“I changed the oil and filter on my lx 280 yesterday , 18 hp kawasaki . I used penn platinum 10w30 and a pure one filter as the deere dealership near me has closed. so my question is do you guys think this oil and filter will be ok to use in an engine like this.”
There is no better filter for your engine than a Pure 1 oil filter. It has the lowest micron filter available in a full flow filter.
I personally am not to happy with Penn Platinum for lawn mower type engines. We are currently at 1/4 levels of ZDDP in SN oil compared to the SJ standard. My understanding of OEM motor oil for outdoor engines is that they use HDEO back specked to SJ.
With SJ you would be around these levels of ZDDP.
1200 ppm of Phos.
1400 ppm Zink.
Some HDEO oil is taking a hit from the EPA and has slightly lower levels of ZDDP.
CI-4/SJ has no limit and could have 1400 ppm of Zinc and 1200 ppm of phosphorous. Or even more.
CJ-4/SJ is limited to about 1000 ppm of phosphorous and 1200 ppm of Zink
These are the oils I have come up with as candidates for my lawn mower and snowblower that have higher levels of ZDDP.
Shell Rotella T 10W-30 is 1000PPM Phosphorus, and 1200PPM Zink
Menards $13 a gallon.
Dino oil.
Mystik 10W-30
JT-8 10W30 Super Heavy Duty Diesel Oil
Phosphorus:1200
Zinc:1400
Farm Fleet 2 gallon jug $24.
Dino oil.
Mobile 1 5W-30 HM
Phosphorus:1000
Zinc:1100
SL rated.
Full synthetic oil.
Also as mentioned in this thread many professional lawn care people use straight HDEO 30 weight oil.
My thoughts are, for my 10HP snowblower i want the oil that will let me pull start it on the coldest days, -5 Deg F or so. The only oil on my short list that will satisfy that requirement is the Mobile 1 5W-30 HM Full synthetic.
My 16HP lawn tractor could probably use any of the oils listed. But since i already use the Mobile 5W-30 HM in my car and snowblower why buy a different oil for the lawn mower.
I do not mind putting good oil in my outdoor engines because i am not a chronic oil changing nut. This year i used my snow blower 3 times for about1.5 hours total. I will not be changing the oil this season and i will probably go at least 3 years before i do. The lawn mower gets more hours on it, but i will go a minimum of 2 years on it and maybe more depending on how it looks and smells. And just between you and me, 5 years for either one of them is probably not unreasonable for such a good oil.
There is a legitimate question of just how long oil filters can last before they start to break down. I have never seen an answer from anyone that would really know, so for changing the oil filter I just pick 2 years as a safe number. Of coarse i would use a quality oil filter to start with Like a Pure 1.