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GTH52XLS

#1

K

KRSOPP

Engine oil preferred winter and summer?


#2

R

Rivets

I recommend a quality 10W30 all year round, unless your winters are below freezing. Then 5W30 in winter.


#3

H

hlw49

That would depend on the engine manufacturer and the average winter low temperature. Mostly a 10W 30 or 40 would suffice in temps to -10 below. Below -10 5W 20. Does anyone know what the W stands for. If the temp does not fall below 0 a 20W 50 would be ok according to Kawasaki. The 20W 50 would also help with oil consumption in the hot summer temps.


#4

H

hlw49

Rivets said:
I recommend a quality 10W30 all year round, unless your winters are below freezing. Then 5W30 in winter.
Click to expand...
What brand of oil do you recommend.


#5

R

Rivets

I just look for an oil which has the API & SAE approval stamps. Other than that I say it’s a crap shoot, but many on this forum will not agree with me. If you change it regularly it really doesn’t matter


#6

H

hlw49

Rivets said:
I just look for an oil which has the API & SAE approval stamps. Other than that I say it’s a crap shoot, but many on this forum will not agree with me. If you change it regularly it really doesn’t matter
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Automotive oils are no designed to run at the higher operating temps of an air cooled engine. They also do not have zinc which is a lubricant for the wear parts especially the valve train.


#7

Scrubcadet10

Scrubcadet10

I recommend Kawasaki K-TECH or Kinetix.


#8

H

hlw49

We use Kawasaki and Kohler I mostly use Kawasaki 10W 40 in other brands. I also use it in my CV20 Kohler. Good oil and use the Manufactures oil filters. Are you guys having trouble getting Kawasaki oil filters. Only one we can get is the 49065-0724.


#9

R

Rivets

All my equipment and every shop I’ve worked in has used what I recommend. Never had a problem in 50+ years. More important to regularly change the oil and filter, if applicable, than the name on the bottle. To each his own, just saying what has work fine for me. When I started in the sixties that’s all we had and never heard a breakdown due to oil overheating.


#10

Scrubcadet10

Scrubcadet10

hlw49 said:
We use Kawasaki and Kohler I mostly use Kawasaki 10W 40 in other brands. I also use it in my CV20 Kohler. Good oil and use the Manufactures oil filters. Are you guys having trouble getting Kawasaki oil filters. Only one we can get is the 49065-0724.
Click to expand...
I believe that new 0724 has superseded several part numbers, so that may be all you can get. I use WIX 51394 in place of most Kawasaki filters, unless the engine is still in warranty period.


#11

StarTech

StarTech

49065-0724 is the current PN.

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#12

H

hlw49

Yes I know we can get that one but try and convince a customer that the small longer one will work where the shorter fatter one came off.


#13

K

KRSOPP

hlw49 said:
KRSOPP said:
Engine oil preferred winter and summer?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Interesting thought about the zinc and higher temps. What thoughts are there about semi blends & full synthetic. Did I mention my machine came used from WI and is now a Yooper machine? Long cold winters on the southern shore of Lake Superior. Not unusual to have -20°F for days on end and snow totals of 200” to 300” inches. (Husky will be pampered in winter in at least an above freezing garage.) My practice run the past week was in 15”+ with drifts to 3’+.

Next topic will be cab, came with a flimsy plastic & torn cab. Metal or wood cab or maybe made from or lined with foam board and some blinking lights built in or on top???

Tell me about your favorite cab & accessories

KR


#14

Scrubcadet10

Scrubcadet10

Oh boy... oil discussion ;)
I don't believe running synthetic produces any noticeable improvements in engine life, I've worked on mowers/ garden tractors with 3,000 hours or more (usually commercial use Z turns) and they run conventional, then you have Average Joe who comes in with 850 hours on his riding mower and excess piston slip and it is need of new rings and hone job (at least) because it's constantly blowing a haze of oil smoke and he all he ran was mobil 1 synthetic. Of course there i am also comparing a commercial engine to a home owner type.
It more comes down to PERIODIC MAINTENANCE. Do it ON TIME, when the manual calls for it.
Kawasaki K-tech is all Synthetic Blend if i remember right.


#15

StarTech

StarTech

Yes PNs 99969-6501 and 99969-6502 are full synthetics. I used both until late last year when shipping went thru the roof. I back to using Mobile One 15w50 synthetic oil.

Personally I use a 5w30 semi synthetic with Moly in my truck's engine. It definitely made a difference as went from 25 psi to 60 psi on that 330k engine.


#16

B

bertsmobile1

As I keep on saying.
They are MOWER engines not F1 race engines
Mower engines are cheapest engine that can be made that will run at least till the warranty runs out .
There is ZERO advantage in running a synthetic oil in any mower engine
OTOH they will not hurt the engine either
So if it makes you feel you are better than the man next door go ahead
As for me I have a lot netter things to do with my money than waste it on expensive oils.
I do stock, nor use synthetic oils in any of my customers mowers either .
The only place that synthetics are worth the money is in hydro drives

And if you think I am being stupid.
Look at the Hp per cc of your car engine and compare that to the Hp per cc of your mower engine.
In Cal engine makers have to use synthetic oils to meet their idiot exhaust emission laws so engine makers specify synthetics .
Fr the rest of the planet where THC is not added to the water supply plain old mower oil is fine .
Diesl oil is the next best option after than , then car oils .
The only important thing about mower oils is to change it at the end of every season


#17

VRR.DYNDNS>BIZ

VRR.DYNDNS>BIZ

bertsmobile1 said:
As I keep on saying.
They are MOWER engines not F1 race engines
Mower engines are cheapest engine that can be made that will run at least till the warranty runs out .
There is ZERO advantage in running a synthetic oil in any mower engine
OTOH they will not hurt the engine either
So if it makes you feel you are better than the man next door go ahead
As for me I have a lot netter things to do with my money than waste it on expensive oils.
I do stock, nor use synthetic oils in any of my customers mowers either .
The only place that synthetics are worth the money is in hydro drives

And if you think I am being stupid.
Look at the Hp per cc of your car engine and compare that to the Hp per cc of your mower engine.
In Cal engine makers have to use synthetic oils to meet their idiot exhaust emission laws so engine makers specify synthetics .
Fr the rest of the planet where THC is not added to the water supply plain old mower oil is fine .
Diesl oil is the next best option after than , then car oils .
The only important thing about mower oils is to change it at the end of every season
Click to expand...
Clean oil rinses the desired cylinder walls of the break in folded over microscopic metal peeks. Slightly used oil is always polishing surfaces while it provides lubrication. There is a balance to be had between over frequent oil changes and under frequent. B&S has now marketed engines that never need an oil change, just keep it full. Also Synthetic is not good for break-in runs.


#18

E

efred

bertsmobile1 said:
As I keep on saying.
They are MOWER engines not F1 race engines
Mower engines are cheapest engine that can be made that will run at least till the warranty runs out .
There is ZERO advantage in running a synthetic oil in any mower engine
OTOH they will not hurt the engine either
So if it makes you feel you are better than the man next door go ahead
As for me I have a lot netter things to do with my money than waste it on expensive oils.
I do stock, nor use synthetic oils in any of my customers mowers either .
The only place that synthetics are worth the money is in hydro drives

And if you think I am being stupid.
Look at the Hp per cc of your car engine and compare that to the Hp per cc of your mower engine.
In Cal engine makers have to use synthetic oils to meet their idiot exhaust emission laws so engine makers specify synthetics .
Fr the rest of the planet where THC is not added to the water supply plain old mower oil is fine .
Diesl oil is the next best option after than , then car oils .
The only important thing about mower oils is to change it at the end of every season
Click to expand...
The main, and most important reason to use synthetic oil, is that air-cooled engines will run cooler, alleviating overheating and fuel vapor lock problems.


#19

M

MowManMow

Full Syn withstands heat much better than any dino oil ever will and last much longer.
My brother (retired) worked for Babcock Wilcox designing jet/rocket engines and steam turbines for nuke plants since the 1960's. He tells us all to run nothing but full syn in any engine due to syns characteristics.
The oil corps actually had to develop a new oil grade (full synthetic) because no conventional dino oil could handle the high temps they generated so our jet engines/turbines would just seize up very early in testing.
Full syn not only helps extend your oil servicing but has actually saved many engines already I'm sure. If your engine ever gets over heated under heavy work loads, dirty fins or leans out from fuel starvation (clogged in fuel filter) or heats up from any other reason full syn will in fact withstand that higher heat it generates far better and may very well save your engine.
fwiw- We still keep certain grades of full syn oils as classified military secrets to stay ahead of other countries building their own jet/nuke turbines. We hope others seize sooner..lol


#20

B

bertsmobile1

And I repeat
These are mower engines, not rocket engines .
The only times I see thermal damage is when there is a 1/2" of crud / mouse nests blocking off the air flow to the fins .
And FWIW I am in OZ where summer temps of 35+ C are the normal
Most of my commercial customers run strait 30 in everything apart from the gear powered by Honda GX 25 or 35 engines where the run 10w40 standard mower oil.
There is zero benefit from running synthetics in mowers apart from the space between peoples ears .
These are very very very low tech engines running fixed timing and mostly splash lubrication
Now if it is your Porshe then things are different
And regardless of what oil is used , it should be changed at the end of every season & not left to stand for 3 to 6 months carrying all of the contaminants from use .


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