Switching tractors to synthetic

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Hello There.
After having a long February of -16F here in Canada, I've had it with dino oil in my Tractors.
I'm going To swiTch Them (belaTedly) to synthetic tomorrow.
I was wondering if I may have your opinion as To which grade you recommend.
The winters are minimum of -17F this year, and the max will be +85 this summer.
The 50 horsepower is recommended originally at 10w30 'diesel' oil, and the 100h.p. is originally straight 30. I was Thinking 5w30 for both. But why not 0W30?
Many Thanks in advance.
Mike
Sorry, The leTTer 'T' is not working right
 
Originally Posted By: MIketitan
After having a long February of -16F here in Canada, I've had it with dino oil in my Tractors.


Canadians have ran tractors on conventional oil since there have been tractors. What made you think your current oil is no longer sufficient?
 
Originally Posted By: BigCahuna
Just asking for the heck of it, what do you use a tractor for when it's -16?.,,


You think there's no work on a farm during the winter? Running a farm is a 365 day a year operation, especially if you've got animals. At the bare minimum, every farmer I've ever known uses at least one of their tractors for snow removal.
 
Originally Posted By: BigCahuna
Just asking for the heck of it, what do you use a tractor for when it's -16?.,,


I've used my tractor on occasion at those temperatures to clear the driveway. At those temperatures, if there is snow, or even wind the existing snow gets light and fluffy and will blow/drift our driveway closed.

I have no problems starting it using 15W-40 at those temperatures, even though my plow tractor is 6 volt. I've never seen the need for a synthetic in most farm equipment unless recommended by the manufacturer.
 
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Originally Posted By: BigCahuna
Just asking for the heck of it, what do you use a tractor for when it's -16?.,,


I've used my tractor on occasion at those temperatures to clear the driveway. At those temperatures, if there is snow, or even wind the existing snow gets light and fluffy and will blow/drift our driveway closed.

I have no problems starting it using 15W-40 at those temperatures, even though my plow tractor is 6 volt. I've never seen the need for a synthetic in most farm equipment unless recommended by the manufacturer.

Isn't your tractor gas powered? I did run 15W40 last year in my little diesel and I wasn't impressed on how long the oil pressure light took to go off, and the extra banging while the motor was struggling to come up to normal idle speed... And that was only at -4F. This year I went back to 5W40 RT6 and the starts are much less dramatic.
For my cars, I'm sure synthetic is mostly a waste as they are all going to the crusher with maybe 5-6000hrs or 15 years on them, but the plan for the tractor is to get a lot more years out of it, hopefully without ever seeing the inside of the motor.
RT5 10W30 does have similar cold start numbers to RT6 5W40, but my manual says to use 15W40 in the summer so I use 5W40 year round.
 
I have noticed the oil light turning off much quicker with M1 TDT in the sump vs. 15w40 dino. Last year when we had our -25*F spell, the tractor slept in the heated garage though.

Tractors are used for work whether it be for a farmer or a land owner. Work still needs done regardless of temperature.
 
I run straight weight 30 in my tractor but it is only used for haying in the summer. I run synthetic 0W-40 in my trucks all year round strictly for the cold weather starting.

I have a few friends that run synthetic in their tractors for winter weather.

I think you have made a good decision to switch.
 
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10w-30 is what I would suggest as the most economical, all of the other grades(5w-30 & 0w-30) will also work but I doubt your tractors will ever notice the difference.
 
I am a farmer. When I switched my 1995 f250 diesel to synthetic, it finally started at -27C
My snow plowing tractor is giving me grief, and I cannot afford a heated barn just so my engines will start I use my equipment year round. 2 years ago we took a. old barn down piece by piece in January...
Thanks for all your replies
Mike
 
Just check with your local Petro-Canada, Shell, or Imperial Oil distributor. Their synthetics are going to be cheaper than Walmart conventional.
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Take a look at Esso Delvac 222 0W-30 or 0W-40 (whichever is appropriate). Its cheap, is available in bulk (1L bottles, 4L bottles, 5 gallon pails, all the way up to 55 gallon drums and even larger totes). Made in Canada at Sarnia. Its a full synthetic, and has an excellent reputation under its former branding of Esso Extra XD-3.
 
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