A buddy of mine has owned a landscaping business for 25+ years. Last night I was at his shop looking at his fleet of 10+ commercial walk-behind mowers. they seemed to be several years old - all had Kawasaki engines. 14 HP-ish. anyway, a couple of them had hour meters on them. He said many of his engines have between 2000-3000 hours on them. (even more hours on a Honda-powered log splitter that he runs every day) I then asked what kinda oil: PYB 10-30 in spring and fall; PYB 30W in summer. I was gonna recommend 15-40 for spring and fall but then I figured he has years of success with what he has been using and he probably wasn't gonna benefit from my 2 cents....
one man's OPE fleet - great success with PYB
- Thread starter tomcat27
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i have had good luck with my small engines i have a 1966 allis charmers snow blower that my parents got when i was very young and it still runs great except for a little smoke... 100% pennzoil yellow bottle 30w
Would it still be in good shape using another oil? Maybe
Would it still be in good shape using another oil? Maybe
Originally Posted By: tomcat27
A buddy of mine has owned a landscaping business for 25+ years. Last night I was at his shop looking at his fleet of 10+ commercial walk-behind mowers. they seemed to be several years old - all had Kawasaki engines. 14 HP-ish. anyway, a couple of them had hour meters on them. He said many of his engines have between 2000-3000 hours on them.
Is that a lot? I'm not being snarky - I don't know how hours are compared to miles or service intervals per number of hours.
A buddy of mine has owned a landscaping business for 25+ years. Last night I was at his shop looking at his fleet of 10+ commercial walk-behind mowers. they seemed to be several years old - all had Kawasaki engines. 14 HP-ish. anyway, a couple of them had hour meters on them. He said many of his engines have between 2000-3000 hours on them.
Is that a lot? I'm not being snarky - I don't know how hours are compared to miles or service intervals per number of hours.
3000+ hours is getting up in the range of the life expectancy of these commercial engines.
We just had a thread here about the virtues of 15W40 oil for OPE, yet Kohler and Kawasaki still recommend 30 or 10w30 oils in their new engines. It really baffles me.
I hang out at lawnsite.com and there are anecdotal stories like this with both the 30 weights and the 15w40. Go figure.
This story kind of shoots a hole in the idea that SN oils are not suitable for air cooled engines.
We just had a thread here about the virtues of 15W40 oil for OPE, yet Kohler and Kawasaki still recommend 30 or 10w30 oils in their new engines. It really baffles me.
I hang out at lawnsite.com and there are anecdotal stories like this with both the 30 weights and the 15w40. Go figure.
This story kind of shoots a hole in the idea that SN oils are not suitable for air cooled engines.
JTK
$100 Site Donor 2025
Originally Posted By: doitmyself
3000+ hours is getting up in the range of the life expectancy of these commercial engines.
We just had a thread here about the virtues of 15W40 oil for OPE, yet Kohler and Kawasaki still recommend 30 or 10w30 oils in their new engines. It really baffles me.
I hang out at lawnsite.com and there are anecdotal stories like this with both the 30 weights and the 15w40. Go figure.
This story kind of shoots a hole in the idea that SN oils are not suitable for air cooled engines.
Agreed.
Lord I hate lawnsite.com though!
IMO, the main thing about the buddy 25yrs into lawn service; I guarantee he checks & changes oil regularly. That's the key to longevity, not the 30 vs 40wt thing.
Joel
3000+ hours is getting up in the range of the life expectancy of these commercial engines.
We just had a thread here about the virtues of 15W40 oil for OPE, yet Kohler and Kawasaki still recommend 30 or 10w30 oils in their new engines. It really baffles me.
I hang out at lawnsite.com and there are anecdotal stories like this with both the 30 weights and the 15w40. Go figure.
This story kind of shoots a hole in the idea that SN oils are not suitable for air cooled engines.
Agreed.
Lord I hate lawnsite.com though!
IMO, the main thing about the buddy 25yrs into lawn service; I guarantee he checks & changes oil regularly. That's the key to longevity, not the 30 vs 40wt thing.
Joel
Originally Posted By: JTK
Lord I hate lawnsite.com though!
Joel
Yea, I mostly lurk there. But, with a little bit of a soils background, I sometimes stir the pot on soil fertility management arguments. Fun.
And, heaven forbid if you are a "low baller". In the 60's, I cut my teeth on making $ and small business management by mowing lawns in the neighborhood. I shiver to think that a kid doing this now a days would get tarred and feathered by the lawnsite mob.
Joel, you are a good cookie and contribute a wealth of real world, practical knowledge about outdoor power equipment here. In the spirit of the famous ending lines of the movie Top Gun, "you can be mywingman, err, I mean Exmark seatman anytime." At work, my student employees get P.O.ed because I hog the Exmark ALL the time and my supervisor rants that I am the most expensive mower operator on campus. I tell him it's therapeutic (relaxation therapy)and gives me time to think,plan, and make decisions!
Lord I hate lawnsite.com though!
Joel
Yea, I mostly lurk there. But, with a little bit of a soils background, I sometimes stir the pot on soil fertility management arguments. Fun.
And, heaven forbid if you are a "low baller". In the 60's, I cut my teeth on making $ and small business management by mowing lawns in the neighborhood. I shiver to think that a kid doing this now a days would get tarred and feathered by the lawnsite mob.
Joel, you are a good cookie and contribute a wealth of real world, practical knowledge about outdoor power equipment here. In the spirit of the famous ending lines of the movie Top Gun, "you can be my
Originally Posted By: JTK
doitmyself said:
JTK
$100 Site Donor 2025
Originally Posted By: doitmyself
..."you can be mywingman, err, I mean Exmark seatman anytime."
LOL! Thank you Sir. I've always gotten a kick out of working on and reading-up on this stuff.
..."you can be my
LOL! Thank you Sir. I've always gotten a kick out of working on and reading-up on this stuff.
Those guys on lawnsite are not near as nice an polite as the posters on Bitog. They seem ready to fight on any subject. I like the laid back atmosphere on this site, well most of the time lol.
JTK
$100 Site Donor 2025
Originally Posted By: joedirt
Those guys on lawnsite are not near as nice an polite as the posters on Bitog. They seem ready to fight on any subject. I like the laid back atmosphere on this site, well most of the time lol.
Most of us could easily deal with the attitudes over there.
What I can't stand is the horrible lack of actual OPE engine, trans, lubrication etc, knowledge that most of them have.
I get why. They don't have time to read, study and tinker with this kind of thing. They've got a business to run. It's the claiming they're all experts because they mow lawns for 60hrs a week that's so painful. The chest pounding over this name-brand or that. Ugh..
They are aces when it comes to the landscaping and lawn care business though.
Those guys on lawnsite are not near as nice an polite as the posters on Bitog. They seem ready to fight on any subject. I like the laid back atmosphere on this site, well most of the time lol.
Most of us could easily deal with the attitudes over there.
What I can't stand is the horrible lack of actual OPE engine, trans, lubrication etc, knowledge that most of them have.
I get why. They don't have time to read, study and tinker with this kind of thing. They've got a business to run. It's the claiming they're all experts because they mow lawns for 60hrs a week that's so painful. The chest pounding over this name-brand or that. Ugh..
They are aces when it comes to the landscaping and lawn care business though.
Okay, what does 'OPE' stand for? Outdoor Power Equipment?
Originally Posted By: Jim Spahr
Okay, what does 'OPE' stand for? Outdoor Power Equipment?
Yes
Okay, what does 'OPE' stand for? Outdoor Power Equipment?
Yes
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