What engine oil are you using in your Branson?

[K5lwq]

I want to use Rotella T6 15W40 in the 4815C. I have always had good luck with Rotella and think I will use full synthetic for the life of this tractor.

In an effort to keep things simple, I am converting the Kioti to the fluids I will use in the Branson.

The problem I have is I was only able to find 1 gallon of the T6 15W40 in the big city of Mineola TX. Plenty of the 5W40 but the manual is calling for the 15W40. If I was in a cooler climate, I would be fine with 5w40 but think I should stick with what Branson says to use.

The Kioti engine has had Rotella T4 15W40 from day one. What would you use?

 

[LouNY]

I use Shell Rotella T6 5W-40 year round in my Branson, the IH, Kubota mower, the UTV, JD lawn mower and my pickup.

 

[Peter 315]

I use Delo 400 xle 15w-40 ............

 

[oldnslo]

5W-40 year round in my Branson 2400H

 

[ericm979]

I've been using the Delo 400 (non synth). I got some T5 in 15w-40 for the next change. I'm sticking with Branson's oil weight spec. But it's rare to get temps more than a few degrees below freezing here. If it got super cold I'd consider 5w-40.

 

[K5lwq]

Looks like a either 5W-40 or 15W-40 is working fine. The strange thing here is T6 is mostly in the 5W-40 and in T4 and T5 15W-40 is available. Most of the places I went only carry T6 in 5W-40 with no plans to get 15W-40.

I will check some other towns as I work. Thanks everyone.

 

[ptsg]

My dealer sells Petronas brand of lubricants and used Petronas 15W40 on mine.

We can't service any vehicles or equipment still under warranty without lose it, so I can't remember now if it was synthetic or semi synthetic.

 

[K5lwq]

K7LN, thanks for the information. 5W-40 might be my only option without ordering. 73

Ptsg, that is interesting. I had no idea you were not allowed to service under warranty. Wonder what the reasoning is behind that decision?

I am very confident you would do a much better job than any place you could take the equipment in for service.

 

[Grateful11]

Rotella of your choice. They run 15W40 T4 in most of the tractors here.

 

[ptsg]

Only a authorized shop can service the vehicle in order to keep the warranty valid. They don't trust at all the owners I guess. It applies to any vehicle, equipment, whatever need service.

It kinda makes sense in way. Let's use Branson as an example, as it's a known issue. The owner uses a aftermarket hydraulic filter, which is known to burn hydraulic pumps, then he figures out the issue and swaps the filter to a OEM before claiming the issue to the dealer and proceed to the warranty. And then he wins brand new hydraulic pumps that previously failed due to user error.

In my tractor in particular, it's not that big of a deal. It's a small dealer with only the owner, the mechanic and an accountant that happens to be the owner's daughter. The dealer has a good reputation around. He used to be a big dealer for NH back in the day but as he got older, he downsized a bit and sells Case, Branson, another small brand I can't remember now and lots of brands of implements. He will service and fix whatever machine the costumer brings to him.

When we bought the tractor, they offered the first service for free. So the 50 hours arrived, 60 actually as I needed to finish some brush clearing, we called them but they were very busy and we offered to take the tractor to the shop, instead of them coming over my house. It's just 14 miles away or so. Anyways, they let me just watch the entire process. The mechanic is a good guy, worker and very good fabricator. He definitely cares and knows what he is doing. He also advised me to buy the inner air filter as a extra precaution as he knew I'll be mowing on dusty conditions.

We only get 2 year warranty here, so it ended in September of 2019. From now on, I'll do all the work on my tractor, even whatever repairs it needs. If I need parts, I still go to the dealer so he can order the parts from the big Branson parts warehouse in Germany.

I'm at 200 hours, the next service is to change the engine oil and filter at 300 hours. I may change the brand of oil, since I can get a better price on a local parts shop but will keep the 15W40.

The climate here usually goes as low as 35F, sometimes 30F in the winter, and as high as 105/110F in the summer. I usually don't use the tractor when it's that cold or hot.