Oil/Usage Suggestions for Toro TimeMaster Push Mow

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Viche

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First post. Be gentle please.
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I have a 2013 Toro TimeMaster personal pace mower. Until now, my practice with my other mowers has been to change the oil TWICE a year. End of cutting season (plus pour 1 ounce into the spark plug hole) and again at beginning of season. Rational being I don't want to leave old, moisture-contaminated oil in the mower overwinter, and I don't want to mow all season with possible moisture-contaminated over-wintered "new" oil. Anal, I know.
smirk.gif


So questions about the "new" mower:

1) Planning on switching to synthetic. Any suggestion for brand? Want something that most people agree is good, and something easy to obtain. Not super concerned if it's $12 vs $4 a quart if it will make the mower last longer.

2) How about weight? I have been using 30. I am in Maryland. 100+ on some days. Have to mow into December sometimes in 40 degrees.

3) Should I keep doing the 2 times a year oil change? If not, better to do end of season or beginning?

4) Is it safe to run the mower (and my Husqvarna 350BT backpack leaf blower) in cold weather if it has been stored in an attached garage? Down to what temperature? I want to mulch leaves on Saturday, and it's going to be in the 40's in the morning.

Thank you!
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I run amsoil hdd( heavy duty diesel), or amsoil mcf( motorcycle oil 10w 40), and i've used rotella 5w 40 in my toro timcutter 21hp kawasaki engine. They all seem to work well.

Depends on how many hours you put on it. I don't put that many so i change it each season.
 
Last edited:
If it's alu bore engine, they will still wear out within 1khrs or less.

No need to nurse them trying to get some more hours out of them. Fact is: the lowest of the low end mowers/pressure washers/generators are made with alu bore engines that cannot go beyond 1khrs.

but then again: in my case (I got a craftsman 21" w/ B&S sidedraft engine, alu "cool bore" block), given the hours I typically use them yearly every mowing season (no more than 25hrs/yr cumulative), it would still take me40yrs to wear out my alu bore engine.

I use 15W40 HDEO oil on them, and I really couldn't care less beyond oil changes (no fancy-schmancy E-3 plugs, not even NGK, just Champions, and doped E10 gasoline).

It's up to you to decide whether to treat it with boutique oil or not.
 
I may even be a little more anal than you, as I change my push mower 3 times a year! Toro PP with Tecumseh motor. Manual suggests oil change at 25 hrs, which is a half season of mowing for me. I start with Royal Purple 30 weight in the spring. Mid summer change goes to 10w-30 of either RP or Penzoil Platinum or Mobil 1. I change to this weight as it seems to help with the colder starts in the Fall, as I can also mow up to late November.

End of season gets a change with no name 30 weight as it will only sit in the mower until it's changed again before the first mow.

You'll get a lot of different suggestions as to what brand or weight to use but most agree that keeping it full of oil is probably more important than anything else. These motors seem to run fine on just about anything. When in doubt follow your owner's manual!
 
Changing out perfectly clean oil in the spring has got to be the most wasteful thing I have ever heard of. Seriously, I highly doubt any moisture would get in there and even if it did, one run to full heat and it would all be gone.
 
do you store it outside in the rain? no? then dont worry about winter moisture contamination.
 
Best solution: just go by your owners manual. If you don't have one, find one on the internet. But don't buy Toro brand motor oil.

I have a 29 year old Toro push mower, 2 cycle, that still starts on the second pull. Don't overthink it.
 
Originally Posted By: Viche
First post. Be gentle please.
smile.gif


Welcome!

Originally Posted By: Viche
I have a 2013 Toro TimeMaster personal pace mower. Until now, my practice with my other mowers has been to change the oil TWICE a year. End of cutting season (plus pour 1 ounce into the spark plug hole) and again at beginning of season. Rational being I don't want to leave old, moisture-contaminated oil in the mower overwinter, and I don't want to mow all season with possible moisture-contaminated over-wintered "new" oil. Anal, I know.
smirk.gif


So questions about the "new" mower:

1) Planning on switching to synthetic. Any suggestion for brand? Want something that most people agree is good, and something easy to obtain. Not super concerned if it's $12 vs $4 a quart if it will make the mower last longer.

It won't make the mower last longer, but if synthetic makes you feel better, I would use Rotella T6.

Originally Posted By: Viche
2) How about weight? I have been using 30. I am in Maryland. 100+ on some days. Have to mow into December sometimes in 40 degrees.

T6 is 5w40. I think it is a good compromise for your expected conditions of 40 - 100+ degrees. I prefer 10w30 HDEO myself.

Originally Posted By: Viche
3) Should I keep doing the 2 times a year oil change? If not, better to do end of season or beginning?

No, the end of season change is good. The beginning of season is a waste.

Originally Posted By: Viche
4) Is it safe to run the mower (and my Husqvarna 350BT backpack leaf blower) in cold weather if it has been stored in an attached garage? Down to what temperature? I want to mulch leaves on Saturday, and it's going to be in the 40's in the morning.

Thank you!
11.gif


Perfectly safe. Down to whatever temperature you want to be outside.
 
Wow, thanks so much for all the replies!
smile.gif


I mow around 25-30 hours a year, so it' sounds like the mower (and blower) engine should theoretically last 30-40 years without synthetic...guess I should just stick with dino oil unless someone argues otherwise.

Not sure if I can give up 2 changes a year. Habits are hard to break.

So I'm still not sure about weight. I probably don't mow in 100 degree temps. More like 90 maybe once a year. But I have been known to change the oil when it's 30-40 degrees out. So 10W30 should suffice for that range?

Question...is when you go to multi-weight oils, is dino still good enough, or should I go with something like Pennzoil platinum synthetic as some have suggested since it's cheap? Is that a decent oil?
 
Originally Posted By: Viche
Wow, thanks so much for all the replies!
smile.gif


I mow around 25-30 hours a year, so it' sounds like the mower (and blower) engine should theoretically last 30-40 years without synthetic...guess I should just stick with dino oil unless someone argues otherwise.

Not sure if I can give up 2 changes a year. Habits are hard to break.

So I'm still not sure about weight. I probably don't mow in 100 degree temps. More like 90 maybe once a year. But I have been known to change the oil when it's 30-40 degrees out. So 10W30 should suffice for that range?

Question...is when you go to multi-weight oils, is dino still good enough, or should I go with something like Pennzoil platinum synthetic as some have suggested since it's cheap? Is that a decent oil?


The only important thing about mower oil is to change it and keep it topped off. It sounds like you have that covered. After that it is all personal preference.

If we were standing in the motor oil aisle at Walmart and you asked me which 10w30 to buy for your mower, I would point to the Rotella T5, then the full synthetics like Platinum, then the conventional PCMOs. In that order. That would be MY personal preference.

The truth is, changing oil every 30 hours, any of them would work equally well.
 
Originally Posted By: philipp10
Changing out perfectly clean oil in the spring has got to be the most wasteful thing I have ever heard of. Seriously, I highly doubt any moisture would get in there and even if it did, one run to full heat and it would all be gone.

Agreed, at end of summer I changed the Mobil 1 0W-40 in a used Honda after FOUR years of use... No Idea of hours but it takes me approx a hour to cut, season starts in March and ends in Dec(I'll cut once more)... In those four years that engine didn't use enough oil to add any, was still nearly full(probably would have been but has a slight "weep" from the governor shaft)...

BTW I refilled it with the 0W-40 at last change as well...
 
I use AMSOIL Formula 4-Stroke 10W-30/SAE 30 Small Engine Oil in all my small engines. I have been using Amsoil for years in all my vehicles and never had a problem. It coast a little more but IMO it's worth the few extra $$$. But any good quality synthetic would be fine to use.

I would suggest looking at your owner’s manual and using the recommended weight and change intervals. I personally only change the oil at the start of each season for things like push mower and snow thrower but it depends on how many hours are on the machine. I change the oil on my John Deere tractor and portable generator at the start of the season or every 100 hours.

Don’t forget to change the plugs as well.
 
Originally Posted By: wml52
I use AMSOIL Formula 4-Stroke 10W-30/SAE 30 Small Engine Oil in all my small engines. I have been using Amsoil for years in all my vehicles and never had a problem. It coast a little more but IMO it's worth the few extra $$$. But any good quality synthetic would be fine to use.

I would suggest looking at your owner’s manual and using the recommended weight and change intervals. I personally only change the oil at the start of each season for things like push mower and snow thrower but it depends on how many hours are on the machine. I change the oil on my John Deere tractor and portable generator at the start of the season or every 100 hours.

Don’t forget to change the plugs as well.


Thanks. Everyone keeps saying to check the manual, but the manual specifies 30 weight, not multiweight. I'm assuming there's nothing wrong with using multiweight?

Where can I easily find Amsoil? That much better than the platinum?

Manual says to change the spark plug every three years I think. Good enough?
 
Originally Posted By: Pablo
Originally Posted By: Viche
?

Where can I easily find Amsoil?


Amsoil ASE LINK here

It is an SAE 30.
Originally Posted By: Pablo
Originally Posted By: Viche
?

Where can I easily find Amsoil?


Amsoil ASE LINK here

It is an SAE 30.


Is that a synthetic? If not how is it better than other Dino oils?

Need to buy something today. Any brick-and-mortar stores carry that? Thanks
 
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