins and place the supports on the cylinders. If the arms start to come down, the supports will bottom out and prevent the arms from moving down any further.

The safety supports don’t need to be against the bottom. Keith, the heavy-duty technician who performed the service, likes to extend the cylinders to maximize his working space.

Next up, open the hood.

Sometimes, as in this case, you need to change tactics on the fly. The safety lever that locks the hood was missing, so Keith replaced it by sliding a punch that didn’t come out easily and held the hood just fine.

Next up, open the hood.

You’ll need a 13/16” (21 mm) wrench to remove the drain plug. Place an oil tray underneath the plug to catch the oil and turn it clockwise. Optionally, you can remove the oil fill plug to vent the system and speed up the process.

There are several tools you can use to change a spin-on filter. The order in terms of efficiency (from our standpoint of view) is:

• Strap wrenches: They are adjustable and let you service a lot of pieces of equipment.
• Filter pliers: Their design lets them fit between hoses and grab better than bigger pliers.
• Channellock pliers, also known as water pump pliers: Although the tool is nice, there wasn’t enough room in the SK755 engine bay.

The oil filter points downward, so you must turn it clockwise to loosen it, the opposite of the “lefty loosey righty tighty” rule.

Keith used the filter plier because it was quicker to set than the strap wrench and because there was enough room for it. Once you break loose the filter, finish removing it by hand. Don’t forget to have a catch container nearby to drain the oil filter completely and dispose of it correctly, along with the oil filter.

Before installing the new filter, check if the rubber seal is pre-lubricated. Some OEM filters will come with a bit of oil on the seal.

Otherwise, rub a small oil film on the seal with your finger. The oil film will:

• Prevent the seal from biting as the filter tightens so it doesn’t rip or tear.
• Make it much easier to remove the filter on the next service.

Should you prefill the filter? No, you don’t. The owner’s manual doesn’t mention it. Our article “1,000 Hour Service Interval Guide for a Komatsu PC200LC Excavator – Part 1” discusses the priming engine oil filters topic in more detail.

Make the filter as tight as you can by hand. In our article “Why You Should Not Use A Tool To Tighten Up A Spin On Oil Filter,” Keith explains the reasons for not using pliers to tighten the filter.

Start by reinstalling the drain plug.

The engine oil fill is quite far back on this particular machine. You can use 1-liter oil containers or one of those funnels with a long, flexible neck to reach it.
Keith didn’t have any of those. He had a 20-liter bucket of 15W40 Tekamo brand oil, so he used a pouring jug and a piece of a flexible hose to reach the oil fill without a mess (Check out more of Keith’s crafting talent in the article “DIY Track Pin Driver With Vibration Dampening”).

Because it takes time for the oil to get through the engine down to the oil pan (especially in cold weather), you won’t get an accurate reading right away. Constantly check the level as you pour oil to avoid overfilling. The SK755 oil engine capacity is 4.2 qt (4 L).

Aim close to the dipstick top mark to ensure the engine has enough oil to run and operate correctly.

Finally, put the oil fill cap back on, but don’t close the hood yet.

Next Post

Next up, we’ll change the fuel filters on our SK755 mini skid steer.