Question about non-detergent oil

[Rifle99]

I have a 1948 Super A that has always run on non-detergent oil. I had a hard time locating some as Tractor Supply no longer carries it. I stopped at an Ace hardware store and picked up five quarts of their house brand.. But it is called lubricating oil and not motor oil and is a Mineral oil with additives for low impact use. Is this considered ok to use in a tractor? I thought that it may be for air compressors. I also may be changing the oil and filter more than needed(yearly) as I run it about 15 hours per season. Can I go two years between changes? I don't wish to change to detergent as I am afraid of creating another problem with possible engine issues.

 

[Pembroke]

(quoted from post at 01:03:48 06/04/22) I have a 1948 Super A that has always run on non-detergent oil. I had a hard time locating some as Tractor Supply no longer carries it. I stopped at an Ace hardware store and picked up five quarts of their house brand.. But it is called lubricating oil and not motor oil and is a Mineral oil with additives for low impact use. Is this considered ok to use in a tractor? I thought that it may be for air compressors. I also may be changing the oil and filter more than needed(yearly) as I run it about 15 hours per season. Can I go two years between changes? I don't wish to change to detergent as I am afraid of creating another problem with possible engine issues.

I have a 51 Super A and use 10 W 40 motor oil with no bad effects yet. Probably use mine a couple hours per year. Garden use. Pembroke

 

[Janicholson]

Drain the oil that is in it. Stick your finger into the hole and bend it to scrape around the hole, if there is sludge in the hole that is detectable so as to bring out a thick finger full. then keeping with real non-detergent oil is OK. The mineral oil you found will not work. It is not a rated engine oil.
If there is not much sludge on your finger, feel free to use modern multi weight oil 15-30 from Shell, RPM Delo, Or other known brand. Your call, but do not use the oil you found. Jim

 

[J.Wondergem]

The way that I do it is to change to detergent oil like 15-40, run it until it gets dirty, change it again and do that until it stays clean for a while.

 

[MF#1]

I've seen non-detergent oil on the shelf at Dollar General. Around here DG's are as common as chiggers.
Otherwise, what Janicholson said.

 

[riverbend]

I'd suggest transitioning to detergent oil. NAPA claims to have 30Wt ND oil available.

 

[504]

X2

 

[LMack]

Back in the day we used 30w HD oil in all but the Diesels. Diesel oil we used was non detergent oil.

 

[300guy]

X3. Todays oils work just fine. They keep the engine clean inside and have a lot of other additives to protect any engine today.

 

[caterpillar guy]

Poor horse he's dead and now he's being beat again. Just put the 15-40 in and run it. For 15 hours you will not even get the engine warm before you shut it down again. You could pull the pan clean out and go if you are that worried about it. Todays oils are as good or better than what was then.

 

[rustyfarmall]

15w-40, rated for use in diesel engines is what you want. The diesel version contains zinc, which is needed for the camshaft lobes and valve lifters. Common 15w-40 does not have zinc.

 

[DR. EVIL]

RIFLE99 - What has made you always use non-detergent oil in your tractor? Dad switched ALL his FARMALLS to detergent oil around 1950. Because an operator's manual says something in a 1940's vintage printing of a manual shouldn't make you ignor all the improvements in motor oils, like detergents, extreme pressure additives, anti-foaming agents, etc. From the last 70-80 years.

 

[Dave41A]

I would drop the pan and clean it out, then run detergent oil from now on as the others advise. Do a filter change at the same time. If it has had only non-detergent for all of the past 74 years, it will likely have a layer of sludge. My 'A' had about two inches of shoe-polish like sludge in its pan when I cleaned it out. If required, new oil pan gaskets are $6 at this website.

 

[Jim Becker]

Great, back to the zinc story again. The nondetergent oil he has been using since 1948 doesn't have any zinc in it either. The tractor is still running.

 

[Rifle99]

Thanks for all the comments and recommendations. I inherited the tractor from my father in law who had it rebuilt by a neighbor around 1970. I'm going to leave the oil switch to the next owner as I'm a senior and hopefully will get a few more seasons with it. I did find the right oil at Napa and bought a bottle of Lucas oil additive. As I recall, I believe that I once put in detergent oil and it seemed to cause it to smoke a lot.
It reminded me of a 1960 Triumph Herald the my father bought me in 1965. It was a real lemon. Detergent oil would cause it to smoke like a chimney.. I guess that I am one of the few who hasn't gone from the six volt system to the 12 volt. It originally came from a highway department and is the Industrial model with a gas pedal. It was originally yellow.