Rotella T(6) 5W40 in your tractors.

[davesl708]

I've used T6 in my diesel engines for a few years. I have been gradually using up my various oils, and then converting to T6 in my small gas engines too. It's funny how defensive some get over oil, and just recently it was "wrong" to use 5w30 or 5w40 synthetics in small gas engines since the manuals said to use SAE 30. Briggs and Stratton is now saying: "A synthetic oil SAE 5W-30 is the best for very cold temperatures of -20 to as high as 120° F (-30 to 40° C) providing the best protection at all temperatures as well as improved starting with less oil consumption". Just think of all the internet space that will be freed up when oil debates are a thing of the past.

I agree. However, I was using 10-30 in my wood chipper and is was using oil. I dug deeper into the manual and it states if you use multi-weight oil it will burn oil and should use straight 30w. Switched to syn 30w and problem went away. The engine is B&S. My push mower, riding mower and generator are also B&S and I use 10-30 in them and they do not burn oil. Go figure.

 

[Copperhead]

Those are reasons I have grown fond of the Amsoil 10w30/30w in my compact and in my smaller engines. A straight 30w synthetic that also qualifies as a 10w30 due to the better winter flow rating it has, using no viscosity improvers at all. After all, the number in front of the "w" on any oil has nothing to do with viscosity, but is a measure of the winter flow rating. To get there, most oils use viscosity improvers that change as temperature changes. The Amsoil product doesn't need any. I use a gas version for my portable generators, zero turn mower, etc and a diesel version for my NH compact. Everything starts up easily even down at -20F. If a portable generator can ride on the frame rail of a commercial semi truck in sub zero weather, uses a 30w synthetic like the Amsoil 10w30/30w, and starts up with one or two pulls in those conditions, and has over 300 hrs on it doing so, and runs great, that should be ample evidence. I used that portable all winter long on my semi truck.

 

[vsteel]

While I am a fan of just having one oil, I use the Shell T6 in everything except one thing. I have a 2014 Ford Explorer and it wants 5w20. Normally I would just go ahead and pour the T6 in but this time I didn't because it has variable valve timing (VVT). Some of those systems are oil controlled and putting in too different of a weight will cause issues. So now I stock two oils, one for the Explorer and one for everything else.

On a side note I am a big synthetic fan, I started running it in my lawn mower 15 years ago because I always had left over quarts from my motorcycle. I change the oil once a year and always check it before starting but it still starts on a first pull. It is just a little push mower with a generic B&S motor. I have two acres and I had to mow it with that little push mower for the first few years until I could get a rider.

 

[rnh1]

I've used T6 with a quart of Lucas thrown in with good results in gas and diesel

 

[Copperhead]

You would want to use a good quality oil and then dilute it with a 150w base oil with no beneficial additives of any kind? Why not just use a 15w40 or even a 15w50 motor oil? There have been a number of folks who have sent samples of Lucas to the labs where they get their used oil analysis done, and the LOS has no beneficial additives of any kind. It is just a 150w heavy base oil that is nothing more than a thickener. And considering that any motor oil, roughly 20% is additives that help control wear, sludge, oxidation, etc and by adding LOS, it just dilutes the mix. But Forrest Lucas is a master at marketing and has a lot of folks on board. Just hard to convince me that my 1996 Cummins N-14 would have done any better with the stuff than the Kendall 15w40 conventional oil I used in it, doing 30,000 mile oil changes, and taking the motor to 1.4 million miles with no major repairs. Just one injector and an accessory drive seal. Then it went right to work for the next owner. Or the motor after that, that I took to 968,000 miles on Mystic JT-8 15w40. No snake oil of any kind.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

You would want to use a good quality oil and then dilute it with a 150w base oil with no beneficial additives of any kind? Why not just use a 15w40 or even a 15w50 motor oil? There have been a number of folks who have sent samples of Lucas to the labs where they get their used oil analysis done, and the LOS has no beneficial additives of any kind. It is just a 150w heavy base oil that is nothing more than a thickener. And considering that any motor oil, roughly 20% is additives that help control wear, sludge, oxidation, etc and by adding LOS, it just dilutes the mix. But Forrest Lucas is a master at marketing and has a lot of folks on board. Just hard to convince me that my 1996 Cummins N-14 would have done any better with the stuff than the Kendall 15w40 conventional oil I used in it, doing 30,000 mile oil changes, and taking the motor to 1.4 million miles with no major repairs. Just one injector and an accessory drive seal. Then it went right to work for the next owner. Or the motor after that, that I took to 968,000 miles on Mystic JT-8 15w40. No snake oil of any kind.

All good points.

 

[Kc8ehd]

If Amsoil would start selling their goods in REAL bricks and Mortar stores, then I would buy it, but until that happens, T6 is they way I will go. I want something that is readily available, that I can buy at any time, Amsoil is not that easy.


Opinions appreciated folks, please keep them coming.

df.

I agree , especially since Amsoil is now selling basically the same hydocracked synthetic as T6 Rotella ...be careful with AMSOIL their labels are somewhat misleading....yes I know they still sale a Poa at a much higher cost

 

[Texasmark]

The Bransons are the only tractors I ever bought new. They have only had T6 their entire lives.