Export thread

i use Rotella T6 5-40 in all my vehicles including motorcycle....is there any reason it wont work for small engines?

I don't see why not. I guess if you were really nervous about it, you could use a 30w synthetic.:smile:

reddragon said:

i use Rotella T6 5-40 in all my vehicles including motorcycle....is there any reason it wont work for small engines?

Click to expand...

Excellent choice ... That's what I have been using ever since it first came out... and even before T6 I always ran Mobil 1 Delvac synthetic in everything...

Synthetic is Very good for small air cooled engines... and T6 is very good syn... :smile:KennyV

I have checked with four different parts store, Chinamart, Kmart and hardware stores and I can't find ANY brand 30# Synthetic Oil anywhere:frown:
Where do you guys find it?

i asked the same question and was told its hard to find...but T6 is good enough for heavy diesels and high perfomance bikes, it should do the job...only $19 a gallon at walmart

Go with the T6 the 5-40 would be much better than a 30 weight oil.

I've been using Mobil 0W30 or Castrol Syntec 0W30 in my "good" car for years. At first the "0W" scared me a little, but after doing some research the light bulb lit up. The zero-w viscosity rating refers to the viscosity at mid-winter cold cranking temperatures. In fact, the viscosity curve of these oils is such that they are actually thicker at temperatures above the operating temperatures of conventional 5W30 or 10W30 oils, i.e., they don't thin out as much as conventional oils under extreme high temperature conditions.

So, yes, use a synthetic in your mower if that makes you feel better. However, these motors are not stressed as high as racing engines, so whatever the manufacturer recommends will work just fine. However, if you're on the habit of running your engine out of oil, synthetic will give you an extra margin of safety.

yes.. glad to have all the input...being a truck driver..i know of rotella t6 being a good industrial [diesel] oil....ive had alot of motorcycles..but when i bought my '98 zx11 i ran into alot of people touting the T6 for bikes because of the friction modifier for wet clutch and being 5-40 covers just bout every temp out there...so ive used that in everything ever since..[previously my oil was MOBIL 1 high milelage]...ive studied the synthetics a bit and believe they are well worth they're money...it consists 100% of the best parts of regular oil...when you realize how much of regular oil is actually bad for your engine, the choice is simple.....THANKS AGAIN to everybody

People want to compare engine oil that they use in a car to a lawn mower.
Unless you have a water cooled engine in your mower their is a big difference.
Thermostat keeps water cooled at a constant temp. Air cooled engine runs really hot on a 90 degree day.
A 30W oil must be within a range to be classified as 30W

The kinematic viscosity range for a 30wt at 100C is 9.30cSt to 12.49cSt.
You need to know the CST # and what the HSTS numbers are to make a intelligent decision of what is best, Not nearly as simple as some think.
All the new SM oil have a very low ZDDP ppm count because it is harmful to the catalytic converter.
Since a mower don't have a cat not yet anyway ( Just wait they will } I would choose a oil that has a high ZDDP count.
That will be found in Diesel oil and even higher in Racing oil.

I have a Corvette that I built a Supercharged and Nitrous injected 406 for it and it makes 1200 HP I use 10-40 Redline oil in it.

This oil would also be great for an air cooled engine but it is expensive if you are use to buying conventional oil

ill do some more investigating...red line is great..ive used that stuff for 17 years now in in my trannies when i came across it while building racing 280 z's..thanks again

i have had a couple of small engines (1 4hp and 1 15hp) i have the original briggs and stratton engine manual and it recomends sae-30 this type of oil is also in all the briggs and stratton service kits.

after years of listnening to oil debates on 12 of the forums i belong to.....always use synthetic!!!...its very cheap considering gas is $3.90 gallon......and ROTELLA T6 is the best!

reddragon said:

after years of listnening to oil debates on 12 of the forums i belong to.....always use synthetic!!!...its very cheap considering gas is $3.90 gallon......and ROTELLA T6 is the best!

Click to expand...

Talking about price last winter Pennsoil had a rebate on their synthetic oil and advance Auto had coupons for 10 dollars off any 20 dollar purchase.

I bought a 5 quart jug and gave them the 10 dollar off coupon then sent my wife in to do the same.

Then I sent in for the 15.00 rebate bottom line is they paid me 5.00 per jug for buying their oil.

Now tell me how expensive it is to use synthetic oil. :laughing:

It pays to look for the deals their is all kinds of rebates and if you buy when they are on then you will have oil on hand when you need it

A friend of mine won 6 gallon of T-6 at a car show the dumb **** said he would not use shell so I gave him 30 bucks for the 6 gallon enough to keep my mowers running for years. :biggrin:

its amazing how psychological elements influence people!.....not logic or facts :confused3:

My question is if I have been using 30 wt conventional oil for the last 2200 hrs can i go to rotella t6 without it leaking ---rings seals. Its on a 721d grasshopper.---thhoughts please and ty ---polly

You will need to flush the oil out to get the ful benefit of the synthetic oil so change it after 2 or 3 mows then change it again.
Mower oil is different to car oil because it is designed to run over a wider range of operating temperatures being you mower does not have a radiator & thermostat to control the temperature.
Mower oils also have a lot more dewatering addatives and anti- corrosion addatives to cope with long periods of no use.
Regardless of what oil you use it should ideally be changed at the end of every season so it is not sitting in your engine chockers of all the corrosive by products of combustion all winter.
Unless you do a lot of mowing like better than 100 hours / year you will not reap the long life benefits of using synthetics.
Trouble is there are so may variables that it is not funny.
Even not being used people living on the edge of a desert will have different conditions to those living in Florida which will different again if you live in the rust belt, even inside your shed so one size will not fit all.

Oil debates are real fun.


Currently we are doing some trials with strait supermarket canola which is working a lot better than I though.
Time will tell & I get my engine parts wholesale so blowing an engine is not a problem.

As much of an advocate as I am of synthetic oil, I wouldn't recommend changing over to it at this stage of the game in that piece of equipment. I think that all the deposits around the seals and rings that keep the oil inside will be removed by the detergents in the synthetic, and it will begin to leak like a sieve. Please don't ask how I know this...:ashamed:

I will also say do not switch. You have 2200 hours on the engine I would not switch oils. What you have been using works. And it will leak I promise you.

I run Rotella T-6 5w-40 synthetic in my push mowers, zero turn, walk behind tiller, motorcycle, ATV, generators, Etc.

DK35vince said:

I run Rotella T-6 5w-40 synthetic in my push mowers, zero turn, walk behind tiller, motorcycle, ATV, generators, Etc.

Click to expand...

T-6 is good oil

polly said:

My question is if I have been using 30 wt conventional oil for the last 2200 hrs can i go to rotella t6 without it leaking ---rings seals. Its on a 721d grasshopper.---thhoughts please and ty ---polly

Click to expand...

Stick with what you've been using, it seems to be working great.

Ty all for your comments.---polly

I run 20w50 conventional racing oil in my mowers the extra zinc helps out alot by prolonging the engine's life.