C-125 SEAT TIME

[illinilefttackle 399]

:P The sweet ole girl really did well today. It snowed like crazy here last nite and today-sometimes 3" an hour-it was that wet, heavy stuff. When I got home this after noon I must have had cabin fever, because I couldn't wait to plow snow. Nothing like the UP or Canadian guys, but pretty good anyway. That tractor did almost anything I asked it to. I was pushing piles higher than the blade at times-but once I found the "sweet spot" on the Hydro-she could n't be stopped.

I took out the regular oil I had in it and put in MOBILE 1 - 10-30w. Even tho I worked it hard-It didn't use as much oil as it did with the reg oil. Is that normal? It always burned some ( I have to do something about it) but don't want to put the Tractor down to do it.

I had a good 2 1/2 hours seat time today-Great! Sorry no pics-my camera is on vacation. Thanks-AL :D

[nylyon-(Admin) 7,264]

Very nice, a good snow storm is great for the soul, and the horse too. Nothing but freezing rain here today :D

[perry 82]

glad you had some seat time. always fun playin in the snow .

mobil 1?. i put sythetic oil in my 8hp kohler and it made it burn oil and start leaking from the head . it also consumed more oil. so i have mixed ideas on the sythetic oil. i dont think ill ever use it again in my small tractors. just my opinion :D

[combatmp29r 27]

OK I don't want to start a oil discussion god knows there are enough of those over on the yahoo groups. I do know that there is not a single oil manufacturer out there that will tell you to run synthetic in a flat tappet engine. They all actually recommend against it as it will cause internal damage over time. Now do I think you need to search high and low for the old rated oil SF Sh etc... Personally No. Keep it clean and keep it full and my opinion it will be fine. Now if your putting thousands of hours on a year maybe, but with 13 in the herd now I definately won't put that kind of hours any any one tractor

Sorry about the book :P

[kpinnc 11,883]

I am with Joel. Don't want to start anything BUT-

I use Rotella 30W SAE. It's pretty easy to find, and is the only straight 30 weight I've found that is "non-SM" rated. I've always heard that you should NEVER use multi-grade oils (10W/5W-whatever) in a mower/tractor engine.

I don't know much about oils, but my father-in-law works on diesels quite a bit (for 30+ years now). He swears by it, so that's good enough for me.

I like Mobil 1 for use in my truck, but haven't seen a straight 30 weight.

Kevin

[illinilefttackle 399]

My Bad -guys! I thought I saw 10w-30w in my tractor manual. I re-read it-it does say 10w-30w in temps under 32 degrees-BUT 30w is PREFERRED. Should I take this stuff out?-AL :D

[combatmp29r 27]

I run 10w-30 in the winter in the ones I plan to use in the cold. I don't run synthetic though. Flip of a coin at this point I think. A couple months it will be time to put SAE30 back in it. How much do you think you'll need it between now and then?

[illinilefttackle 399]

I run 10w-30 in the winter in the ones I plan to use in the cold. I don't run synthetic though. Flip of a coin at this point I think. A couple months it will be time to put SAE30 back in it. How much do you think you'll need it between now and then?

Just whatever Snow Plowing may be left- do you think it would wear internally in that time?-Al :D

[combatmp29r 27]

I'm not sure Al, I know you want a better answer than that. Myself for the price of a couple quarts of oil I'd change it to a non synthetic. Thats me though, I'm sure you'll get 20 different answers from 20 of us though. :D

[illinilefttackle 399]

I'm not sure Al, I know you want a better answer than that. Myself for the price of a couple quarts of oil I'd change it to a non synthetic. Thats me though, I'm sure you'll get 20 different answers from 20 of us though.

I think I will chalk this up to a lesson learned-It's my only tractor, my first tractor, and I'm not a RICH man. I can't afford to make a mistake here. Tomorrow it will get changed to a very good quality 30w oil.

I am wondering tho, why did it use considerably less oil than before? Anybody got any ideas?-Thanks-Al

[MaineDad 85]

You may be using less oil because it's colder out. But like others have said, I would switch back to good old Dino Oil. I use 10w-30 in the winter and straight 30w the rest of the year. I change the oil every 50 hours too.

Glad you had fun on the horse...

[kpinnc 11,883]

My Bad -guys! I thought I saw 10w-30w in my tractor manual.

Bear in mind that I live down in NC, and never have to use my machines in the low temps you all do. I didn't even consider that when I submitted my last post.

Most of the time spent in my seat is during the summer. That's sometimes 100+ degrees here! Not enough snow to even pull the tractor out for in most cases during the winter. I get the leaves up in late fall, but that is probably the last time I even crank a tractor until spring. I understand pushing snow in low temps is quite hard on an air cooled engine, but can't speak from experience.

Point being, the oil you use- at least as far as the weight, is probably correct for the conditions you use the tractor in.

Didn't mean to be misleading in my previous post.

Kevin

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,496]

I don't live as far south as Kevin does, but I still hadn't found it necessary to run a lighter weight yet. Though it does get close at times. Normally when we see single digits and below, it's not snowing, therefore no need to run the tractors.

Al,

I think the system that dump that snow on you is the same one that dump snow here in southeast Missouri. They were calling for 10 inches, but we only got abut 6-7 inches here.

[illinilefttackle 399]

I don't live as far south as Kevin does, but I still hadn't found it necessary to run a lighter weight yet. Though it does get close at times. Normally when we see single digits and below, it's not snowing, therefore no need to run the tractors.

Al,

I think the system that dump that snow on you is the same one that dump snow here in southeast Missouri. They were calling for 10 inches, but we only got abut 6-7 inches here.

TREED- Yea I think it was the same system-The weather man here says we got 6 inches-but I measured it in several different places in my place at 12 inches. It was that real heavy wet stuff-boy is it hard to push! But the old C-125 Hydro was up to it-never got stopped or excessively spun the wheels-of course that was probably because of Wheel horse's locked rear end-AND- my illinilefttackle butt sitting right over it.

Oh wheel horse guru's-the oil has been changed to 30w Rotella oil,seriously, I am thankful for the advice-Air cooled ,27 year old 1 cylinder engines are not my expertise. I like the newer twin engines-don't get me wrong, but there is something about a big 1 cyl Koler pulling against a load.

Thanks again guys-keep your eyes on me-I'm bound to make another mistake along the way!-AL :P

[Rollerman 290]

Al we only had 6/8" east of you here in Millersburg.

I had my C125 out pushing snow for awhile till I chucked the drive belt. <_<

I run the 30 weight year around in all of mine.

If it get's really cold they may turn over a little slow starting.

[perry 82]

sorry, did'nt mean to bring up any comments about what oil to use

i know its a touchy subject on other boards. but i see here that most of us have the same understanding about what oil to use. and this being your first tractor we want to try and take care of ya . thats what were here for.

i use a couple of my tractors daily for mail box runs, taking out the garbage, many other misc chores, or just a drive threw the woods. seems i run my tractors more than my truck anymore. i am with stephan, most my tractors run 30w all year around. just go by what the manual specs are and you'll be allright. also i almost allways check my oil before i fire up a tractor. good habit to get into.

[MEBDRB 1]

Since we are on oils here with a newbie, me,..... I just changed the oil for a second time on my GT. I used 10-30 synthetic. Previously I had no motor noise, I was pushing snow after changing the oil and now I notice what sounds like a piston slap in the cylinder. Probably just a coincidence, but seems very strange to me. I am going to change it back and see what happens. We get very cold here with the snow, so 10-30 does work well, but I will put up with a little hard start and just let it warm up a bit more before working her..... :D

[combatmp29r 27]

Darren, like we said above 10-30 is recommended for cold weather 32 and below, but not synthetics. I'm curiouse if the noise goes away when you get a conventional oil back in it.

[MEBDRB 1]

Darren, like we said above 10-30 is recommended for cold weather 32 and below, but not synthetics. I'm curiouse if the noise goes away when you get a conventional oil back in it.

Me too.....

I will be ticked if I hurt my Horse.....I was just telling my wife this weekend how much I loved this old tractor....

I have some more pics for my thread, but I will have to add them later, as I am on my laptop and not with the PC where I need to upload them at....soon though.