best oil for lawn eqipment

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My neighbor never changed the oil in his mower..not even at the beginning or end of the season, and his mower paid him back. He went to start it up on one sunny April day for the first mow of the year, and right after it fired up it slung the piston against the side of his house.

My mower gets new oil / air filter / spark plug / fresh gas with StaBil at the end of every season and a mid-season oil and air-filter change. I used Briggs 4-cycle oil for 2 seasons and switched to Mobil 1 Extended Performance 10w30 mid-season this summer. It's a happy mower.
 
I have an 18 hp Kawasaki Twin Air cooled engine in my JD 325 tractor. They recommend oil and filter changes every 100 hours. I only put on about 60 hrs a year, therefore change once at the end of the season. I use Mobil 1 10w30. It is still on the full mark after 60+ hours, running at 3400 RPM at all times. I always make sure my air filter is clean. Works good for me.
 
Hay all. Just started useing 30w Shell Rotella T in my Dixon. I switched from Walmart 30w. I had it running at idle for a few min for post matinance shake down and it seems to run smother and a touch quieter. The true test will be when it gets to working. Time will tell how this works.
 
In an old 3.75 b&s mower, I tried tech2000 15w40, and the air filter would get soaked with oil after about 6 hours of use. I tried 10w30, and it was even worse, and was smoking a bit. Topping up several times with #30 oil slowly cured both problems. The #30 is supposed to be thinner than the 15w40, yet less spray got into the PCV system and onto the foam air filter. Maybe it has different surface tension, and makes less spray.
 
Yes I know what your talking about..... its simply a breather on the muffler side... (acts as a valve spring cover as well) and has a metal tube that crosses over to the carb (using a rubber L boot to connect it)
The breathers do wear out... causing oil consumption, or just get gunked up inside.
 
Ok. breather is clean with flap closing, and still srpingy. This machine has just gotten to the point where the oil doesn't need to be drained anymore.
 
I think GC might be the best, but I'm breaking in a brand new JD JX75 with the Kawasaki 6HP OHV, pressurized oiling system and a spin-on automotive style oil filter.

I did an oil change at about 1.5 hours (overkill I know), and am planning another at 6.5 hours.

I had some 10w30 Pennzoil High Mileage lying around and used that since it was in the same grade recommended by the owner's manual.

My thinking was that the extra additives in the HM conventional oils would be a good thing for lawn equipment before I move to a post break-in GC or XD-3 0w30 or 0w-40. Does this approach make sense?
 
Jim 5,

I've had my JD JX75 for 7 years now and I've run Mobil 1 0w30 the first couple years, GC 0w30 the last two years and I just now changed the oil and put in Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5w30. I've used various oil filters (FRAM, PureONE, K&N) but this oil change I used an Mobil 1 Extended Performance oil filter. It'll easily go at least three seasons before I change the oil again.
 
I'm going to be using some Valvoline Full Synthetic 5w40 since I don't have enough of it for a full oil change and I can't find anymore of it anywhere. This is on my $154(read: the cheapest mower I could find) Weed Eater brand bagger pushmower with a B&S 4.5HP motor. I'm using the Electrolux 30wt that came with it as a break in oil for the first 5 hours and then will switch over.
 
Having a lot the size of a postage stamp, I use an old school rotary push mower thing. However after the birth of my son I did not get around to cutting it for a month, so in laws loaned me a typical 3.5HP 4stroke lawn mower to hack through the long grass.

When I pulled the starter cord nothing happened and it took about 20 seconds to retract. I looked in the oil reservoir and it was empty. In went a mix of about 70% 15w40 HDEO and 30% LC20.

Started up nicely and and after a few use cycles it is working just fine
 
Red Dog,

What's it going in?

I've been a L&L contractor for years and I've had great sucess with 15w40 in lawn engines. Likewise with 20w50 as well.

I use long term experience and personal judgement about what to try it in though. So I wouldn't want to give my normal "spill" I do about engines I know... not without knowing what it's going in.

But in any event, here is my "spill" anyways, but use good judgement.

If the MFG says it's OK to run SAE30 @ 40+ (most do except Kohler) well then what does that tell you? Well I say clearences inside the engine are not all that tight.

The way I see it, SAE30 starts at around '30' and thins to say '10' when hot. Even 20w50 is a lower viscosity than that at startup, being a '20' and basically staying a '20'.

I wouldn't put SAE30 in anything personally. Even 10w30 is better and you should check your oil level before every startup (homeowner) or atleast once daily (pro) anyways. But to be honest, I've seen no more consumption of quality 10w30 than SAE30 and it's not all broke down like water when I drain it either.

Anyways, if you want to try 15w40, use your own judgement. But I think it will be OK. Certainly better than SAE30. Use Chevron Delo 400, Mobil Devac 1300 or Shell Rotella. But DO keep a close eye on the oil levels. I do see some increased consumption in some of my engines (worked HARD) with this SAE grade.

Also do not expect the engine to turn over as easily or get quite exactly the same fuel consumption. Not this time of year and later on into the fall anyways.
 
ELS ,thanks for the info, I run a kohler 22hp and kohler 27hp also a kawasaki 12.5, 17 and 19 hp. In florida which oil would you run? Would you use two different grades? I agree with you on the SAE30, But that is what kawasaki says to run. It looks like water when I drain it... And Feel free to give me the whole spill. I'm all ears..
 
Well, the first rule of thumb is NEVER use SAE30 in Kohlers.
The reason for this is because of the hydralic valve lifters.
Ever hear that slapping/tapping sound from your valve train?
Some Kohlers are picky about what oil they like in that respect.

Keep them quiet with your oil selection and they stay happy.
10w30 is what Kohler recommends, but they don't seem to like some of them. But they seem to be really quiet and happy on 15w40's like Delo, Delvac and Shell... and if you are the "sythetic only" type Shell's 5w40 synthetic.

Kawasaki twins I have only used 10w30.
This is because they REQUIRE oil change intervals of 25 hours anyways.
And because they are already so thirsty on fuel.

I will never own another kawasaki without canister air filtration due to this. All of mine have those now and I'm sticking to them because I CAN get more than 25 hours out of my oil without it being black. But I still run the 10w30 (SuperTech) in them due to fuel efficency. I'd actually like to find an energy conserving oil that is really slick
 
"Kawasaki twins I have only used 10w30.
This is because they REQUIRE oil change intervals of 25 hours anyways".
This is not true for all Kawasaki engines. The 18hp air cooled twin in my JD325 calls for an oil and filter change once a year or every 100 hours. I put on between 40 and 60 hours a year, and use Mobil 1 10w30. It uses no oil between changes.
.
 
I tend to agree with you on the Kohler oil vis/valve train issue.

But I will add GC 0w30 to the "approved" list: a Kohler runs quite nicely on it from my experience.
 
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