How about synthetic in a TZ25?

wny770 · Oct 24, 2007

I bought a woods SS52 for my TZ25 and want to use it this winter to blow snow. Is synthetic a good idea for an engine with only 85 hours on it? I thought maybe the synthetic would be a good idea for the colder weather. Any suggetions as to what weight or brand to use? It seldom gets colder that 5 or 10 below here. The "usual" winter lows are in the single to teens... Thanks!

TZ25 FEL, MMM, Woods RB, Tiller, and BB48 cutter.

DieselPower · Oct 24, 2007

No problem with switching to synthetic. As for viscosity what does it call for? If it calls for something like a 10W/30 then you could go with synthetic 10W/30 or 5W/30 for better cold flow properties. If it's a diesel that spec's a 15W/40 then you can use 15W/40 or the other popular synthetic diesel oil viscosity is 5W/40. The lower first number is the winter/cold viscosity, the lower the number the better the cold flow properties.

IH3444 · Oct 24, 2007

Rule of thumb as I understand it is that 1 hour equals 40 miles in an automobile. So 85 hours is 3400 miles. The recommended time to switch to synthetics is about 5000-6000 miles. I switched my 1999 JD Scotts 2554 over at 6.5 hours. So as you can see I can't even follow simple recommendations. The Scotts now has over 350 hours on it, runs great, no smoke, gets good fuel comsumption. A compression test this past August on both cylinders was 185psi, and 190psi. I use Mobil 1, 15w-50 in the Kohler Command twin cylinder engine. I think you will be happy with switching over, and I'm sure you have enough hours. You may want to use a 5w-40 Mobil diesel synthetic offered at Walmarts, due to you low temps in the winter. That is what I am switching my TC48 to.

MikePA · Oct 24, 2007

IH3444 said:
The recommended time to switch to synthetics is about 5000-6000 miles.

Recommended by whom?

wny770 · Oct 24, 2007

The manual says 10W30, so thats what I'll use. I'll let her drain overnight and fill with synthetic. Thanks.

dqdave1 · Oct 24, 2007

I switched to synthetic but went to 5W-30 and you will notice the cold weather starting difference.
I believe you could have put synthetic in it when brand new and had no problems. A newly rebuilt engine may want to use regular oil for a breakin period.