What motor oil brand do you use?

Well, yea. Maybe it idles nicer when your engine oil is thicker at the temperature drop. What do u add?

 

Oh. Well, I don't understand fuel additives because they just disappear after every tank. I've seen oil additives at chrome shops that add wear and tear protection to the engines metals. Those are intriguing.

 

I use John Deere plus 50 15w40 in everything from my atvs, pickup, skid steer,backhoe, farm tractor,379 & KW dump truck.

Good oil and I buy it in 55 gallon drums for about $14 a gallon.

I have too many things that take a lot of oil to mess with buying gallon jugs all the time and I hate hoisting 5 gallon buckets around. I have an air operated pump with a digital dispensing meter for the 55 gallon drums. Makes it a snap getting the right amount of oil in everything.

I see nothing wrong with delo or rotella but think the deere is slightly better and it doesn't cost that much more. In my deere machines using it I can extend oil change intervals and still maintain warranty.

I like synthetics mainly for cold starts but it never really gets that cold here. My 15w40 worked fine on cold starts here this week when it was in the teens and that is about as cold as we get. If I was up north in below zero I would probably go with a 5w40 but otherwise I can't justify the added cost. I have seen too many engines go to ultra high miles on regular oil just fine.

 

I don't have some fancy pump system on my drums, but I usually by in 55 drums myself. I keep around a dozen jugs I reuse and fill them from the drum and keep 10 on board the truck in the side box when it gets close to oil change time.

on the 15w40 vs 10w30 side of things. Can't speak to other engine brands, but Detroit is fully behind 10w30 for all but the old two strokes. As long as it meets 93K218 spec, no problem. Compared to 15w40, the 10w30 in my series 60 runs about 2 PSI less than 15w40. That is nothing of consequence. But I have to admit the motor is much smoother in both startup and operation. Likewise, I cannot justify full synthetic for similar reasons like cost and no appreciable evidence they extend engine life cycles. The 10w30 I use is a blend of 25% Group IV synthetic and 75% Group II+ with a very good add pack. And is very cost competitive with most other brand oils.

Most all the major brands are good oils. Even the so-called no name farm store supply stuff is pretty good. Most of those like Wally World's Supertech and such are blended by Warren Oil, which gets the same base oil and additive packages from the same suppliers as the big names do. Virtually every brand you can name gets it's motor oil additives from two major suppliers.. Infineum and Lubrizol. And 20% of any motor oil is additive package.

One thing I have learned in digging around, is that 10w30 tends to be more shear stable than 15w40 or 5w40 oils. Every motor oil has some viscosity improvers in it. Some more than others. It is the viscosity improvers that "shear" under extreme pressure and cause a oil to go out of grade. And contrary to common perception, thicker is not always better. Hydrodynamic and boundary lubrication and other factors come in to play. So, I have not had any problem going to a 10w30.

But go ahead and use any oil that helps you sleep at night. As long as it meets the spec you need for your motor and you follow good maintenance practices, there is little reason to worry and overthink the issue. I am not brand loyal to anything, be it equipment or oils. I am strictly a cost benefit kind of guy.

 

I see nothing wrong with 10w30. I would use it myself except a lot of my equipment manuals don't recommend it in ambient temps over 100 degrees. Being I am in west Texas we see those temps often. 105 and even 110 isn't too unusual so I choose 15w40. 10w30 may work fine in these temps but the 15w40 is what their charts list for my typical operating temps.

 

When I get a shop built I intend to switch over to 55 gallon drums. I think paying $11 a gallon for 5 gallon buckets sucks but it sure beats the heck out of $14-$18 you typically see for 1 gallon jugs. When I have seen where some of you guys post of buying synthetic blend in a drum from your local distributor at about $7 or $8 a gallon that's where I really want to be. John Deere, CAT, Cummins will all honor any oil related failure regardless what brand of oil you are using as long as it meets their specs and is documented. According to the Moss Magnusson Act they have to. Oil related failure is one of those things that would be like winning the lottery anyways, not going to happen.

 

I doubt you will find oil that cheap in 55 gallon drums unless it is no name. Cheapest name brand I have found is rotella at $579 a drum.

Now bulk oil where they bring a truck and fill your tank which I think is a 200 gallon minimum can probably get you in that $7-$8 range for name brand.