pump oil from fill plug on hydrostatic trans..YES

[man00]

I made a post month or so ago about trying to pump the oil from a Hydrogear hrdro. For me it worked out fine, a little hard trying to fit the pump line in to the bottom of trans. So I raised the from of the mower with my jack as high as I could and started to pump. I got just about 3.5qts out and for those who said it wasn't needed to change the oil..I have to disagree..the oil was very dirty. Anyway filled it with castrol dino oil 20-50w, did some purging of air. No problems at all ran perfect in fact seems to be faster than before..maybe it was the dirty oil..dunno. I just didn't want to go through the hassle of pulling the thing out of mower.

[KE4AVB]

If the oil was very dirty then it needed changing but I would suspect there is reason why it was so dirty, either from thermal breakdown, wear, or seal problems. Thermal breakdown is a good possibility as these get cover in grass clippings that never get cleaned off except when a tech is working on one. Nearly all the units I work on the oil is very clean seldom ever need changing but it does get change when I go in for repairs; just plain common sense.

[man00]

If the oil was very dirty then it needed changing but I would suspect there is reason why it was so dirty, either from thermal breakdown, wear, or seal problems. Thermal breakdown is a good possibility as these get cover in grass clippings that never get cleaned off except when a tech is working on one. Nearly all the units I work on the oil is very clean seldom ever need changing but it does get change when I go in for repairs; just plain common sense.

It is a older mower..I bought it used three year ago. I try and maintain one as good as my skill will allow. I think maybe the hot summers here in Okla can take a toll. My wife uses it more than me..I think the kubota is a better mower than our other older JD LX176. I grew tired of loading the mowers up and mowing where we keep horses. There is about 2 acre we mow there and keep the JD out there...Sorry for the life story...thanks for your input.
One more thing..seems Kawi is saying to use 20w-50w in their engines..my FX850v has 50 hour on it..I put Castrol 20-50w in it sounded like a sewing machine..I drained it out and put 10-30 back in..sounds normal again. This engine doesn't use any oil between changes at all. Maybe got some bad oil?

[KE4AVB]

Strange they would recommend 20W50 when it is not even listed the service manual. It would better to use 5w30 or 10w30 synthetic oil as it has a higher operating temperature. 50 weight is a little too heavier oil to use in my opinion for small use other than hydros.

[bgsengine]

I agree - Would like to know where it was said that Kawi is saying to use 20W50 - It is way too heavy for a power equipment engine.. unless you're operating it in very hot climates like Central America or Death Valley, California or the Sahara Desert Only time I ever used 20W50 in a lawnmower engine is when I am topping off my "beater" (piece of junk all cobbled together and burns oil like a bug fogger.. It still hasn't thrown the rod yet!)

[man00]

I think you guys may be right, I couldn't find where Kawi said to use 20w-50w,,They did say using 10-30 could make the engine use more oil.
This is in their big block motors..Seems like the newer ones are oil burners

[KE4AVB]

That would be because conventional 10w30 has an upper temperature limit lower than SAE30 oil; therefore tends to breakdown quicker therefore get burn up more easily especially during extreme heat. The solution for this is to use synthetic 10w30 which higher thermal temperature breakdown temperature. That something I need carefully on oil changes here especially I if expect temps over 100F going to be expected in the near future. Other words if I doing an oil change and next weeks temps are forecasted to be 100+F then I either install SAE30 or see if the customer willing to pay the extra for synthetic oil.

We did the same thing on Macks trucks as we used SAE30HD (Rotella Diesel) only during the summer months as these trucks were on the road up to 10 hrs a day with never shutting the engine down except for breaks and refueling. Never seen much oil usage other than the regular 36 qts oil changes. Aren't you glad your car only a few quarts.