LUBRICANTS ESSENTIAL FOR TRUCK DRIVERS

Pentti Varpamäki (deceased) - timber trucker

Pent's faith was ignited all at once 

Pentti Varpamäki and an 88 Scania with two million kilometres on the clock, the last 600 000 of them with additives. One of the wheels on this car was fitted with a refurbished hub, which glowed like a sauna oven even when the car was empty. When the additives were applied, the temperature is now 40 degrees lower after a long drive at full load.

- These substances do not stop the renovation of equipment, but they do reduce it to such an extent that even the accountant will soon notice it. There's more under the line, assures Pentti Varpamäki, a timber trucker from Pyhäsalmi who first came into contact with the X-1R product family 15 years ago. Varpamäki uses the products in all three of his lumber trucks and his belief in the materials is firm

- I am 100% - not 99% - but 100% sure that these substances are worth using.

With timber harvesting viability, you have to take the mark where you can get it. Gradually, mainly through the push-button radio, the benefits of additives have been passed on to more and more motorists and engineers, and the number of sceptics is gradually dwindling.

Pentti also markets X-1R products in the Northern Finland region. He already has two to three hundred customers, mostly timber truckers and forest machine contractors.

So where did it all start? - I was interested in additives and saw an X-1R advertisement in a magazine so I called. The importer promised to stop by and show it to me. Even the first demonstration in the little test bench was a strong showing. The next "hit on the head with a hug" followed immediately:

- An additive was put into the engine of my bear-claw Mercedes; the notoriously loud mill was immediately silenced and after a short drive the mixed engine oil easily cleared all the weights of the bench test.

- I took enough additives and petrolatum to experiment with them in one timber combination. I put additives in the engine and fuel and petroleum jelly in the wheel pivots of the car and trailer. Already the first trip to Oulu convinced me of the effect on friction and fuel consumption.

- On the only hill from here to Oulu - in Pulkkila's Lehtomäki - the combination rolled two to three hundred metres further than before. The fuel consumption was three litres less per 100 kilometres. After that, the substances were introduced permanently.

This test bench will be familiar to many visitors to the fair. It will show you how much lubrication is improved and friction is reduced with the X-1R.

"No more driving a metre without an X-1R"

After years of use, Pentti lists the benefits of X-1R additives and lubricants in a way that will make the uninitiated shudder.

- Not many people believe these until they've seen and tried them for themselves," says Pentti, and in addition to his own experiences, he hands over a bundle of customer testimonials - all of which are consistent. X-1R additives have also been studied and tested in many places, including Finland. Even on the basis of these studies, the benefits are undeniable," says Pentti.

HIS OWN PLUS LIST INCLUDES:

• Fuel consumption fell by around 2-3 litres per 100 km for all timber combinations, and by more than a litre for cars and vans.
• Cars roll much better.
• The need to adjust valves was reduced.
• The gearbox is more precise.
• ATG Vaseline on trailer hubs lowered temperatures by 10-12 degrees, with excellent retention on trusses, pins and cranes.
• The crane became smoother to operate, hydraulic whines and rumbles were halved, the temperature dropped by more than 10 degrees and the seals worked better, oil leaks have been reduced.
• The temperature dropped by 15 to 25 degrees Celsius when the car was driven to the sun.
• The return on pumps increased by 15 percent. Brakes work better, ....

- Old things don't usually get better with age and heavy use, but... Repair costs have been substantially reduced. 

- We don't drive a metre without these products, not even on a moped or a bicycle, sums up Pentti Varpamäki, who is also a hobby hiker. 

- With the right materials, they also run lighter as friction is reduced.

Pentti Varpamäki's Loglift crane has additives everywhere.

- The crane is now smoother to handle, quieter and only now the hydraulics of the crane are working as someone once designed them to work, says Pentti.

- For the treatment of that crane extension, the search has long been on for a substance, oil or petroleum jelly, that would slip, prevent rust caused by moisture and road salt, but not collect debris or pitch. Now it has been found (X-1R Train Trac Lube (TTL)). It will last a month in that location, even with two shifts.

The house's "second crane" has been sitting idle for six months in the hall yard in the miserable autumn rain and now a snowstorm. There is no sign of rust on the extension. Of course, the crane has an ATG winch in the grab.

- Now I grease my hand once a week and that's enough, no matter how much the trees are disturbed.

X-1R CLEAN

In addition to improved performance and reduced consumption, additives also clean. Pentti was convinced of this feature immediately after the first oil change after the additives were introduced, when he cleaned the Scania oil spill.

- In the past, Scania's oil sump accumulated a centimetre of sediment after a couple of oil changes. When I used the additives the next time I cleaned it, there was a couple of centimetres of stuff in it. Now I only clean it every third oil change and even then I only have half a centimetre of sediment.

Ilkka Kananen of HKK -Kuljetus Oy in Kuopio also has good experience of the cleaning effect of the additive. He has been using the additives - known in Savoese as "sputnik stern oils" - for a year in seven timber trucks.

- We have had problems with the pump nozzles on our Sisu Cummins engines, we had to replace them often.

- The introduction of additives has eliminated that problem - no injectors have been replaced in the past year, says Ilkka.

- It has happened that a stuck injector has caused the engine to run on five cylinders, and when the additive was added to the fuel, the injector started working within minutes.

- Although we are still in the testing phase, the benefits of the X-1R are clear to see. But it will take years to see the full picture.

- The savings are already clearly visible, especially in fuel costs, where consumption has fallen by up to 5%. The trailer axles, variable displacement pumps and, as a result, the hydraulics of the cranes are also working better," says Ilkka.

A driver shortage forced Pentti Varpamäki to reorganise his company's logging operations.

- When no skilled timber transporters could be found, a change of approach was necessary. One light "road truck" was built and a scale was purchased for the crane. The heavier combination is used to move close to and 'feed' mainly the light long-haul truck, explains Pentti. The curved road combination has an empty weight of just under 18 000 kg.

The trade in additives is a good counterbalance to logging, says Pentti Varpamäki.

-There has to be more to life than chopping wood. When you're making a deal and showing off your additives, your worries are forgotten, at least for a while. I'm a bit of a Laplander, and I have a little taste for the highlands, but I'll always have to go there in time. The Lapland craze is also evident in Pent's hall, where coils and pahka have been modified in many different ways. The lamp in the photo was made by a carpenter from stumps that had grown in a pile of stumps.

X-1R Products

MORE THAN 20 X-1R PRODUCTS

- The X-1R family already includes more than 20 products, says importer Oy U.S. Marine Diesel Import LTD. 

- There are additives for fuels, lubricating oils, hydraulics and compressed air systems, as well as a range of petroleum jellies and lubricating spray oils for a variety of applications. U.S Marine has been importing X-1R products to Finland since the beginning of 1993.  

The X-1R product family includes more than 20 products: in addition to fuel and oil additives, a wide range of petroleum jellies and lubricant sprays.