nailsbeats
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2007
- Messages
- 135
I live in Wisconsin. Can I use 15w40 motor oil in my Bobcat in the winter?
Tazza, I meant using the oil in the engine. I run Mobil hydraulic oil with no problems. I have been using Rotella 10w30 in my engine, but switched to 15w40 this last summer. Just wondering how bad it will effect my cold start-ups seeing as our winters here can get as cold as Ken's. When it warrants it I plug in the block heater.I can't see an issue using just about any standard hydrostatic oil. Just make sure you let the oil warm up before you jump in and start working it. I remember reading in my manual that you should run the machine for 10 or so minutes before you start working it to get it to warm up. It even recommends to warm it up faster to engage the aux hydraulics which makes the oil warm up much faster. 15W40 is still quite light and the good thing is it can be used in the engine too.
Ken is the man to speak to about oil, he runs very light oil in the winter, but his winters get lower than -30C. BURRRRRRRR
If you use a block heater at all you won't have any problems. The 10w30 may help abit below 0 but the block heater would take care of that easily. We use it year around even in our heavy plow trucks.Tazza, I meant using the oil in the engine. I run Mobil hydraulic oil with no problems. I have been using Rotella 10w30 in my engine, but switched to 15w40 this last summer. Just wondering how bad it will effect my cold start-ups seeing as our winters here can get as cold as Ken's. When it warrants it I plug in the block heater.
We run it in our semi year round but we also have a oil pan heater to go with the block heater. I would not feel to comfortable starting a engine below -10 or 15f without heating the oil pan somehow using 15/40. (set a qt outside and see how it pours this winter.)If you use a block heater at all you won't have any problems. The 10w30 may help abit below 0 but the block heater would take care of that easily. We use it year around even in our heavy plow trucks.
This was a fair morning to test viscosity, we had 0 F and I see ken was on at midmorning so where he is must have been a lot cooler than that.We run it in our semi year round but we also have a oil pan heater to go with the block heater. I would not feel to comfortable starting a engine below -10 or 15f without heating the oil pan somehow using 15/40. (set a qt outside and see how it pours this winter.)
The block heater will make you machine start, but it won't warm the pan much. If you tarp the loader and plug in all night it will some then. (Magnetic heaters are available that stick to the oil pan.) But not in a hour or two.
We use 15/40 alot in out site prep skidders (engine and hydraulics) but they only run in or out of the shop in the winter for maintenance. The hydraulics will barely move at 0 f until they run for 10 minutes.
I have never seen where Bobcat recommends anything heavier then 10/30. So why run a heavy oil even for summer use? I have never had a engine die at low hours on me and its hard to say if 15/40 will run more hours then say 5/30.
But I do know when you start a engine at -15 and colder, its a long 5 to 10 seconds before the pressures comes up and thicker oil makes it longer.
My Nh runs a small steel line (like a injector line) from the cam and crankshaft galleries to the head for the valves and rocker. The oil pressure sender is up on the head end. One -20 day last winter, I had 10/30 in it and for some reason I had left it outside over night. I needed it the next day (had not planned to use it but) so I plugged it in for a hour and it fired right up. I left it to run and was walking away and it died. I though it froze up the fuel. But when I walked back to it the buzzer was going and the engine had shut off because 30 seconds had elapsed (that the figure the shutdown system uses) and it still had no pressure at the sender. This is when I learned about the small line. Then I did not know if I should try it again or not. I tarped it up and put a heater under it for 2 more hours and it was ok. Made a point of parking it in the shop the rest of the winter. later I spoke to the NH dealer and they said 0w 40 year round. It has survived without any trouble since. But that was a sick feeling. I ran 0/40 all last summer without incident.
I believe in heavy oil for summer use, but if its all season use, I more of a fan of light oil, especially for engines I tend to run in short intervals, like my skidsteers. Unlike our semi that starts once and never gets cold the rest of the day.
My $.02
Ken
Thanks for the info guys. I have a heated shop to store it in, I will just make shure that its in there every night. Sometimes it gets left outside when I am doing a woodworking project or something and need the floor space. No problem though, I can plug it in and tarp it with another heater to heat the pan. Thanks.We run it in our semi year round but we also have a oil pan heater to go with the block heater. I would not feel to comfortable starting a engine below -10 or 15f without heating the oil pan somehow using 15/40. (set a qt outside and see how it pours this winter.)
The block heater will make you machine start, but it won't warm the pan much. If you tarp the loader and plug in all night it will some then. (Magnetic heaters are available that stick to the oil pan.) But not in a hour or two.
We use 15/40 alot in out site prep skidders (engine and hydraulics) but they only run in or out of the shop in the winter for maintenance. The hydraulics will barely move at 0 f until they run for 10 minutes.
I have never seen where Bobcat recommends anything heavier then 10/30. So why run a heavy oil even for summer use? I have never had a engine die at low hours on me and its hard to say if 15/40 will run more hours then say 5/30.
But I do know when you start a engine at -15 and colder, its a long 5 to 10 seconds before the pressures comes up and thicker oil makes it longer.
My Nh runs a small steel line (like a injector line) from the cam and crankshaft galleries to the head for the valves and rocker. The oil pressure sender is up on the head end. One -20 day last winter, I had 10/30 in it and for some reason I had left it outside over night. I needed it the next day (had not planned to use it but) so I plugged it in for a hour and it fired right up. I left it to run and was walking away and it died. I though it froze up the fuel. But when I walked back to it the buzzer was going and the engine had shut off because 30 seconds had elapsed (that the figure the shutdown system uses) and it still had no pressure at the sender. This is when I learned about the small line. Then I did not know if I should try it again or not. I tarped it up and put a heater under it for 2 more hours and it was ok. Made a point of parking it in the shop the rest of the winter. later I spoke to the NH dealer and they said 0w 40 year round. It has survived without any trouble since. But that was a sick feeling. I ran 0/40 all last summer without incident.
I believe in heavy oil for summer use, but if its all season use, I more of a fan of light oil, especially for engines I tend to run in short intervals, like my skidsteers. Unlike our semi that starts once and never gets cold the rest of the day.
My $.02
Ken
We were -6 f this morning with a stiff breeze that set the wind chill @ -18Thanks for the info guys. I have a heated shop to store it in, I will just make shure that its in there every night. Sometimes it gets left outside when I am doing a woodworking project or something and need the floor space. No problem though, I can plug it in and tarp it with another heater to heat the pan. Thanks.
Location and climate conditions need to be factored in the decision of selecting your grade of oils , weather it be engine or hydraulics -----I feel for you'll below freezing as I personally I can't handle it , Down here on the Bayou it was too cold for me yeaterday as we had 46 for a nightly low , 51 for a morning low and 63 as a 3pm high , and believe it or not I seen problems related to the change of weather yesterday , 334 Bobcat flashing a 2-17 code which meant plugged charge filter , it had 15w40 in the hydraulic tank , once warmed up the code went away , I believe hydraulic oil in the hydraulic tank is the way to go , down here I believe 15-40 is better than the 10-30 Bobcat recomendation in the engines as it gets really hot in the summer and mild in the winterWe were -6 f this morning with a stiff breeze that set the wind chill @ -18
First sub zero F day of the fall
Ken