SuzukiSavage.com - Small engine oil

rl153 Serious Thumper Offline S40 Just right! Posts: 906 Bloomfield,CT Gender:	Small engine oil 12/01/11 at 14:08:26 My generator for my home is supposed to use small engine oil, 10-w30. Is that the same as motorcycle oil, atv oil, or auto oil ,or does it matter?Thanks!
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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: Small engine oil Reply #1 - 12/01/11 at 15:09:15 No clutch to consider, so you can run friction modifiers. YOu can run any oil you want.
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rl153 Serious Thumper Offline S40 Just right! Posts: 906 Bloomfield,CT Gender:	Re: Small engine oil Reply #2 - 12/01/11 at 15:21:46 Thanks
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mpescatori Serious Thumper Offline Romanum Thumperium Cavalco, yeaaah !!! Posts: 3547 Rome, Italy Gender:	Re: Small engine oil Reply #3 - 12/02/11 at 08:26:15 "Small engine" oil is really oil made to run in small engines 0> engines with teensy weensy oil passageways. Hence the old tradition of using "light" (="runny") oils in the "0 - 30" range. Modern synthetic oils are much more compatible, so my assumprion is any 10-40 or 10-30 oil is good.
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Gyrobob

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Re: Small engine oil
Reply #4 - 12/04/11 at 17:46:23

"Small engine oil" is actually a mispelling of the correct term "Small Injun Oil" which refers to oil handcrafted one cup at a time in tepees by Injuns no more than 5'2" tall. Briggs and Stratton was originally formed by Red Deer Briggs and Crazy Fox Stratton, both descendants of a long line of short (small) Injuns,... hence the requirement for Small Injun Oil.

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bill67 Serious Thumper Offline old tired Posts: 8517 genoa city wisconsin Gender:	Re: Small engine oil Reply #5 - 12/04/11 at 18:16:31 Gyro you finally said something that makes sense.
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Re: Small engine oil
Reply #6 - 12/04/11 at 18:19:56

mpescatori wrote on 12/02/11 at 08:26:15:

"Small engine" oil is really oil made to run in small engines 0> engines with teensy weensy oil passageways.

Hence the old tradition of using "light" (="runny") oils in the "0 - 30" range.

Modern synthetic oils are much more compatible, so my assumprion is any 10-40 or 10-30 oil is good.

0w/30 is a newer oil they have had small engine oil for years nothing to to with small oil passageways.

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WD

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Re: Small engine oil
Reply #7 - 12/04/11 at 19:41:11

Old engines run ND (HD) 30 weight. New engines you'd best stick with what the manual recommends... Service truck air compressor exploded after the big end rod bearing spun. Oil pump worked fine, but 15W40 diesel oil was a bad idea... Cam snapped in half, crank mount tore out of the casing, piston cracked...

New compressor was only $500 more than a replacement engine.

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dasch

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Re: Small engine oil
Reply #8 - 12/05/11 at 00:59:49

Gyrobob wrote on 12/04/11 at 17:46:23:

"Small engine oil" is actually a mispelling of the correct term "Small Injun Oil" which refers to oil handcrafted one cup at a time in tepees by Injuns no more than 5'2" tall. Briggs and Stratton was originally formed by Red Deer Briggs and Crazy Fox Stratton, both descendants of a long line of short (small) Injuns,... hence the requirement for Small Injun Oil.

Injuns no more than 5'2'' tall... hahahahahahah

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justin_o_guy2

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Re: Small engine oil
Reply #9 - 12/05/11 at 07:05:34

WD wrote on 12/04/11 at 19:41:11:

Old engines run ND (HD) 30 weight. New engines you'd best stick with what the manual recommends... Service truck air compressor exploded after the big end rod bearing spun. Oil pump worked fine, but 15W40 diesel oil was a bad idea... Cam snapped in half, crank mount tore out of the casing, piston cracked...

New compressor was only $500 more than a replacement engine.

What a costly mistake that was.. a few of those & a guy could go broke.,

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Re: Small engine oil
Reply #10 - 12/05/11 at 18:30:46

Not with the amount of federal disaster recovery contracts the company gets.

Now at my place it's a different story. All the pre-2004 small engines get ethanol free fuel, synthetic 2 stroke for those nasty little noisemakers, Kohler engines get Kohler oil, Briggs and Tecumseh engines get whatever is handy since you can't hurt them.

Our pecan cleaner (blows out empty shells, dirt, grass, leaves, small twigs, etc) has a very primitive engine, you have to hand wind the starter rope. I could probably run that old 10 hp Briggs on kerosene with 90 weight in the crankcase. Pretty sure it is from the 50s. The pecan cracker (electric) is from the 30s. Come to think of it, so is my sewing machine...

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Boofer Serious Thumper Offline Nearly too old. Posts: 1760 N Ms Gender:	Re: Small engine oil Reply #11 - 12/06/11 at 18:18:13 So's your motorcycle engine.
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WD

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Re: Small engine oil
Reply #12 - 12/07/11 at 18:08:50

I wish, I hate OHC engines, much rather be riding a sidevalve. Of the 6 pickups on the farm, the only one I truly love has a 218 cubic inch flathead 6, released to service in 1933, series pulled from the market in 1970. Mine is a 1949, has a 1948 car engine right now, getting a 1957 car 230 flathead 6.

I've got a real nice 318/727 I'd love to swap for a 251L6/4 spd...

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Gyrobob

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Re: Small engine oil
Reply #13 - 12/08/11 at 07:29:57

WD wrote on 12/07/11 at 18:08:50:

I wish, I hate OHC engines, much rather be riding a sidevalve. Of the 6 pickups on the farm, the only one I truly love has a 218 cubic inch flathead 6, released to service in 1933, series pulled from the market in 1970. Mine is a 1949, has a 1948 car engine right now, getting a 1957 car 230 flathead 6.

I've got a real nice 318/727 I'd love to swap for a 251L6/4 spd...

Cool. This is the same mindset that puts ownership of a 1956 Harley KHK on my bucket list.

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