Change oil before winter even though hours are low?

[New2Tractors2]

I have a zero turn that I purchased in July. It has only 20 hours on it. The manual says to change the oil every 50 hours. It seems on this forum many people change the oil before winter. Not sure if that is wasteful without only 20 hours. Could it wait until next summer when it clocks 50 hours?

 

[RalphVa]

Wait to year after next when it gets to 50 hours.

 

[Tinhack]

I'd let it go until Spring and change it then. I change the oil (and filter if it has one) in my yard engines each spring no mater what hours are on it. I have stickers I use to record the date/hours each change. I bought my ZTR in April and it only has about 15 hours on it but I haven't been cutting as often as I should. Busy with other machines. I changed the break-in oil in the ZTR at the recommended 8 hours. Oil is cheap. The machines are not.

My mowing season typically goes until the end of November or into December. I may get a few more cuttings in so I'll change the oil at the start of next season--Maybe February or early March.

 

[bmg88201]

As a previous post said “oil is cheap, machines are not”. I change my oil in the winter when I put my mower to bed. I don’t want dirty oil sitting in the crankcase all winter no matter the amount of hours. Sludge and dirt will just settle in the engine over the winter.

 

[tibadoe]

I service all my small engines annually. Will do it sometime during the winter so it is ready to go whenever Spring decides to arrive. All mine seem to be less than the recommended hours. For me, it helps that I like working/servicing small engines.

 

[4570Man]

I wouldn’t change it until spring so you get out any condensation that happens over the winter.

 

[rScotty]

I have a zero turn that I purchased in July. It has only 20 hours on it. The manual says to change the oil every 50 hours. It seems on this forum many people change the oil before winter. Not sure if that is wasteful without only 20 hours. Could it wait until next summer when it clocks 50 hours?

New2, if you had asked about any other oil change than the first one I would say to wait. And even for the first one I don't think that waiting 'til Spring will do one bit of harm.

But.... just for something to think about, not all oil changes are done for the same reason. The very first oil change is not done because the oil is old or dirty or worn out. You don't change it the first time for the same reason you will change it from then on out. The first oil change is at low hours because it is mainly done to get the inevitable manufacturing debris out of the engine.

So for this first change, the hours to do it are a bit lopsided if you follow me. It probably won't hurt to wait, but there might possibly be an advantage to doing it early. I would personally regard the 50 hours as a Maximum.. I believe I changed the oil on my last tractor at about 40 hours and again before a 100. After that, you may want to go for extended intervals.

Here's something that might interest you, consider saving that first oil filter to open up someday (an old style can-opener is best - no particles) and have a look inside. You may be amazed at the amount of metal in there. Don't worry, that just means the filter is doing its job.

If you want to look at the oil itself, carefully put some drops of the used dirty oil onto a pad of blotting paper and put it aside to set for a few days or longer.
Then put the paper under a magnifying glass or dissecting microscope or what have you.... and have a look. You will see how the old oil has spread out and formed concentric rings of oil, soot, dirt, possible additives, and of course some fine metallic dust - not necessarily in that order.

You can even save the oil blots to compare with next year's oil.

There's lots more fun to be had here than just cutting grass ....
rScotty

 

[ZTMAN]

I have owned a number of zero turns from different manufacturers. Every one of the owners manual specified hours for a first oil change, any where from 10-15hrs. You do not state what ZT you purchased, but I would pull out your owners manual and see when the initial oil change should be done.

 

[Texasmark]

I have a zero turn that I purchased in July. It has only 20 hours on it. The manual says to change the oil every 50 hours. It seems on this forum many people change the oil before winter. Not sure if that is wasteful without only 20 hours. Could it wait until next summer when it clocks 50 hours?

Sulphur in petroleum products used to mix with condensation water and form H2SO4 which is Sulphuric Acid which attacks a lot of things including metal. Low Ash and Ultra Low fuel and engine oils have pretty much put this problem to bed. If I need an oil change my equipment gets it. If not it doesn't. Other thing to remember when reading owner's manuals is that the manual is written for the "world's owners/operators".....when you think about that the diversity is mind boggling.....case in point, I saw a picture of a Branson tractor owned by a Korean rice farmer who had called out a service truck to service his machine. The tractor was sitting running board deep in muck and had the Rice lug R1s all around....normal day at the office for him.

 

[rademamj1]

Its definitely a personal choice changing engine oil earlier than required. The only reason I would consider changing early, this is the first oil change for the machine. Typically, I always see small metal flakes in the oil on that first oil change. Might be beneficial to do the change early, and have clean oil without metal flakes on start up in the spring. Then stay on the recommended hours for oil changes thereafter.