What engine oil are you using in your Branson?

[bernardcuziillo]

Cougsfan, here's my understanding from back in the '80s, and I suspect it's still similar now. There are basically two markets for oil: The consumer market which is totally price driven. The add-packs for consumer oil are as cheap as possible, barely enough to "bounce in" a passing test and claim the rating. A "bounce" is an unrepresentative good result used to make the claim. An internal study by an automaker sampled retail oil sold in quarts and found that about 10% had no additive at all--basically defective oil.

The other market is fleets which are largely driven by performance as determined by statistics based on failures and oil analysis. This "heavy-duty" market also requires diesel tests that run at higher BMEP, thus higher temperatures, and as a result, they demand more. And generally, the heavy-duty oils also have the gasoline ratings so that they can be used as universal fill. (BTW, if you're interested in oil analysis, one key is to keep a sample of the unused fill oil. The comparison is more informative than from a stand-alone used sample.) This market is what Delo and other heavy-duty oils are aimed at. These oils don't skimp on additives, and they pass the ratings tests easily and consistently. Personally, I think changing Delo at 5k is throwing out good oil in light-duty service like a passenger car that runs at a fraction of full power for the great majority of the time. (I still run my 4520R at idle more often than not, being a novice.) 5 kmiles on a Cat D11R ripping a pasture at maximum power nearly all the time, inhaling volcanic dust (even with its 28 gallon sump), those are much different hours.

 

[MadGunner]

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?

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

I'm looking at a Branson operator manual for the new 5520CH that recommends 10W-40 engine oil. Odds are good any -40 oil will suffice. Many people recommend 15W-40 for diesel engines, and before synthetic, there may not have been a lot of options in dinosaur oil for diesels better than 15W-40.

Shell Rotella T6 in 5W-40 or 15W-40 are both good options. Rotella T6 is full synthetic, available in 15W-40, 5W-40 and 0W-40, and is targeted at heavy duty diesel engines.

I'll use Rotella T6 5W-40 at next oil change as I have a few gallons on-hand, but may move to T6 15W-40 in the future, depending on whichever is readily available.

 

[ericm979]

My manual says to use 15w-40 at ambient temps from 0 degrees F up, 10w-30 from -20 to 68 F, and 5w-30 from below that to 68F. I've been using 15w-40 as it never gets close to zero here.

 

[Cougsfan]

All the talk about motor oil multi-weight probably should be best considered a recommendation rather than an absolute rule. Generally speaking the lower first number will help in extreme cold situations, and can, or should be varied the most depending on temperature conditions. The second number is what you get once the tractor gets up to operating temperature, and should be varied less. Not following the recommendations to a tee is not generally a big deal unless you live somewhere like in North Dakota in the winter. If you allow your tractor to run a while before putting a load to the engine, that will alleviate most concerns about oil weight.