Synthetic Oil in older tractors?

39005 Views 32 Replies 15 Participants Last post by gaheard52, 3 mo ago

BigDogTrain

Discussion Starter · Dec 2, 2010

So I have started a side business of working on and restoring older tractors. I have put up some pictures on here in my gallery of one of them. I am getting a lot of people who want thier oil changed over to synthetic. Is it OK to run synthetic in a 4020 or 3020? Some people say it shrinks the seals, others say it will leak because its so much thinner. Other say its a myth. I would really like a good answer I can give my clients an feel confident that I am telling them the truth?

Save

1 - 2 of 33 Posts

arlen

· #20 · Jan 25, 2013

I use synthetic in everything. My logic is as follows:

1) Conventional oil has no advantages besides cost.
2) I can afford synthetic oil.
3) Synthetic oil thins less when heated.
4) Synthetic oil thickens less when cooled.
5) Synthetic oil cleans better.
6) Synthetic oil lasts longer.

How many more reasons do you need?

Save

Reactions: 2

arlen

· #25 · Jan 26, 2013

Maddog said:
but no one has stated there actual operating parameters that makes then want to use Syn.:

Cold temperature pour point. That's a widely published spec for most oils. Not only to synthetics shine in that arena, they do it without viscosity modifiers; which makes them more stable over a wider range of temperature.
I think many people use synthetics for that reason alone.
Every so often I put a couple of quarts of oil in my deep freeze for fun. My deep freeze is at -10 deg F. It is shocking how well the synthetic pours, while the conventional won't even pour out of the bottle. That was a "real world" test I first did 20 years ago, and that alone convinced me. All of the other advantages are icing on the cake.

On the point of being able to afford the synthetic, I was just saying that if the only disadvantage is cost, then it's not an issue for me.

Don't worry about opening a can of worms, people on this forum seem to like worms:laugh:

See less See more

Save

Reactions: 2

1 - 2 of 33 Posts

Top Contributors this Month