Oil That Really Quiets valves!

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: Zedhed

Yeah, and the B&S engine in my Sears mower is $400 even though the entire mower with the engine only cost $250, What's your point?


Point was, the 2 engines in question are on several thousand dollars worth of equipment. I'm not one for expensive synthetics for use in OPE either (or anything I own for that matter), but have come across several applications where normal old 15w40 greatly increased the lifespan of "throw away" OPE engines where SAE30 or 10w30 was specd from the engine manufacturer.

Joel

 

[boraticus]

I see numerous participants posting recommendations for use of expensive (synthetic) oil in all sorts of needless applications. I'd be willing to bet that those that do, own very few pieces of equipment and have money and time to dote needlessly on excessive maintenance and expensive lubricants etc. If those same people spent any time on a farm or in an industry that consumed lubrication products, their attitude would be considerably different.

I worked in an industry (rail) that consumed huge amounts of lubricants for locomotives and other related rail equipment. Oil management is science in that industry. When you're dealing with millions of litres of consumption, every bit of utilization is essential to keep costs down. These are not $250.00 engines. They are multi-million dollar machines that make or break the business. Trust me. The oil in those locomotives don't see anywhere near the oil change intervals that our equipment gets. Of course the amount and type of oil lend to long service periods between changes but the point is that every component in the lubrication system is used to the max!

The agricultural industry is another place where machines make or break the business. You won't see too many farmers using synthetic oil in their equipment and changing it out every 50 hours.

It's generally people who have little or no mechanical understanding who are proponents of the wasteful use of oil products.

Hopefully, inexperienced people looking for solid advice will bypass their recommendations and do what best for themselves and their equipment without going broke doing.

 

[fdcg27]

Good post.
It is all relative.
If I were using mass quantities of oil, I'd likely find the least costly alternative that would yield good engine life.
If I had a fleet of twenty Subarus, they probably wouldn't be getting GC, for example.
More likely I'd have a drum of 15w40 HDEO for summer, and a drum of 0w30 HDEO for winter, and I'd invest in some used oil analysis to determine how the oil worked in the engines, and how long I could safely run it.
Now, if I have a couple of mowers to maintain, and I want to use something expensive, although the equipment doesn't really need it, the marginal cost to me is quite small.
Whole different ballgame for a large volume user.
Also, I agree with those who hold that at least the splash lubed engines are not at all picky about oil, and will run for a very long time on anything resembling motor oil.

 

[Bror Jace]

boraticus, I agree with many of the principles in your post ... but remember, when you are talking about OPE, the capacities are often 1-2 quarts. By using "exotic" lubricants, you are increasing the cost-of-ownership of a $500-$2,500+ machine by only a couple bucks per year.

That's a very different picture from the one you illustrate above.

Yes, that may be a bit overkill. The premium oils likely protect better ... but enough to add increased functionality or life expectancy? I'll admit that's not proven.

The downside is so low, why not? For home owners who might want to keep a piece of OPE for 10-20+ years (far past the expected commercial life of the machine) and are willing to put a little extra time (30-60 minutes) and money ($2-10) into their machine per year, they have virtually nothing to lose.

 

[boraticus]

It's an individual's choice to put money into unnecessarily expensive oil. The point some of us are making is that it's NOT necessary.

What generated much of this discussion was people listing oils that on a per litre basis, cost a good percentage of the price of the machine. Some of the synthetic oil mentioned would, in this country, cost between $10.00 to $14.00 per litre.

I've got a 30 year old 3.5 h.p. Tecumseh lawn mower engine that has had everything short of beeswax used in it. It's had a hard life and still runs great. Doesn't smoke, and has no noticeable reduction in power. It's never seen a drop of synthetic oil. Of all the equipment I have, only one engine gets synthetic. That's the snow thrower for obvious reasons.

When a person is looking for good oil for a lawn mower engine, I think that we should recommend an oil that will do the job for the least amount of cost. If a person wants to use something better, they can choose to do so. However, suggesting that they use $10.00 synthetic oil from the get go would be misleading.

 

[Bror Jace]

not a problem boraticus. No one here is adamant that one use a high-dollar synthetic in their OPE. There are plenty of differing opinions in this sub-forum.

Pete591 is the most extreme in the area of using high-dollar synthetics in his machines. But he's pretty open about the fact that he is pursuing over-kill in the extreme.

My favorite recommendation is a 15w40 HDEO in most OPE run in the summer time. I haven't waivered from this in over a decade. Like you, I save the synthetics for snow-blowers that are started in extremely cold conditions. That's about it.

 

[Zedhed]

Originally Posted By: Bror Jace
not a problem boraticus. No one here is adamant that one use a high-dollar synthetic in their OPE. There are plenty of differing opinions in this sub-forum.

Pete591 is the most extreme in the area of using high-dollar synthetics in his machines. But he's pretty open about the fact that he is pursuing over-kill in the extreme.

My favorite recommendation is a 15w40 HDEO in most OPE run in the summer time. I haven't waivered from this in over a decade. Like you, I save the synthetics for snow-blowers that are started in extremely cold conditions. That's about it.


+1 on the HDEO in OPEs -- great oil that is inexpensive. More than adequate for the application. No arguments here.