Small motors that don’t use oil filters

[Donald]

In a lawn mower with a air cooled engine with no filter I think it's important to use an oil that can hold up to the heat. You typically mow when it's warm out and dried grass gets on the cooling fins reducing the engines ability to cool itself. Add a mouse nest or two under the shroud you cannot see.

I know we all vacuum or air blow ever bit of dried grass off the mower when done.

 

[Donald]

gotcha. thanks. That's hot! What about a backpack blower? Thanks again.

Most backpack blowers are 2 cycle. I use premix.

 

[z71bill]

5w40 is my choice and never a problem

Next go around for my generators - I am using 5W40 as the last oil change before I put them into storage.

That way when I need them - whether is it 10 degrees or 110 degrees I can just go go go.

Then I will change it to something that is specific to the outside temperature.

Say it is 100+ degrees - 15W40 or maybe straight 40W - both better that 5W40 over 100 degrees.

If it is 70 degrees I would use straight 30 or 15W40. Both better at this temp than 5W40.

Gets below freezing and I would use 10W30 or 5W30 - again better than 5W40.

But I will be the first to admit I way over think this stuff and am OCD - and just using 5W40 would be totally fine and also easier because you only need to have one oil.

 

[gasman556]

Most backpack blowers are 2 cycle. I use premix.

Very common indeed! I have a eb7650th from makita. I'm guessing it either mixes the 10W30 with the gas as needed, or it is indeed is a 4 stroke. Idk. It's a single cylinder air cooled engine regardless. I think I should bump her up to 10W40 next oil "change." I don't recall the level of oil really changing between annual oil changes. Anyway, it's a good blower and pushes a LOT of CFM.

 

[SHOZ]

Getting ready to power wash the house and my Kohler powered never change oil engine washer. Probably has some sort of 5w30 Mobil 1 in it now from the original fill three years ago. I did add some this spring. So another candidate for the 5w40M1.

 

[Donald]

Getting ready to power wash the house and my Kohler powered never change oil engine washer. Probably has some sort of 5w30 Mobil 1 in it now from the original fill three years ago. I did add some this spring. So another candidate for the 5w40M1.

These days people and pros are "soft washing" a house. Despite everyone buying a pressure washer, the only thing you should pressure wash around your house is concrete. Pressure washing gets water into places it just should not. Or on a deck raises the grain of the wood. Soft washing uses much less power and lets chemicals like bleach do the hard work, not high pressure.

 

[SHOZ]

These days people and pros are "soft washing" a house. Despite everyone buying a pressure washer, the only thing you should pressure wash around your house is concrete. Pressure washing gets water into places it just should not. Or on a deck raises the grain of the wood. Soft washing uses much less power and lets chemicals like bleach do the hard work, not high pressure.

It's all about spiders and their webs. I could have used a bleach soak on the gutters first.

 

[meep]

I’ve been running synthetic 10-30 in all mine - generator (Honda), ZTR (Briggs), pressure washer (Honda), and Makita blower (Honda). Also in a prior predator. While I’d played with 5-40, I prefer the presumably lower viscosity spread for a more stable oil. 10-30 has been fine. They all ask for 5-30 if I recall.

 

[Dutchy491]

Very common indeed! I have a eb7650th from makita. I'm guessing it either mixes the 10W30 with the gas as needed, or it is indeed is a 4 stroke. Idk. It's a single cylinder air cooled engine regardless. I think I should bump her up to 10W40 next oil "change." I don't recall the level of oil really changing between annual oil changes. Anyway, it's a good blower and pushes a LOT of CFM.

Makita’s 75.6 cc MM4 Backpack Blower (EB7650TH) combines a cleaner-burning 4-stroke engine with quieter operation and the convenience of no fuel mixing.
It’s a 4-stroke engine so it needs regular oil changes…. Like your car

 

[Astro_Guy]

Can you use regular PCMO in small motors that don’t have oil filters?

Actually I've never run anything but PCMO or HDEO in any of my OPE for more than 35 years. In all of that time I've had only one engine fail and it may not have been due to the choice of oil. I was running conventional SAE 30 PYB at the time. Since then it's always been synthetic oils in the OPE which is something I had adopted for the automobiles 10 years earlier.

As of today the OPE fleet runs the following oils:

5w-30 Mobil1 EP: snow blower with 254cc Ariens AX engine (LCT)

10w-30 Mobil1 HM: anything with a Honda engine (two GCV-160 and one GSV-190)

5w-40 Rotella T6: two Chonda powered generators. These may revert back to the above 10w-30.

15w-40 Rotella T6: John Deere D140 lawn tractor and Troy-Bilt Pony Rototiller with 5 HP B&S flathead*

* the latter is my experimental platform for 5w-30 VRP

 

[MVAR]

Next go around for my generators - I am using 5W40 as the last oil change before I put them into storage.

That way when I need them - whether is it 10 degrees or 110 degrees I can just go go go.

Then I will change it to something that is specific to the outside temperature.

Say it is 100+ degrees - 15W40 or maybe straight 40W - both better that 5W40 over 100 degrees.

If it is 70 degrees I would use straight 30 or 15W40. Both better at this temp than 5W40.

Gets below freezing and I would use 10W30 or 5W30 - again better than 5W40.

But I will be the first to admit I way over think this stuff and am OCD - and just using 5W40 would be totally fine and also easier because you only need to have one oil.

Funny, I run HPL CC HDEO 5/40 in my 66 Bronco as well as all outdoor equipment. 18kW air cooled generator, small 4kW portable generator, everything. Doesn’t get too far below freezing here but does get hot.

Used to run Delo 20/50 in everything back when I had a diesel pickup & a ride on mower. I do like the cold pumping ability of the cold climate HDEO & it seems to hold up well but admittedly haven’t run a UOA on the standby generator. Will do that next year at service time.

 

[cptbarkey]

Went through my service tracker for fun:

15w40 motorcraft in predator 9000w generator
0w20/5w40/15w40 salad of total quartz and motorcraft in a champion 9000w generator
15w40 Rotella T4 in a predator 4450 inverter generator
10w30 Quaker State SL 10w30 4x4 edition 2500 champion inverter generator
15w40 Rotella T4 in a Superhandy Plate compactor
10w30 Quaker State SL 10w30 4x4 edition in a 1994(?) Weed Eater tiller flathead.
15w40 Rotella T4 in a Troy Bilt Edger (future stump grinder project)
0w20/5w40/15w40 salad of total quartz and motorcraft in a craftsman push mower
0w20/5w40/15w40 salad of total quartz and motorcraft in a ryobi pressure washer

I have never gone out of my way to buy straight oil, I'll use it if it came from the factory fill, but have always used PCMO or HDEO. Straight oil to me is mostly irrelevant and not cost effective these days except where it is absolutely required and I cant think of anything offhand. Air compressors perhaps. I only have a few oil-less pancake units for chainsaw cleaning and mechanic work.

Of note for OP's question on OPE without a filter:
15w40 Delo XSP in a 2007 John Deere Gator TS, it technically no longer qualifies as I bought a filter housing and its now using a Fram Orange Can 3600, but noting it had gotten to 1279 hours without a filter. Still puttering around fine and that 12hp cvt goes fast when you put on the beans.

What I have learned over time is its pretty much always bad fuel, clogged carbs, and or outright neglect of no oil changes that kill OPE engines. Lack of filtration isnt an issue as long as you change the oil appropriately.

 

[Dutchy491]

“I have never gone out of my way to buy straight oil”

What does this mean?

 

[cptbarkey]

“I have never gone out of my way to buy straight oil”

What does this mean?

SAE 30 etc

 

[z71bill]

Well first off I don't think it really matters all that much.

But if it is 105 degrees outside and you are running an inverter generator for hours straight -

What advantage would a 5W40 have over a straight SAE 40?

If you have plenty of oil and can change it often - I think it makes even less difference -

But if times get tough and you need to stretch out the OCI wouldn't everyone say something like Shell Rotella SAE 40 would be a better choice over a 5W40?

 

[z71bill]

“I have never gone out of my way to buy straight oil”

What does this mean?

It is next to impossible to find straight trans fluid.

 

[blufeb95]

Well first off I don't think it really matters all that much.

But if it is 105 degrees outside and you are running an inverter generator for hours straight -

What advantage would a 5W40 have over a straight SAE 40?

If you have plenty of oil and can change it often - I think it makes even less difference -

But if times get tough and you need to stretch out the OCI wouldn't everyone say something like Shell Rotella SAE 40 would be a better choice over a 5W40?

Not necessarily Rotella SAE40 isn't really spec'd to be used for extended drains, I'm pretty sure it uses a pretty old lower ash additive package and is meant for Detroit 2 strokes that burn/leak a ton of oil anyways and don't think they ever really spec'd long drain intervals, where most 5W40 is Euro Formula that uses more advanced modern add package along with better base oils like PAO and GTL grp III meant for extended drain intervals.

 

[benjy]

the newest models of the club cadet CC30H has NO filter so i use real synthetic small engine oil!!

 

[Brian123]

the newest models of the club cadet CC30H has NO filter so i use real synthetic small engine oil!!

I think you mean cub and not club?

 

[z71bill]

Not necessarily Rotella SAE40 isn't really spec'd to be used for extended drains, I'm pretty sure it uses a pretty old lower ash additive package and is meant for Detroit 2 strokes that burn/leak a ton of oil anyways and don't think they ever really spec'd long drain intervals, where most 5W40 is Euro Formula that uses more advanced modern add package along with better base oils like PAO and GTL grp III meant for extended drain intervals.

5W40 is still 5 with modifiers to make it act like a 40 when hot.

SAE 40 is 40.

Does this matter? Seems like it would.

In a vehicle sure I would agree with you.

A generator running hard when it is 100 degrees outside I would take the straight 40.