With about 20 hours on my new 2022 Gravely ZT-XL (42", 21.5 HP Kawasaki FR651V 726cc air-cooled v-twin, Hydro-Gear ZT-2800 transaxles) that I bought in September when we moved into our new-to-us house on 1.1 acres, I'm considering going ahead and changing the oil and filter soon.
I've decided to use Mobil 1 15W-50, since the oil temps on these air-cooled engines can get pretty high (around 260*F from what someone posted here), and the Kawasaki engines have been known to use a bit of oil, and also because the hydrostatic transaxles' factory fill is, from what I understand, M1 15W-50, and it'll simplify things just to use one oil for both.
The engine did use a few ounces of oil in the first few hours of use, and I topped off with M1 15W-50. However, since that first few hours, it's used very little (not enough to need topping off).
Anyway, with mowing season now in full swing, I'm mowing every week, and daytime highs will soon regularly be over 90*F. So I'm leaning towards going ahead and draining the FF in the next few weeks and filling with the M1 15W-50, despite the fact that the Kawi engine manual doesn't specify an oil change until 100 hours, and a filter change is not required until 200 hrs.
I haven't made a decision on which oil filter to use and I'm open to suggestions if there's something better than the OEM Kawi 49065-0721.
So, what did you guys do?
I've decided to use Mobil 1 15W-50, since the oil temps on these air-cooled engines can get pretty high (around 260*F from what someone posted here), and the Kawasaki engines have been known to use a bit of oil, and also because the hydrostatic transaxles' factory fill is, from what I understand, M1 15W-50, and it'll simplify things just to use one oil for both.
The engine did use a few ounces of oil in the first few hours of use, and I topped off with M1 15W-50. However, since that first few hours, it's used very little (not enough to need topping off).
Anyway, with mowing season now in full swing, I'm mowing every week, and daytime highs will soon regularly be over 90*F. So I'm leaning towards going ahead and draining the FF in the next few weeks and filling with the M1 15W-50, despite the fact that the Kawi engine manual doesn't specify an oil change until 100 hours, and a filter change is not required until 200 hrs.
I haven't made a decision on which oil filter to use and I'm open to suggestions if there's something better than the OEM Kawi 49065-0721.
So, what did you guys do?
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