I am considering using Shell Rotella T6 synthetic engine oil for my 2006 B21 TLB with approximately 500 hours of personal use on my small property for landscaping. Is there an opinion on the 0W40 and 5W40. The summer temperature here is a high of 90F or 32C and the winter temps get as low 0F or -20C. I use a block heater in the winter to pre warm the engine. The tractor is stored in my unheated garage and used to blow snow and clear snow with the bucket. During the winter the backhoe is removed for a 54 inch snow blower.
I am looking forward to your opinions. I have used the 5W40 version of the T6 for the last three winters without any issues or oil usage.
This will open the proverbial can of worms but.......
Many say that synthetic is too slick and wont stick, it creates leaks, etc.....
Most people do NOT understand the terms when they look at a container of oil either, and some people really think it is best to use straight 30 weight in their engines year round
(cause it said so in 1960)
Like with ALL technologies, most have improved our lives, oil has been engineered to work harder and we demand it to make a our car engines last longer. Most of us over the age of 50 remember cars that had 50,000 miles on them were about done! Now we consider the a "good" car to be "dead" at 300,000 miles......most of this is a direct relationship to the oil(s) in those cars, and the technologies that places those parts in close connection to one another.
Oils have been made sooooo much better over the last 50 years, so much better, anyone that changes their oil in a car every 3,000 miles is crazy! Because, unless you drove through the sand of the desert or threw sand in the oil, it simply does not lose it's effectiveness.....now someone is thinking - well WHY does KUBOTA and most all others want you to change the oil so early ( 50 hours) - well it has nothing really to do with the breakdown of the oil - IT HAS everything to do with the "stuff" that is floating in and around the oil....the oil isnt bad, the casting oils, the small micro particles of metal and the large particles of stuff that somehow get into the engine and the shear break-in of all those metal to metal parts are floating around in there and you really want to get that stuff out! The filter does a good job but you dooooo want to get that stuff out, then another 150 or more hours or so you do it all over again.....why - because MOST of the bad stuff you got the first time, well you hope you did.
How many of us have looked at oil and seen that it was dark? You say - time to change the oil.........dark oil is not necessarily a bad thing, it is simply doing it's job, taking bad things and wrapping them up and though it looks dirty, much like you take a clean rag and wipe up something up with it, looks dirty but still has the ability to clean more.......
getting back on the oil - synthetic vs. standard oil, noooooo question here, no arguments, those WHO dont believe, well - dont use it.........synthetic is better......period, period - case closed. Why? Because Synthetic simply does NOT lose it's ability to lubricate over time as fast as regular oil. DO your research on how and why. Too much to try to explain here......
go here for a lot more reading :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_oil
Diesels engines pollute the oil differently than gas engines, the oil needs to have different stuff in it to take that into effect. You would not want to run a gasoline engine oil in your diesel engine, it is not going to handle the soot and other stuff as well. Same types of oils, different additives.
Now lets look at the numbers.......old days you had 30 weight oil, what does that mean? the NUMBER defines how it POURS at a certain temperature....
we call this viscosity - the lower the number the better it pours, the higher the "thicker" is pours............ever pour honey out of the refridge?
good reading here - explains the "numbers" very well
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/motor-oil-101/
anyway -moving on, this is a short post anyway
,
the oil you decide on using should be the oil that fits the needs of the place on the planet you live and what the manufacturer says. Kubota has no way of know if a machine is going to the cold part of Canada or the tip of Mexico, I would say that two different kinds of ranges must be met there. You guys up north, when you turn your key, you want the oil to flow quickly and do its job at -20 F or worse, and the people in the hot climates want the same! But do not need the same oil, both need the strength of the oil based on the use and the place that wear you live.( and the conditions you use it)
Use what Kubota says to use - for your climate, IF THE oil meets the SPECS, use it for that area.
Most of us would place the newer, SUDT2 in our machines.....it IS better, it does cost a small fortune......but IT IS better, it works better than the stuff before it.....and when the "3" comes out, it will be better too, and you will need to pay more for it !
Now this is a long post - sorry - and those who dont see the same thoughts, read and learn more about how oil works and how it breaks down over time and the difference between standard oil and synthetic oils, there are sooooo many mistruths out there.
Here is just one NASCAR page talking about the myths :
http://www.drivenracingoil.com/news...otor-oil-fact-or-fiction-we-have-the-answers/
ok - my 2.5 cents are done - tired of typing
