Oil & Fuel Oil Type for your Kubota........

[cp1969]

I found both Rotella 5W-40 synthetic and 15W-40 dino in the local Canadian tire here.

All the 15W-40's around here seem to have listed "Heavy duty diesel engine oil". The 5W-40 lists no such thing. I imagine it is the same Rotella 5W-40 that the rest of you are talking about and there is no such thing as 5W-40 for diesel engines and 5W-40 for non diesel engines?

I ask because I have seen 10W-30 for example with labelling that states "for diesel engines" and I have no clue how this differs to 10W-30 which does not state this.

There is quite a bit of difference in the additive package contained in API class "C" (diesel) oil and API "S" (gasoline) oil.

 

[kkesler]

I found both Rotella 5W-40 synthetic and 15W-40 dino in the local Canadian tire here.

All the 15W-40's around here seem to have listed "Heavy duty diesel engine oil". The 5W-40 lists no such thing. I imagine it is the same Rotella 5W-40 that the rest of you are talking about and there is no such thing as 5W-40 for diesel engines and 5W-40 for non diesel engines?

I ask because I have seen 10W-30 for example with labelling that states "for diesel engines" and I have no clue how this differs to 10W-30 which does not state this.

Interesting. The Rotella T 5W-40 synthetic we are using is a "C" oil (it doesn't say anything about diesels on the front, but that is what the API C designation means).

 

[chrisjbell]

Well, the Oil Wars are in full swing again...

But FWIIW, at work we have a reasonably large fleet of Kubota diesel engines in our equipment, including three of the M tractors. All of the engines have well over 1000 hours, some are in the 6000 hour range. They are operated at WOT all the time, some used daily, others sit for months at a time (depends on machine function and time of year).

We use Ramos fleet oil out of a 55 gallon drum. No additives. Kubota filters some of the time, but when available we use the less expensive aftermarket versions. Fleet hydraulic fluid.

Some of the maintenance practices have been atrocious and it isn't uncommon for me to find a machine that probably hasn't had its oil changed in, literally, years.

None of the engines have had oil related failures or problems.

Once I saw that evidence first hand I stopped using the expensive Kubota brand oils and filters on my own machines .

 

[ericbx1500]

Its like asking whats your favorite song or singer. It all comes down to peace of mind and good maintenance practices. Oh by the way I use amsoil Series 3000 Synthetic 5W-30 Heavy-Duty Diesel Oil (HDD).

 

[SteveA]

Used the Royal Purple stuff for my first 2 oil changes. Just noticed that our local WM now carries the Mobil 1 diesel oil. Might switch over to that or use the Rotella Syn. the next time around.

 

[DiezNutz]

All the 15W-40's around here seem to have listed "Heavy duty diesel engine oil". The 5W-40 lists no such thing. I imagine it is the same Rotella 5W-40 that the rest of you are talking about and there is no such thing as 5W-40 for diesel engines and 5W-40 for non diesel engines?

My Rotella T 5W-40 syn bottle just says "Heavy Duty Motor Oil" and there is no distinction. Why? Reading the label you'll find lots of key words & phrases to let you know it's geared toward diesels. Does that mean it shouldn't be used in gasoline engines? 'Course not... in addition to CI-4 PLUS it also has rather current Service ratings SL & SJ. Diesels require more & additional oil additives that gasoline engines do not, but in most cases it's simply a little "extra insurance" to use a heavy-duty "diesel oil" in a gasoline engine and doesn't hurt anything*. Sort of like putting 93 octane in your car that only requires 87... may or may not help, but certainly won't hurt. I would say crotchrocket engines qualify as a heavy duty application.

*Regardless, always check the label and the "donut" to make sure oil service & category is correct for your application. I posted this elsewhere, but here's a handy API service guide for anyone interested in what the letters & numbers mean. It really should be required reading.
http://www.apicj-4.org/EngineOilGuide2006.pdf

 

[canoetrpr]

Thanks for the info DiezNutz.

 

[Jabroni]

.........Rotella T isn't all that great of an oil, but if you change it at 50hr intervals like you are supposed to, it's fine.....

I had a Dodge Cummins Turbodiesel that ran 250,000 miles on nothing but that not-so-great oil when I sold it this year. Nothing like the smell of hot, fresh Rotella T!

 

[Marcussen]

Water (coolant) related failures a much more common than oil related. Flushing and changing coolant is a maintenance function overlooked by a lot of people that does regular oil changes. That being said I use Rotella T 5W-40 in my tractor and change it once a year or every 100 hours whichever comes first, I am sure that in my climate 15W-40 would work well too, but the tractor only holds 6 quarts so it's cheap insurance. I use Kubota filter only because I can't find the right Wix or Purolator in any stores around here.

 

[lawn_king]

Shell rotella 15 40 here. We have used it for years in kubota, isuzu and international diesels with no problems, commercial landscape duty.

 

[hill]

Realizing that I'm somewhat off topic I nevertheless think I've a relevant question:

It is good practice to use a dino oil in a new engine in order to allow sufficient friction to seat the piston rings. In general a minimum of 5000 road miles in an automotive use engine is a recommended wait period before switching to a synthetic oil if such switch is contemplated. Some subscribe to longer break-in beliefs

But how do tractor hours equate to road miles for the purpose of determining reasonably that the cylinder piston ring seal has been adequately made? How many hours to run before safely changing to a full synthetic oil?

I am fully convinced of the superiority of synthetics for all purposes and have been since being introduced to their use in 1968 in army helicopter maintenance training to do with gas turbine engines used in the UH1 and OH-6 helicopters of that time. Nothing encountered during a subsequent 20 year period working in a fleet maintenance environment has changed my early belief, and a ten year period of legal work in environmental compliance only substantiated my faith in synthetics. Now I use them at first opportunity in everything I own that needs oils for lubrication.

So I'd like to change out the factory fill ASAP - as soon as the rings are seated, nevermind the 50 hour service intervals.

Has anyone made a decision for themselves as to how many hours of runtime if less than 50 is enough to assure ring seating, and if so what reasoning was used to come to the determination?

 

[RobertN]

Are you running air cooled? If so, diesel rated oil has more of the high temp high pressure addititives in it that would work better. Water cooled is more controlled lower temp environment, and does not need the same additives.

Interesting. The Rotella T 5W-40 synthetic we are using is a "C" oil (it doesn't say anything about diesels on the front, but that is what the API C designation means).

 

[DiezNutz]

But how do tractor hours equate to road miles for the purpose of determining reasonably that the cylinder piston ring seal has been adequately made? How many hours to run before safely changing to a full synthetic oil?

The standard rule of thumb has been 1 tractor hour = 60 miles, based on (big surprise) 60 mph road speed. Adjust accordingly if your tractor spends alot of time idling or at low rpm. So based on this, 50 hours is only 3000 miles or less. As you might have guessed, noone knows the answer to whether YOUR rings are seated. I definitely would not switch over before 50 hrs, as the factory oil that shipped in your engine no doubt has break-in additives in it.

 

[ihookem]

I use to use the cheapest oil I could find in my trucks and cars and changed oil every eight thousand miles after 100k. After 200k I don't change at all. I never had a problem with an engine in my life except my 70 Nova 230 6 cyl. It used some oil. I started useing Mobil 1 in my Duramax cause I want 500k mi. out of it. I will bet the cheapest oil of the right visc. will run a Kubota 10k hrs. and by then the Kubota is junk. I used an off brand oil at Fleet Farm made by Citgo. I do change my 7510 twice a year. cause of the oil visc. About every 75 hrs.

 

[don716]

Well, I checked my local O'reillys parts store and I can get the Delo 400 or the Rotell 15w40 for $9.99 gal. Both are HD oil for diesel engines. He said both oils were the same to him but the Rotell was easier to locate.I guess i will go with Rotell 15w40.
Donny

 

[Skyco]

If you want, your O'reilly's can get you the 10w-30 weight Rotella T. Had my local one get it for me, had it the next day, same price $9.99 a gallon.
I use Delo in my Ford PowerStroke in the 15W-40 and will probably switch over to that oil after the warranty expires. Still a little puzzled why Kubota recommends 10W-30 when the rest of the diesel world has pretty much settled on 15W-40

 

[DiezNutz]

Still a little puzzled why Kubota recommends 10W-30 when the rest of the diesel world has pretty much settled on 15W-40

Fair enough... but can any of us legitimately second-guess the folks that designed & built the engine? They must've had a pretty darn good reason...

 

[hill]

Still a little puzzled why Kubota recommends 10W-30 when the rest of the diesel world has pretty much settled on 15W-40

It's all about clearances. Smaller clearances means less space between metal parts, and oil viscosities are carefully chosen to minimize the time it takes to force oil into all of those spacings. I think it's safe to assume that if a manufacturer specifies a given oil viscosity for a particular engine it is doing so with careful consideration to all of the factors which dictate the full flow of lubrication to all of that engine's parts and we do well to follow their recommendations.

It does not work to decide that if it is diesel then such and such oil is right for it. There is no standard diesel oil.

We are seeing engines today that are built to such tight tolerances that zero weight oils are specified when cold with multiviscosity oils that range from 0-30wt or 5-30wt and the like. Such stuff was unheard of not long ago whether for gas or diesel engines. Diesels in particular were often built to quite loose standards in comparison to those of today, tolerances which allowed the safe use of a straight 30wt oil.

Kubota, along with many of the Japanese manufacturers seem to have begun building engines and other things to marvelously close tolerances early on. I remember being awestruck by the jewel-like interior surfaces of a Honda 250 Scrambler engine in 1966 - so different from those in my 283 Chevy engine!

 

[DiezNutz]

Excellent post hill. Further goes to explain why you shouldn't assume that the same weight oil you dump into some huge Cummins is the appropriate thing for your Kubota. Again, I think this is really applies to when the engine is relatively new. Later down the road if you want to switch things up, I don't think it matters so much.

 

[Skyco]

It's all about clearances. Smaller clearances means less space between metal parts, and oil viscosities are carefully chosen to minimize the time it takes to force oil into all of those spacings. I think it's safe to assume that if a manufacturer specifies a given oil viscosity for a particular engine it is doing so with careful consideration to all of the factors which dictate the full flow of lubrication to all of that engine's parts and we do well to follow their recommendations.

Yeah I still cringe everytime I change the oil in the wife's Honda Pilot...they insist on a 5w-20, I started in the era when I put 20w-50 in everything