Generalized Questions

[Barryh]

Always have something I would like to get a second opinion on. This may help some of the newer Power Trac owners also.


1 .... I have 647 hours on my Kohler command -25. Was wondering if any of you have ever changed over to Synthetic oil with this many hours on your machine. I have no leaks and wondering if I would be pushing the envelope by doing so now. Another consideration for my circumstance is my PT has low hours but is physically old a 1996.

2.... Other question I know these modern Battery tenders are designed to safely charge a battery then cut off after it reaches full charge. How many of you feel safe leaving them charging while you are at work away from home or overnight in an enclosed garage ..

 

[ponytug]

I can't speak for others, but feeling safe around gasoline and AC power- never.
I always worry about fuel vapors, and the potential to transfer energy from electricity to fuel to cause ignition.

If it were me, I would be thinking more along the lines of how to make it intrinsically safe. (e.g. If the charger melts down, and the box catches fire, where can it be located not to set fire to anything else? Could I charge it once a week while I was in the garage?...)

Where I worked once had the wiring in the wall short out and set fire to a flammable liquid overnight. The room had automatic fire sensors in it and the fire department was a block away. It still destroyed the room from about 30" upwards. (Think mushroom shaped fuel cloud.) I think that they had fire hoses on it in under three minutes.

I don't live that close to the fire department, so I try to make sure that they won't ever have to come. Just me...

All the best,

Peter

 

[Soundguy]

One thing I like to do, even for battery trickle/maintainers, is plug them into a timer.

Set the timer to come on say.. half an hour twice a week. should be plenty to keep a healthy charged battery, topped off.

for the oil?

I don't see an issue changing to synthetic oil on a used machine. When I bought my used f350 diesel, I immediately started it on syn oil, even though it was at 175,000 miles, and 11 ys old.

Never has leaked a drop of engine oil, nor does it use any appreciable amount in 3000-5000m intervals. ( holds just shy of 4g, so yeah, technically it is using some.. but just not enough to make a difference... )

 

[joshlee]

I switched to synthetic oil when my car was at 100k. After telling a local mechanic what I done, he said,"That engine will start using oil", and he was right. This Ford Taurus didn't use any oil prior to the synthetic change, but afterwards it did. He told me (then I heard it from many) that synthetic oil has detergents that clean the inside of the engine much more than conventional oil, and what happens is it cleans dirt out of areas that are keeping things tight, basically. Haha, who ever thought dirt can be a friend at times:laughing:

 

[Barryh]

Sound guy ... Great idea on the timer as a good fail safe I might have to try that ..

Joshlee I've heard the same thing with high millage cars when changing out to synthetic cleans out the dirt and pushes past old seals.

Just not sure with 647 hours, if I should push my luck. Fairly low hours but being a 96 physically the engine and seals are old. Just wondering if anyone else has done this with a Robin or Kohler with this amount of hours.

 

[Raw Dodge]

It's not too late to change to synthetic oil,I would do it immediately. ..those air cooled Kohler Commands only hold 2.1 quarts ,IMO they should have synthetic from the factory, and require it for warranty like most cars now,especially GM with there Dexos grade oil..

 

[MossRoad]

Always have something I would like to get a second opinion on. This may help some of the newer Power Trac owners also.


1 .... I have 647 hours on my Kohler command -25. Was wondering if any of you have ever changed over to Synthetic oil with this many hours on your machine. I have no leaks and wondering if I would be pushing the envelope by doing so now. Another consideration for my circumstance is my PT has low hours but is physically old a 1996.

2.... Other question I know these modern Battery tenders are designed to safely charge a battery then cut off after it reaches full charge. How many of you feel safe leaving them charging while you are at work away from home or overnight in an enclosed garage ..

I've got a trickle charger/maintainer that I keep plugged in 24/7 in the winter to my PT425. The charger itself has a 6' cord from wall to charger and 6' cord from charger to tractor. The charger sits on the floor with nothing flammable around it. One thing I never do is fuel the thing inside the garage, or connect or disconnect any electrical items directly after fueling as I'm concerned about fumes building up in the tub, even though its well ventilated. With that said, my PT is in an unattached garage from the house, as is our car. I'm kinda leery about attached garages, cars, fuel, fire, death, etc...

 

[Soundguy]

I'd grease them battery terminals to keep out oxy and prevent corrosion.

 

[woodlandfarms]

There are so many things that could possibly short / fail. Battery tender IMO is no worse than your phone plugged in. Adding a timer only ads another element to fail / catch fire. Not saying it can't happen, probably a higher chance of you getting hit in the head with a rock from your mower, but you don't wear a helmet mowing, do you? As I travel a lot and can be gone for up to a year, my machines all sit on tenders. All of them that have a battery. didn't have tenders to begin with, learned an expensive lesson.

For me, I like Synthetic because I do not have to change it as much, and I believe it makes my engine run cooler. The PT temp gauge dropped 7 degrees when switching from normal oil to synthetic. I could have bumped something for sure, I have no official proof of a temp drop other than my crappy guage, but living in a fantasy land that high dollars only mean improvements has kept me loyal to Synthetic oil.

 

[BigBoyToys]

With 647 hours and no engine issues...why "FIX what ain't BROKE"???
If you started with conventional oil then stick with it or use a synthetic blend like Castrol GTX MAGNATEC.
Start with synthetic...stay with synthetic.

I've been using the Deltran Battery Tenders for over 25 years on multiple vehicles and have never had a problem. I have them plugged into ground fault outlets and have the leads permanently mounted to the batteries with the included polarized lead/plugs. The charging lines also have an inline fuse as well.