Best oil for ride on lawnmowers & garden tractors

There's a real satisfaction when you've finished mowing the lawns. You look around and your yard looks magically awesome, it's the best feeling.

This can be the most rewarding part but for this 'lawnman', the best part is doing maintenance and doing stuff like changing spark plugs and adding oil to your ride on.

There's something really satisfying about filling oil into an engine.

It's like you know you are doing something worthwhile, something that says to your mower, I love you and when I ride on you, I know you're not going to let me down.

OK, now let's cut the crap and get on with what you want to know:

What is the best oil for a ride on lawn mower?

First up, you need to appreciate that ride on mowers (and garden tractors) have a larger oil capacity than push mowers. Their capacity is typically 48oz or 64 oz to bear that in mind when purchasing your oil. You may need to purchase two bottles, depending on their size.

Here are three great options that are excellent choices for you to use in your grass cutter. Let's start with one of the most popular lawnmower brands in the world, Briggs and Stratton. 

Briggs and Stratton's oil will keep your mower's engine running strong with this oil specially formulated for use in higher operating temperature ranges.

SAE 30 oil is a stock standard 'weight' which means that this oil will work a treat in 40°-100° F temperatures. Make no mistake though, Briggs and Stratton's version of SAE 30 oil is the 'top shelf' of oil products.

Naturally, it suits all 4 stroke or 4 cycle engines, so don't use it in a chainsaw (use two stroke oil!)... Oils like Pennzsoil are designed for more modern mower engines.

Amsoil oil is a small engine lubricant full of chemical compounds that are artificially made using chemically modified petroleum components.

Pennzoil Ultra is synthetically developed. This means that if you regularly use it in your lawnmower (over the long term) then you greatly increase the chances of long service life and reduce the need to replace your lawnmower at year 7 instead of year 7. 

This is of course hyperbole and you absolutely need to regularly maintain your engine to lengthen its lifespan!

Can I use synthetic oil in my ride on lawn mower?

You sure can use synthetic oil in your ride on mower. It's really important to understand that your use of synthetic oil does not absolve you from performing regular lawn mower maintenance.

Toro, is a tried, true and trusted brand amongst many consumers and their synthetic oil is considered a good standard.

What makes synthetic oil so good is that it in terms of characteristics it is more 'oily' than most mineral oil compounds. They lubricate engines better which results in the oil being consumed more efficiently.

How often should I change the oil in my ride on lawn mower?

The oil should be changed approximately every one hundred hours of use and at the very least you should change it once a year. 

garden tractor, oil, ride on lawn mower, SAE30, synthetic oil