Lady in Walmart asked me what oil to use

Patman · May 29, 2004

At first I thought she was going to ask me what oil for her car, so I started getting ready to give out some advice, but it turns out she wanted to know what oil she should run in her lawnmower.

Since I know zero about lawnmowers, and since she didn't know what kind it was, I told her that it was best for her to consult her manual.

I told her that I thought some mowers used regular 5w30/10w30 engine oil, while some others say to use something else. Was I wrong in this assumption or can any gas mower use regular motor oil?

seldont · May 29, 2004

All my lawn equuipment calls for straight 30 weight at temps above 45 farenheit. 10w30 below 45. 5w30 or 10w30 synthetic can be used any time. I always keeps a supply of 30 weight Havoline I get from Fred's discount stores at .99 per quart. Mine engines are a 7.0 hp Briggs a 24 hp Briggs Intek and a 3.5 hp Tecumseh.

SteveD2 · May 30, 2004

Yeah, most small engines call for a 30 weight - either straight or 10w/5w. I don't think it makes much of a difference if you use 10w30 year round...

GSV · May 30, 2004

My Honda snowblower calls for 5w30.

I think most Briggs & Stratton engines do call for 30 weight.

Brett Miller · May 30, 2004

HD-30 changed once per year will allow the engine to outlast the rest of the mower.

Blue99 · May 30, 2004

Patman - The Briggs oil recommendation chart is a good reference for small engines. In general, SAE 30 HD could be considered a standard for lawn mowers.

Briggs Oil Chart

What may be a bit of a surprise is that Briggs markets a synthetic oil under the Briggs label & it is a 5w30 viscosity. Follow the link & click on the synthetic oil to see a larger picture of the bottle.

Briggs Label Oils

mormit · May 30, 2004

Oh come on Patman, you're telling us you didn't suggest that she run German GC with a bypass filter setup, get an oil analysis, run it by Terry Dyson, and post the results here for feedback????

You're slipping, man.

Patman · May 30, 2004

Rat407 · May 31, 2004

Your suppose to change the oil? I thought you just added when needed. Just kidding. I change it out at the end of the season. I run 10w30.

But for what it is worth, my father had a 5hp briggs that he only changed the oil out after the first year he had it and never again. He just sold it before him and mom moved back home to Pa from Orlando. It ran great, started first pull and was 18 years old. I wonder what an oil analysis from that would have shown?

Bror Jace · Jun 1, 2004

When you spend as much time in oil sections of neraly every kind of store conceivable, it's inevitable that you'll get someone asking you about oil.

Twice, I've had ladies in stores ask me about oil. The first time it was a straight "What do I use?" question and I handed her a bottle of Pennzoil 10W30. Can't go wrong with that stuff.

On another occasion, I was asked about non-detergent oil by a lady in her 50s. I asked her how old was the mower, 5 years or less? She said she thought it was fairly new, no more than a few years.

I told her that they haven't taken non-detergent oil in decades ... then I asked her if that's what her husband asked for. She said yes. Then I said, that's not right, but if that's what the man of the house wants ... (and I handed her a bottle of ND straight 30).

--- Bror Jace

Around here, they just had a junk pick-up day. Any old furniture, equipment, etc ... you didn't want, you could leave in front of your house and it would be hauled away free. The stuff some people were getting rid of looked perfectly fine.

If I had a pick-up truck and a massive place to store all kinds of junk, I'd have gone along and grabbed everything with a motor on it.

I'm sure some of the stuff was perfectly fine, needing only a new spark plug, carb cleaning, etc ...

--- Bror Jace

cousincletus · Jun 11, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by Bror Jace:

--- Bror Jace

Around here, they just had a junk pick-up day. Any old furniture, equipment, etc ... you didn't want, you could leave in front of your house and it would be hauled away free. The stuff some people were getting rid of looked perfectly fine.

If I had a pick-up truck and a massive place to store all kinds of junk, I'd have gone along and grabbed everything with a motor on it.

I'm sure some of the stuff was perfectly fine, needing only a new spark plug, carb cleaning, etc ...

--- Bror Jace [/QB]

Dumpster divin' is lotsa fun! I was dumping an old refrigerator at the designated spot in the landfill and saw a perfectly good Lawnboy mower with the aluminum deck that someone threw away. The engine was locked up but the deck would work fine on my old Lawnboy with the rusted steel deck. I threw the mower in the back of my truck and eight years later I'm still using it. I would have had to pay 50 bucks at a small engine dealer for a good used aluminum deck.

labman · Jun 12, 2004

At one time a couple of my younger relatives worked at the Louden County Virginia landfill. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff our underpaid government employees were discarding. How about a pick up camper needing only a little caulking around the roof vent?

daves66nova · Jul 9, 2004

where can i go to buy aftermarket parts for my craftsman 5h.p. briggs engine air compressor? like a header, accesoris, anything to make it run better, and longer? any tricks to these engins/ whats the thinnest oil i can get away with? i am in l. a. thanks!!!

XS650 · Jul 9, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by daves66nova:
where can i go to buy aftermarket parts for my craftsman 5h.p. briggs engine air compressor? like a header, accesoris, anything to make it run better, and longer? any tricks to these engins/ whats the thinnest oil i can get away with? i am in l. a. thanks!!!

Install a good aircleaner, change the oil frequently, use good oil, pick the best viscosity for durability. B&S's viscosity recomendations are better than you will likely find here.

These are short life engines at best. Anything you can do to coax a bit more life out of them will pay off better than going for minumum viscosity.

SteveD2 · Jul 9, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by daves66nova:
where can i go to buy aftermarket parts for my craftsman 5h.p. briggs engine air compressor? like a header, accesoris, anything to make it run better, and longer? any tricks to these engins/ whats the thinnest oil i can get away with? i am in l. a. thanks!!!

You could put a go-kart header on it...be good for around 1hp. It would be alot louder of course...not necessarily a bad thing. I used to have a lawnmower with an open header.

You could also do a little port work to the block, and remove the "eyebrows" around the valves - easily be 7-8hp. The problem is, your air compressor can't do anything with that extra power, so it would be pointless unless you put a bigger pump on it.

Pick · Jul 11, 2004

The owners manual for my Cub Cadet with Kohler engine says to run 5W30 only at temps below 40F. They recommend 10W30 as the normal summer oil. They recommend sythetic if you are starting the mower below -10F. But, I ask, who mows their lawn when it's that cold out?

Idiot that I am, I run GC 0W30. Let the pistons and rods fall where they may.

Brett Miller · Jul 13, 2004

Dave,

I have headers, cams, billet lifters and an alcohol carb I'll let go cheap. With the right setup you'll be good for 10hp

Mike_dup1 · Jul 13, 2004

quote:

These are short life engines at best. Anything you can do to coax a bit more life out of them will pay off better than going for minimum viscosity

My neighbor (Dan) leaves his 10 yo lawn-mower outside all the time, winter or summer it often sits where they stopped using it. All their old tired cars are there to. That mower seems to always start when they want it to which is about 2x a year when the grass get to high for them to find their other junk. I would be shocked if they were to ever change the oil. Have no idea what brand it is, can't tell by looking but its bound to be some cheap POS from a discount store.

On the other hand the guy next door to him (Jack) has nothing but mower problems and has had a least 3 that I am aware of (had to listen to have complain). The one factor IMO? The guy with the problems is always messing with his, change oil couple times a year, tune up every spring, fuel stabilizer in fall and he is hauling off for repairs because it won't start. He would be wise to follow the neighbors methods, use it and forget about it.

Bamaro · Jul 18, 2004

Since I dont normally see straight 30's, wouldn't a 20w40 do ok and be better than a 10w30 because of the high temps?

Bill Kapaun · Jul 18, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by Bamaro:
Since I dont normally see straight 30's, wouldn't a 20w40 do ok and be better than a 10w30 because of the high temps?

OK- Where you gonna find it?

Lady in Walmart asked me what oil to use

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