Hello all. I've been doing some lurking around here as well as some searches and I see some positive remarks about 15W-40 (such as Shell Rotella) in small engines and OPE applications. I have a few questions in this regard.
I own varying equipment with varying age and ideally it would be nice to have a single quality oil that I can use in everything. A few examples of the equipment would be;
2003 commercial-ish Snapper mower w/6.5HP Robin OHV engine, has oil filter
2008 Cub Cadet push mower w/173cc OHV Kohler engine, no oil filter
1994 MTD riding mower w/Briggs & Stratton 18HP opposed twin flat head, no oil filter
2003 MTD wood chipper w/Tecumseh 10HP flat head, no oil filter
I also have other equipment that I use on and off, some that I fix up and use and then sell. But, the above is my primary OPE that I have no intentions of selling and want to maintain them as good as I can.
Now, I don't live in a hot region (North Idaho) and I typically don't run my equipment when it's super hot out. Typically, operating temps might range from 40 to 90F. On one hand I'm a bit hesitant with 15W-40 in a small engine on say, a 70 degree day. But on the other hand, I realize that air cooled engines in OPE can run very hot in the summer under load at full RPM. This brings me to my first question:
Would Rotella 15W-40 be good in my applications or would a XW-30 be more suitable?
Normally what I do is try to mentally count the hours (the numbers always get fudged though) and then change the oil at around 25 hours with the cheapest 10W-30. A problem with this is on the Snapper mentioned above, draining oil is a major ordeal and I would like a longer OCI. My goal for this year is to get tach/hour meters on my frequently used equipment and change the oil out more precisely. My second question is:
If the Rotella 15W-40 is great to use, what would be a good OCI for small engines on OPE?
I ask about Rotella 15W-40 because I know it's available at my local Wal-Mart and is at an affordable price I would pay for all my small engines. However, I'm open to other suggestions that might be better than "cheapest 10W-30 I can find".
Thanks in advance
I own varying equipment with varying age and ideally it would be nice to have a single quality oil that I can use in everything. A few examples of the equipment would be;
2003 commercial-ish Snapper mower w/6.5HP Robin OHV engine, has oil filter
2008 Cub Cadet push mower w/173cc OHV Kohler engine, no oil filter
1994 MTD riding mower w/Briggs & Stratton 18HP opposed twin flat head, no oil filter
2003 MTD wood chipper w/Tecumseh 10HP flat head, no oil filter
I also have other equipment that I use on and off, some that I fix up and use and then sell. But, the above is my primary OPE that I have no intentions of selling and want to maintain them as good as I can.
Now, I don't live in a hot region (North Idaho) and I typically don't run my equipment when it's super hot out. Typically, operating temps might range from 40 to 90F. On one hand I'm a bit hesitant with 15W-40 in a small engine on say, a 70 degree day. But on the other hand, I realize that air cooled engines in OPE can run very hot in the summer under load at full RPM. This brings me to my first question:
Would Rotella 15W-40 be good in my applications or would a XW-30 be more suitable?
Normally what I do is try to mentally count the hours (the numbers always get fudged though) and then change the oil at around 25 hours with the cheapest 10W-30. A problem with this is on the Snapper mentioned above, draining oil is a major ordeal and I would like a longer OCI. My goal for this year is to get tach/hour meters on my frequently used equipment and change the oil out more precisely. My second question is:
If the Rotella 15W-40 is great to use, what would be a good OCI for small engines on OPE?
I ask about Rotella 15W-40 because I know it's available at my local Wal-Mart and is at an affordable price I would pay for all my small engines. However, I'm open to other suggestions that might be better than "cheapest 10W-30 I can find".
Thanks in advance