Oil change for diesel lawn tractor

[MW66]

Your manual lists a 15w40 for approved fluids? i didn't think they recommended that heavy strange, they usually state something like 32 deg and bellow 10w30 and above 32 a 10w30/10w40 for that engine.


Kubota Tractor USA - Lubricants Schedule

Yes, my manual differs from the website. It states:

Above 25C - SAE 30, SAE 10W-30, or 15W-40
0 to 25C - SAE 20, SAE 10W-30, or 15W-40
Below 0C - SAE 10W, SAE 10W-30, or 15W-40

 

[daman1]

Yes, my manual differs from the website. It states:

Above 25C - SAE 30, SAE 10W-30, or 15W-40
0 to 25C - SAE 20, SAE 10W-30, or 15W-40
Below 0C - SAE 10W, SAE 10W-30, or 15W-40

Interesting, to each is his own but i would not use a 15w40 @ or below 0c, to ease of oil changes(less often) and a great all season oil i'd use a 5w40 or 10w30 would get the job done and protect in any weather you could throw at it.

 

[MW66]

Here's the official Kubota website response:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


15W-40 is fine for NY. We do not reccomend Synthetic - there may be some
complications for things like long storage periods (if not used
seasonally).

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Your Original Inquiry:

Motor oil: My B3200 manual states: Above 25C - SAE 30, SAE 10W-30, or
15W-40
0 to 25C - SAE 20, SAE 10W-30, or 15W-40
Below 0C - SAE 10W, SAE 10W-30, or 15W-40

However, your website differs. I live in Buffalo, NY and will be operating
year round. Is 15W-40 oil safe for year round use? Cold start up? I
cannot find 10W-30, other than my Kubota dealer. What about 5W-40?
Synthetic? Thanks.

 

[daman1]

Here's the official Kubota website response:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


15W-40 is fine for NY. We do not reccomend Synthetic - there may be some
complications for things like long storage periods (if not used
seasonally).

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Your Original Inquiry:

Motor oil: My B3200 manual states: Above 25C - SAE 30, SAE 10W-30, or
15W-40
0 to 25C - SAE 20, SAE 10W-30, or 15W-40
Below 0C - SAE 10W, SAE 10W-30, or 15W-40

However, your website differs. I live in Buffalo, NY and will be operating
year round. Is 15W-40 oil safe for year round use? Cold start up? I
cannot find 10W-30, other than my Kubota dealer. What about 5W-40?
Synthetic? Thanks.

His credibility went in the toilet with "We do not reccomend Synthetic - there may be some complications for things like long storage periods"

What "complications" on what "things" is he referring to?, corrosion? are there if a HDEO oil is run?, no! marine companies that run diesels in their boats use HDEO and don't have issues or concerns,these guy's would know if there was a problem,there are people who read these info sheets sitting behind there computers but don't have a clue on the subject they are replying to,there just told to "read this" and thats what they do,seen it many times talking to these so called "reps".

not a thing wrong with using a synthetic year around and in storage there's millions of tractors/cars/trucks out on the road running syns year around.

and you said you cant find a 10w30 except Kubota oil? well take your self down to your local walmart or any auto parts chain and get your self a 5qt jug or two of T5 Shell Rotella 10w30 it's a diesel(HDEO)oil that would work perfectly fine in your machine.


http://www.shell.com/home/Framework...rotella-en/html/iwgen/products/t5_detail.html

or go with the T6 5w40.

http://www.shell.com/home/Framework...rotella-en/html/iwgen/products/t6_detail.html

 

[MW66]

I understand. My only purpose was to report the "official" Kubota response and recommendation. I will say that I am a little surprised that both my local dealer and Kubota stated that 15W-40 is fine for year round use in my climate. I will tes it out this winter and see how it performs when it dips really low. If I find it runs rough at start up, then I can simply drain it and put in 10W-30 or 5W-40.

 

[daman1]

I understand. My only purpose was to report the "official" Kubota response and recommendation. I will say that I am a little surprised that both my local dealer and Kubota stated that 15W-40 is fine for year round use in my climate. I will tes it out this winter and see how it performs when it dips really low. If I find it runs rough at start up, then I can simply drain it and put in 10W-30 or 5W-40.

Sure and i understand, just letting you know there's other oils out there besides 15w40 that will work and perform better in cold weather conditions and work just fine all year around for your Kub.

 

[sw03]

I will take Amsoil 5w-40 over Rotella due to many reasons...one is price (to my door), another is pour point, another is Viscosity over usuage, higher flash...do I need to go more??????

 

[daman1]

I will take Amsoil 5w-40 over Rotella due to many reasons...one is price (to my door).

Wow you must get a heck of good price to beat $19.50 per 5qt jug with shipping on top of it,you a dealer?

another is pour point

You do realize PP is a mute point? you know what CCS and MRV viscosity measurements are? i'll tell ya....

Pour point measures the temperature at which the oil stops pouring under its own weight, that is, under low shear conditions. In the engine, oils are sucked and pumped, which is much higher shear conditions and does not correlate to pour point. This is why the specifications call for CCS and MRV viscosity measurements instead of pour point.

for instance imagine a bowl of say Jell-O, If you tilt the bowl, the Jell-O will wobble and perhaps sag a bit, but it does not flow out of the bowl like a liquid. This lack of flow would suggest that the Jell-O is a solid that would not flow where needed. Now take a spoon and stir, and the Jell-O will move fairly freely under the force (shear) of your hand. Then take wide straw and suck the Jell-O - again the Jell-O will flow up the straw under this vacuum force, but it will not flow back into fill the hole you sucked out. In other words, applying a force to an apparent solid material can cause it to flow and pump, even though it cannot do so under its own weight. The reason is that the Jell-O has a weak crystalline structure that breaks easily under force (shear) and reverts back to a liquid like substance that can be easily moved.

A similar situation exists with motor oils since mineral oils have waxes that grow crystals under certain temperature conditions, causing a "freeze point" as opposed to a "pour point". The difference is that "pouring" stops when the viscosity rises to a point that the oil is just too stiff to flow, while "freezing" occurs when the crystal structure from the waxes "knits" the oil into a weak solid, sort of like Jell-O. Crystal growth in oils requires a very slow cool down to occur, often with a pause or soak period. The pour point test cools at a relatively fast rate that can "super cool" the fluid, that is, it whizzes (technical term,lol ) right on past its freeze point and runs to its pour point, missing any freezing along the way.

The CCS test stirs the oil (applies shearing force) during the cool down and better simulates the shear rates of the oil pump than a simple pour point. The MRV test cools at a very slow rate with less shear and catches the effect of any freezing tendency.

and one last point i remember reading about back in 1981 Quaker State had an oil that caused over 1,000 engines to seize due to these effects. The oil had a good pour point and CCS viscosity and could be readily sucked up and pumped by the oil pump when cold. However, their VI improver caused crystal growth under certain cooling conditions, turning the oil into a Jell-O like consistency in the pan. Then when the pump sucked the oil up from the reservoir in the pan, it created a hole and the oil was not able to flow back in and fill the hole. The pump then sucked air and the engines seized within minutes from oil starvation. This freezing phenomenon was prevalent and well documented in the Sioux Falls area where the temperatures during the failures cooled very slowly and paused for a while at about +10-15F. When simulated in the lab, the otherwise passing oil exhibited a freezing tendency. This temperature profile was referred to as the "Sioux Falls Cycle" and formed the basis of the cooling cycle used in the MRV test, which was then added to the J300 spec. QS owned up to the problem and paid the claims.

CCS viscosity refers to pump ability,thats the important one to look at. Kinematic viscosity and pour point refer to the oil's ability to flow freely, which is different. So ya any way if ya want to get technical PP is irrelevant but that's what i do look at first and for most.

Amsoil will have the better PP -51 vs 45 because the base oil used in the T6 is a grp III with a splash of PAO where the DEO is a grp V/VI PAO,so hardly a fair comparison, but as you can see it's not lacking buy much.

Shell RTS is a fine fine oil, no one should be worried about using it vs a boutique oil like Amsoil. I like and do use some of there oil's but is it the holy grail of oil's? hardly not....

another is Viscosity over usage

Can you explain this one "Viscosity over usage",never heard of that one, you talking 40c and 100c cST and SUS values?????

higher flash...

Amsoil's DEO-450
Shell Rotella T6-446

yep it's more by a whole 4 points :confused2:

Aslo RTS now includes JASO MA, approved for wet cluch motor cycles and ATV's the amsoil DEO is not.

do I need to go more??????

Please do.....