Oil recommendation for a B&S lawnmower engine

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barlowc

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I have a Toro SR4 Super Recycler Mower (Model 20053) with a Briggs & Stratton Quantum Series 120000 engine. I live in Michigan so the temperature outside may be into the 90's in the summer but in the 40's in late fall.

I found the following oil recommendation chart on the B&S site:

maint_change-oil_oil-weight.gif


In past seasons I've used conventional 10W-30 because that's what I had on the shelf. I don't have anything on the shelf at the moment so I was thinking I'd pick up some synthetic 5W-30 fill for this season's fill. Sound like a good choice?
 
I have the Toro Super Recycler Mower 20058 and have been using Amsoil 4 stroke 10w30/30 SAE synthetic small engine oil.
 
I would use a good 30W HDEO, but not synthetic. These engine have no filter and need frequent changes negating the main advantage of synthetic. I would not use the 10W30 dino in these small air-cooled engines as the polymer VII will wear out too soon due to the heat, and you end up running a straight 10W
 
Based on an average of the past four years, I expect that the engine will run 20 - 25 hours this season. That's half of B&S' 50-hour interval, so I just change the oil once at the beginning of each season.
 
Amsoil small engine is what I am putting in my B&S 14.5hp mower.
Their Saber 2-cycle is going on the weed eater.
 
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RT5, B&S oil, John Deere Torq-Guard SAE-30 10w-30, MTD yardman. All this oil is highly AW EO loaded to SJ 2x most all PCMO. Marine 4stroke oil is good too like a 15-40. DO NOT USE PCMO**, though the engine may last LONGER than the rest of the unit regardless :)

** this is a professional recommendation - I use "whatever is lying about the house in a reasonable visc range" and suffer the conseqences of my decision. But usually I have more hdeo around then PCMO. I even run MTD yardman oil in my Toyota CAR to reaquaint myself to SJ high ZDDP oil.
 
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Just use the SAE 30 of your choice. You probably won't be doing much mowing below 40 degrees anyway.
 
This year I am using Rotella T 5w40 in a B&S 12.5 and two Honda 5 HP engines.I've noticed they start easier and perform better than before.The plan is to have yearly oil changes.
 
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I was going to get some AMSOIL 10W-30/SAE 30 Synthetic Small Engine Oil. I bet it's a great oil and Colt has been using it in his nearly-identical mower. But my local parts store (O'Reilly) didn't have it, so I picked up some PYB SAE HD-30 for $2.49/quart. Two quarts will last me three seasons. And Tdbo is probably right in that I won't do much mowing under 40 degrees.
 
My feeling with small engines is change more often than recommended just to keep the engine clean and reduce the risk of the oil breaking down before the recommended hours .

The main issue with small engines is no filtration and heat .

If I were you I would change it 2 times a year , it can't hurt !
 
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The following is taken from some post I made about oil for a generator but this applies well to all outdoor 4 cycle air cooled engines.

If it were mine for winter I would consider GC, or Shell Rotella T6 5W-40, or M1 TDT 5W-40. I would prefer GC for coldest temperatures, but any of these would work. Shell Rotella is probably the lowest cost, especially by the gallon.

For mild temperatures I would consider the same oils, + Shell Rotella T5 15W-40 (even lower cost than 6T), and mono weight Shell Rotella T 30wt, mono weight Pennzoil HD 30, or mono weight Castrol HD 30, or M1 15W-50.

For hot weather M1 15W-50.

I would also get in touch with the local Amsoil rep and get some foaming carb cleaner. About every 100 hours just before an oil change, use it, and run the engine for about 5 minutes to get it out of the carb and then change the oil. Also, put a new sparkplug in after that, carb cleaners foul plugs.

If you have a season that you do not use it be sure to either drain the tank, or add Sta-Bil to the gas, and then turn off the gas and run the carb dry.

I would change the oil every 25 hours with Shell Rotella, and every 50 hours with GC, or M1 15W-50.

I saw something that said Rotella 10W-30 does not have JASO-MA. You might want to think twice about using it.
 
Originally Posted By: sparkplug
Rotella 30 weight. Its a great oil with a great add pack that will keep your engine cool and clean.


+1 I have also run supertech 30wt

For the longest time straight 30wt was the ONLY weight B&S recommended. I was surprised to see the temp chart with different weights.
 
Decisions, decisions, decisions......

I usually run Rotella 15W40 in all of my summer equipment. This year however, I got a very good deal on a bunch of Shell 10W40. So I'll be running that this year.

Over many years of OPE engine ownership, I've come to the conclusion that the oil type/brand seems to matter more to the owner than the machine.

I have a 30+ year old Tecumseh four stroke 3.5 h.p. engine on a lawnmower that has seen very hard service. Every second year or so, I change the oil with whatever is readily available. I've run straight 30 in it, 10W50, 15W40, 10W30 and just about every blend of the foregoing. I check it before every use and top it off with whatever is nearby. The mower doesn't really care.

As long as it has fresh oil of reasonable viscosity it will run just fine and I doubt that the grade/brand really makes any difference. I do recommend that a good brand name oil be used however. I.e. Shell, Quaker State, Valvoline, Pennzoil, Imperial etc.

Buy any leading brand name that cost the least. Just change is as often as necessary and never let the oil level drop.
 
This year I will be running QSQTP 5W-30 in my Ariens 1028 riding lawn mowerit has a 10HP B&S engine.

Andy
 
I've used 10W30 and sometimes even 5W30 in Honda and B&S lawn mowers and they seemed to work OK. I do think a straight 30W is better in a B&S or maybe a 10W30 synthetic or even an HDEO. Mowers are usually ran in hot conditions and being aircooled it seems you'd want some oil that was shear resistant without a lot of VI and a high Noack. I noticed my Honda mower smoked less on start up with a synthetic 10W30 than it did with dino.
 
The vast majority of tractors at home depot call for 10w30. I only saw two models which specified straight 30. My 2 cents is not to go lower then a 10w30.
 
Briggs recommends 30W for their lawnmowers. Honda's and Chonda's which seems to be taken over recommend 10W30.
 
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