The LubeBuilder System is Changing the Game and Johnson-Davis Inc. Agrees

Sep 10, 2018

We talk about our Sage Oil Vac LubeBuilder system a lot, not just because we want to show you how it works, but because we know how much it is impacting the people and businesses that use it. How do we know? Because the companies that buy it tell us. One such example is the Johnson-Davis Inc. team based in Lantana, Florida.

>> Learn more about the LubeBuilder System.

In order for you to know why a LubeBuilder a la carte fluid exchange system works well for Johnson-Davis, you first need to know who they are, what they do and a little bit about their growing pains. After all, their story might sound like yours.

Johnson-Davis is an underground utility contractor founded by Herb Johnson with his sons in 1977.  The company started with humble beginnings in Herb’s garage, and now its workload and backlog, demands an equipment fleet to support more than 15 mainline crews plus punchout crews.

Big construction jobs like storm drainage systems, sanitary sewer and water main construction require big equipment. And with big equipment requires big maintenance needs. No one knows this better than their Shop Manager Michael Llewellyn.

“Due to project demands, we regularly have large equipment pieces spread across a large part of Florida. That includes equipment like backhoes, loaders and pumps from Florida’s Miami-Dade to Orange counties,” Llewellyn said. “We do about 95 percent of our own maintenance, and our three service trucks were becoming stretched thin. Since the equipment is the lifeblood to our operations, we have to give it the required attention.”

“We were looking for a solution when we heard about the LubeBuilder System from Jason Heim at Linder Industrial,” Llewellyn said. “Since they work with quality industrial machinery brands like Komatsu and Atlas, we took their recommendation seriously.”

Llewellyn was able to work with their local Sage Oil Vac dealer ACME Truck Body to purchase the exact lube exchange components needed to improve their smaller equipment maintenance programs.

“The process was easy. I gave ACME our tank sizes and what we wanted, and they took it from there,” Llewellyn said.

Llewellyn then received blueprints to approve and after a few minor tweaks, ACME sent in the order. The order took three weeks to arrive and two weeks for ACME to install into the chassis of a new box truck.

The Johnson-Davis LubeBuilder System kit included:

  • (1) 120-gallon waste oil tank
  • (3) 30-gallon fresh oil tanks
  • (1) 60-gallon fresh oil tank
  • 50-ft. reels on all tanks
  • 8 HP electric start compressor
  • 50-ft. air reel

The Johnson-Davis team has been making good use of all their LubeBuilder system so far.

“The Sage Oil Vac system within our LubeBuilder has been especially helpful when it is time to change fluids,” Llewellyn said. “We encounter a lot of algae contamination in our fuel tanks because of our geographic area which can be easily removed with Sage’s vacuum technology.”

>> Read: Are You Doing It Wrong? How to Get a Cleaner Oil Exchange.

Plus, now that more new equipment is using DEF fluid, the operations team has enjoyed having a dedicated DEF fluid tank on board.

“Now we have a way to easily top off equipment using one of our LubeBuilder tanks as a dedicated DEF tank,” Llewellyn said. “This helps to prevent contamination.”

>> Find your local Sage Oil Vac dealer for a free LubeBuilder System quote and blueprint.

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