Block heater

[Rod in Forfar]

Never tried synthetic in anything i almost did in my land rover they said not to because once you use that in the engine you could never go back to oil.

I use synthetic in pretty well all engines now, except for the 17 hp Kohler Courage in a Simplicity riding lawn mower. I put a quart of synthetic into it on an oil change and it disappeared over the first hour of mowing. The engine started to rattle rather severely and there was no oil on the dip stick when I checked. I added a quart of 10W30 Dino to try and finish the job and the engine started back up without damage and has continued to work just fine. My small engines mechanic told me that some engines just aren't built with tight enough tolerances for synthetic oil. That was five or six years ago. The thing still runs.

 

[Rod in Forfar]

Never tried synthetic in anything i almost did in my land rover they said not to because once you use that in the engine you could never go back to oil.

I use synthetic in pretty well all engines now, except for the Kohler Courage in a Simplicity riding lawn mower. I put a quart of synthetic into it on an oil change and it disappeared over the first hour of mowing. The engine started to rattle rather severely and there was no oil on the dip stick when I checked. I added a quart of 10W30 Dino to try and finish the job and the engine started back up without damage and has continued to work just fine. My small engines mechanic told me that some engines just aren't built with tight enough tolerances for synthetic oil. That was five or six years ago. The thing still runs.

 

[mangler]

Landed, for what it is worth I was told by Whittemores and Sons a heater for my DK40 was not needed. Chad told me " If your tractor does not fire right up even in really cold weather, they would come out and install a heater for free". This will be my first winter so we will see. One thing I did do at the suggestion of another member here, I bought some Howes Diesel Treat fuel treatment. You should look into it especially where we live. Tractor Supply carries it.

I would not use Howse in my tractor. Although it does a good job of preventing gelling, the lack of lubricity scares me. There are much better alternatives, especially in the US.