If you live in a city or a reasonably-sized suburb, you’re probably sleeping on Tractor Supply Company. The retailer may be known for its gardening supplies, equine feed, and other more agricultural items, but the stores also feature a well-stocked automotive section with some hard-to-beat prices. A place where you can get Purina Goat Chow feed and cheap motor oil? Where do I sign?
This came up this week because my daughter has decided that, given her allergies to anything with fur, she wants a tortoise. Specifically, she wants a Russian tortoise. It’s a fairly cute animal that likes a drier environment of the kind I think we can provide, but it also requires a huge amount of space (approximately 6-8 square feet to walk around). My idea, informed by various forum posts, was to get a metal or Rubbermaid stock tank, fill it with a layer of sand and peat moss topped by animal-friendly mulch, and make that my tortoise enclosure.
If you’re not aware, a stock tank is a big tank used primarily to provide water for livestock, though they have a nice secondary use as a home for baby chicks or turtles:
Because I live within a short jog from the border of New York City, there are no Tractor Supply Co.’s nearby, which meant that I needed to schlep about an hour upstate. I mentioned to David I was going to be taking a couple of hours to complete this task and he pointed out that Tractor Supply had cheap oil and other affordable automotive stuff.
It’s been a while since I’ve gone into one of the company’s stores, so I figured I’d check out the automotive section in between trying to figure out what kind of stock tanks might fit into my apartment/my Subaru.
Tractor Supply knows its customers, so it is definitely a little more truck-centric than your average auto supply store. Do you need a trailer coupler? You’ll definitely be able to find whatever you need here for towing, including an assortment of actual trailers. Do you have an ATV or a riding lawnmower you want to put in the bed of your Ram? You’ll also be well served here.
Tractor Supply Co’s in-house brand for automotive stuff is Traveller and there are some fairly decent-looking winches:
Those are specifically for ATV/UTV applications, but there are also ones for trucks, as well as other off-road support gear like tow/recovery straps and LED light bars:
And, of course, if you’re a big truck owner you might have a diesel, in which case you probably need a lot of diesel exhaust fluid (DEF):
That’s a really good price. Two-and-a-half gallons of NAPA-branded DEF is $16.99 online! This is nearly half the price. In my experience, most DEF in stores is between $11-13 if you’re a shopper who pays attention, so this is a great price. There are a bunch of other truck accessories like toolboxes and tie-downs.
But what if you don’t have a truck? Most of us will need a battery for our car at some point:
The prices were decent and the warranties seemed on par with everyone else. I didn’t notice every single size available in the story, so if you have a specific vehicle they may not have exactly what you need, but what was there seemed to cover the most popular sizes.
The Really Good Stuff
Awww yeah. With my E39 over 236,000 miles when I checked this morning, I need to top him off with a little oil from time to time. And by “from time to time” I mean every other time I get a full tank of fuel. Clive takes premium so I’m already spending a decent amount of money keeping him going, so I’m always looking for ways to save money.
Tractor Supply has, in stock, exactly the oil I use in my BMW (Mobile 1 High Mileage 5W-30) in both 1- and 5-quart sizes. The single quart (what I usually get for ease of keeping track how much I’m putting in) was only $8.99, which is a couple of bucks cheaper than what I usually see at AutoZone or other parts starts. That’s real money.
If you’re more adventurous, there’s also Traveller-brand motor oil and the venerable Bob Is The Oil Guy forum seems to think the stuff is fine for your average store-brand oil. If they’re cool with it then I’m cool with it.
At the end of the day, I was able to grab some cheap oil, a giant livestock tank, some play sand, some peat moss, and a few random containers all for a low cost. The stock tank even fit in the back of the Subaru Forester.
Of course, after all of that work, it turns out my wife extremely dislikes the setup (seen here in progress). So back to TSC I’ll go this weekend to return the tank and get the metal one she said would work better.
More cheap oil!
Probably 99% of their inventory is made in China.
Definitely a great place when needing nuts, bolts and the like for a household project.
They’re solid little stores but I think of them as more secret pet supply stores. I get my cat litter and food from them. Plus they do dog grooming
I got my XXL dog crate from Tractor supply. under $100
Princess Auto in Canada is a similar place. Stuff for livestock, tools, trailer axles, trailer wheels, trailer everything, electric livestock fencing, welders, jacks, specialty auto tools (pullers, separators, etc), transfer pumps, fuel pumps. never ending.
We got a TSC near me, which seems a little late as I’m at the border between the suburbs and horse/ranchland. It’s now my go-to for dog food. Plus they carry blue raspberry vine candy.
Wall Mart often has the 5 quart containers of Mobil One for about $25……$5 a quart. I’ve even seen and bought it as low as $22/5 quart there…..just FYI
I just checked — BJ’s has several varieties of Mobil 1 5W-30. The variety that Matt uses, High Mileage, is just a bit higher than that, at 6 qt./$32 in 1-qt containers
You don’t have to go upstate… there’s one out here in Suffolk County on Long Island on Rt 112. I went there once when they first opened a few years ago… I think I should go back. I don’t remember this much automotive stuff but it could be because they were just getting that location rolling.
God I’ve got to imagine it’s easier for him to drive up to Putnam Co. than it is to drive out to…oh God, Medford? It’ll take him forever to get out there, even on a weekend. Not to mention the cost of the Throgs Neck.
Medford indeed… I didn’t realize he was on the other side of the bridge already. Haha whenever someone says they’re a stone’s throw from the city I assume Brooklyn or Queens.
Oh yes, if on island, stay on island.
One of the best things about TSC for gearheads is the hardware section. They usually have a large assortment of grade-8 hardware—way more than you’ll find at the big-box hardware stores or most auto part stores. They also sell it by the pound at pretty amazing prices. Pay less, and no counting bits of hardware. Just grab a couple handfuls, throw it in the bag, and go!
TSC is just about my favorite store. I take the pups in to get kibbles and they get treated like celebrities, they have automatic rewards that are tracked at the register and applied by the cashier, good winter gear, and obviously all kinds of stuff to manage your property.
Where’s the tortoise pics?
They’re coming along. Slowly.
You’re giving away my secret! I’ve been feeding my cars house-brand oil from farm supply stores for a long time. I figure the house-brand synthetic comes from /some/ major brand, because there’s no way a small local chain of farm supply stores makes their own synthetic oil. It’s also a great place to buy car batteries, small kitchen appliances, etc.
What is “Diesel Exhaust Fluid”?
Does Diesel itself not make enough exhaust that we need some kind of fluid to make more?
Is this on the same aisle as Blinker Fluid?
$9 for motor oil doesn’t seem like such a great deal when I get Pennzoil Platinum Full Synthetic 5W-30 Motor Oil from Amazon for $6.36 delivered every few months via Subscribe and Save.
Just in case you are serious, diesel exhaust fluid (or DEF) is urea. Modern diesels inject it into the exhaust, where some chemical reaction causes it to significantly reduce the harmful emissions in the exhaust. Think of it like a catalytic converter for diesel trucks, except instead of a platinum screen it consumes concentrated piss.
Oh – So it’s the generic for “AdBlue”!
Yep!
lol it’s funny that you know what DEF was not what DEF was called. isn’t language fun!
It is a fluid that is used after the particulate filter that neutralizes NoX emissions. Or that is supposedly its purpose. All I know is that system costs $10 to $20 grand a year in fluid and repairs.
…unless you own a VW TDI.
Oh – Wait….
The good thing about the Rubbermaid stock tank is the lifetime guarantee. You can roll up to TSC with a cracked one and roll out with a new one. Not that they’re easy to break…we had a Belgian mare that liked to wash her feet in it!
Now that I moved out of Menards land, TSC is nice. They have them in smaller towns and are quite handy. One thing we found is for our cat litter. We get the pine pellets which are $20-24 for a 40 lb bag at Petsmart, but these bags of the same stuff are $7.50 or so at TSC.
Yeah it’s definitely location-dependent. I’ve only been in a TSC while traveling, but I used to shop at Farm King and later Farm & Fleet. Now I’m in Menards land, but I still miss Farm King.
Harbor Freight – Bed Bath and Beyond for Boys
Menards – Date night Harbor Freight
TSC – I’ve only been there once, but they had cowboy hats.
my dad absolutely loves harbor freight, and will not shut up about getting something there.
Your dad is right.
of course he is
Their house brand “Farm Jack” is basically a Hi-Lift jack without the brand name, and usually about $50 cheaper. I had one for a long time, only downside is it doesn’t quite fit with some of the Hi-lift branded mounts out there.
Prefer to hit our locally owned farm store. How can you beat a name like Klem’s?
https://www.klemsonline.com/
Those of us from the rural parts of the country have known this for years. Affordable tools of good quality, good prices on oil and chemicals, pet friendly (I take my husky with me regularly), so on and so forth. TSC is honestly one of my favorite stores.
I have Farm ‘n Fleet for this stuff. Kind of like TS but a lot bigger. During the Christmas season, they have a HUGE selection of “farm toys”.
Another kind of sleeper store, if you don’t feel like going to a big box like Walmart, is Rural King.
I went to my local TSC to by some cayenne-coated birdseed and saw they had a large sign “Lawfully Concealed Carry Permitted On These Premises” and thought, “You really need to pack heat to buy some dog food, Chet?”
Some people feel really insecure without their gun. Nobody really needs to but it makes them feel safer.
TSC knows its clientele.
That’s the only stage we don’t eat chickens. Or, just for fun tell your kids that’s where McNuggets come from.
Matt,
Couple of things to point out:
I know some people will not support Walmart, and I totally get it, but having a hard time agreeing with the title to this article.
My Walmart puts everything automotive behind plexiglass and doesn’t staff enough people to help you get anything. Took me over an hour to get a battery last time and they didn’t even have Supertech 0W20. I go to Costco for the Kirland now- pretty sure it’s the same stuff, it’s the rebranded Warren oil last time I checked the bottle.
Cool or boring story from me is that I used to work IT at a Warren building. Kind of funny to see all the different brands coming out of the same container of oil.
i think this warrants a deeper discussion- im a QE at a well known auto parts retailer (USA) and within our Quality department we always like to debate the merits of one oil brand to another. How many different brands does Warren fill for?
BITOG is your friend. Some SERIOUS oil and chemistry nerds hang out there. Pretty soon you’ll be sending your oil to blackstone and talking about how you were able to bump your OCIs 5% and saved $8.43 per change.
I went there once and all the interesting stuff was drowned out by the Scamsoil salesmen and “ah change muh oil every 3000 miles with Valvoline since 1976 and never do nuthin different” people.
That was over 10 years ago at this point so I’m a little fuzzy. Only two names I can seem to possibly remember were Castrol and Peak. Don’t quote me on that.
Back in the day when I worked at Jiffy Lube, the Pennzoil rep told me the brand is basically meaningless.
The base stock—or the oil before the additive packages are put in—is all made by the same couple of refiners. The additive package requirements are regulated by API and determined by grade, so the difference there is nominal as well. Of course, there are specialty oils like high-zinc or diesel that only some brands sell, but that’s beside the point.
Most of the difference in oil brands is marketing, what’s in the bottle (or bulk oil container) is pretty much the same.
Reminds me of one of my favorite episodes of the Simpsons when Homer was visiting the Duff Brewery and the 3 spigots for Duff, Duff light, and Duff Bold all came from the same pipe. Hehe
I am totally good on Walmart branded things, but Supertec oil is the one thing I avoid. It’s the only oil I’ve used that was noticably not good compared to any oil. I put some in my Oldsmobile (GM 3800 series 2) and it used a quart of oil in 1/3 of the time it typically does and was jet black very quickly. I switched back a random name brand and the normal oil consumption rate and color change returned.
I’ve run Supertec for years. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s in my 200,000 mile GMC pickup right now. Color is NOT a good indicator of oil condition.
I’ve watched a few Youtube videos of guys that send Supertech for a Blackstone oil analysis and various DIY tests and the verdict is always “it’s fine”
That probably means the detergents were cleaning off all the deposits left behind by your old oil.
I thought you only needed the LL (long life) specification if you were going to run your oil changes out to the 15K mile range, otherwise for people who change their oil more frequently the regular life oil is fine?
If your Russian tortoise isn’t a baby, it’s wild caught, and will be loaded with parasites. Please take it to the vet to get it checked and get it deparasitized. If you don’t, there’s a really good chance it won’t thrive. Take it from someone with lots of reptile experience who was in industry for a long time.
That being said, good choice on a very hardy, easy species! It will learn to know all of you and be quite personable. And your daughter will probably have it for the rest of her life!
A choice I would never make for my kid!!!!
They live for like 50 years. That’s quite a commitment.
Other than my own life, I can’t commit that long to anything, full stop (sorry honey)
Good advice, thank you!
Okay, Imma let you finish, but the real place for cheap batteries is Rural King.
I found EconoPower (refurbished Interstate) batteries to be a great value if you have an Interstate distributor in your area. One sells them for $65 with a 3 month full replacement warranty and the other sells them for $99 with a one year full replacement warranty.
The closest Rural King is over 4 hrs away from us here in lower NY, so probably not a convenient option for Matt.
But, I guess, good to know.