Heard of Dirty 30? Forget about it. At Sage Oil Vac, the last 30 years have been full of cleaner, safer and faster oil changes. We couldn’t have made it this far without you. Celebrate three decades of mobile lube innovation with a look back at our story so far.
Starting with humble beginnings
In 1993, Gary Sage was a farmer looking for a better way to change oil on his irrigation engines. He was tired of spilling oil on himself and the ground. Turns out, so were his neighbors.
Gary’s fellow farmers turned into the first Sage Oil Vac customers. They placed orders for the innovative new system, built without pumps. Compressed air made it possible to move fluid to and from sealed tanks — without a spill in sight.
Units were built according to the harvest schedule, with most of the manufacturing happening after crops were harvested in the fall. Soon though, that wasn’t enough. Customers had discovered the power of the innovative equipment and they wanted more.
Meeting customer demand
In 2001, Gary moved his operation to Amarillo, Texas, and brought some extra help on board. Sage Oil Vac was officially born — no longer a side project for a busy farmer. With the headquarters open, Gary and team could focus on delivering the equipment customers wanted for their preventive maintenance programs.
“It was a big deal to move to Amarillo,” said Gary Sage. “We knew we were taking a plunge, but we were confident. We knew it was what we needed to do to best support our customers.”
After the move, the Sage Oil Vac crew started to expand the product lineup. The original Sage Oil Vac system was translated to carts, trailers, skids and trucks, all featuring the pumpless technology that helped crews reduce equipment problems and maintenance costs. Eventually, the fully customizable LubeBuilder™ system was added to give customers the flexibility to create the exact fluid exchange system they need.
Customer demand drove equipment innovation and led to the addition of fuel and other fluid capabilities.
Storage and customization were also important considerations for helping customers get the job done their way.
“We continued to listen to the customer, adapt our existing product to the changing world of on-site fluid maintenance and develop new products,” added Aaron Sage, current Sage Oil Vac CEO and Gary’s son. “That’s where our drive to be innovative comes from — our passion for meeting customer needs. And we’re not stopping any time soon.”
Realizing the power of partnership
Over the years, Sage Oil Vac has had some incredible partnerships with our customers that have driven growth across the world.
In 2004, the U.S. Army Reserve called on Sage Oil Vac to build custom mobile lube equipment for their work. It was more than an honor for the team to prepare the systems. The work also helped double business for Sage Oil Vac, resulting in a 24,000-foot manufacturing facility expansion.
In 2007, the Sage Oil Vac team created another equipment innovation that changed the game for the emerging wind energy market. The wind gearbox oil exchange (GOEX) system created a safer way to manage oil, antifreeze and other fluid changes on turbines.
After that, it was time for Sage Oil Vac to go international. Australia was the first stop in 2008. With an economy heavily influenced by resource extraction and mining, there was quite a bit of heavy equipment in need of preventive maintenance. Sage Oil Vac worked with a western Australia oil distributor that would later become Oil Vac Systems of Australia. The two companies built a relationship focused on innovation and moving the local industry forward — and away from slower, less reliable pump systems.
Europe was next with a distributor in the wind energy industry. Now, Sage Oil Vac systems are being used in several countries for cleaner, safer, faster fluid exchanges.
Moving toward a cleaner future
In 2016, Aaron Sage took over as Sage Oil Vac CEO. Under his leadership, the company reached a major milestone: three decades of equipment innovation and cleaner, safer, faster oil changes. Once a one-man shop, Sage Oil Vac is now a 60-person team building the equipment that powers preventive maintenance for operations around the world.
For 30 years, Sage Oil Vac has been committed to helping customers make the most of their time on the jobsite. And we’re going to be here for a whole lot longer. We hope you will too. Thanks for being a part of our story.
