Changing irrigation engine oil can become a cacophony of empty five-gallon buckets rolling around the bed of a pickup with the remaining dregs of some of those containers creating an oil slick covering just about everything in reach. Combined with the heat, the odor of burned or used oil, and the dirty or muddy conditions common around most irrigation engines, it’s a scenario familiar to just about everyone familiar with the job—and one that few enjoy.
In 1993, that exact scenario had become reality for Gary Sage, and he was looking for a change. The inventor integrated the oil vac system he invented in servicing his own irrigation engines. The result: Not a single drop of oil spilled on himself, his equipment, his machinery, or the ground.
RANGE OF OPTIONS
Now almost three decades later, Gary’s invention has become the foundation for Sage Oil Vac, a company committed to efficiency and environmental sustainability on jobsites ranging from irrigation and wind turbines to heavy excavation in the United States and around the world. Currently, Sage Oil Vac offerings include lube trucks ranging from Class 5 to Class 8, fuel and lube trailers, lube skids, lube carts, and a LubeBuilder™ system that can be customized to fit any vehicle and operation size.
All Sage Oil Vac oil exchange systems feature a pump-free design that uses vacuum pressure technology and compressed air to exchange fluid at a rate of up to 15 gallons per minute. In addition to improving cleanliness and efficiency, the Sage Oil Vac system also eliminates maintenance issues more common with pump-driven systems.
DECADE OF EXPANSION
Eight years after his original system sparked the ambition to create Sage Oil Vac, Gary opened a full-time shop dedicated to fabricating the systems in Amarillo, Texas, in 2001. In the decade that followed, he expanded the company by diversifying Sage Oil Vac systems to outfit service technicians maintaining heavy equipment, generators, rental fleets, and oil and gas field machinery. In 2004, the company created a partnership to custom build oil vacuum systems for the US Army Reserves.
After opening a new 24,000-sq-ft facility to accommodate the growth that partnership created, Sage Oil Vac’s diversification continued with the 2007 development of the Gear Oil Exchange (GOEX) system for changing oil and servicing wind turbines. The GOEX system is available in a variety of platforms including skids, open trailers, enclosed trailers, and trucks or offshore containers and includes an on-board filtration system that reduces wear particles on wind turbine gearboxes. This significantly increases component and gearbox life spans.
The resulting niche market created by the development of the GOEX system took Sage systems to overseas customers when it gained distributors in Europe and Australia. In 2012, the company’s decade of evolution netted it the Top Small Business of the Year award by the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce, as well as the President’s “E” Award for Exports.
NEXT GENERATION
Four years later, Gary Sage retired as Sage Oil Vac CEO, paving the way for his son Aaron to take the company’s reins. Since becoming CEO in 2016, Aaron has continued to grow the family business, which now has a dealer network of more than 30 locations around the United States. Though the company has evolved a great deal since its inception, the primary focus of Sage Oil Vac has not changed.
“We’re just as committed to bringing efficiency and environmental responsibility to consumers through the use of our mobile lube equipment as we were in 1993,” Aaron says. “Those who choose to ‘change with Sage’ do so because of the guaranteed quality equipment and unbeatable customer service.”
Only time will tell what’s in store for Sage Oil Vac in the next decade.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Find out more about how Sage Oil Vac has revolutionized jobsites around the world, visit www.sageoilvac.com.
