Hi guys , l new to the forum and from Oz , , l would like to find out about Oils , speaking to Honda sales men they tell me l must use the Honda oil in their small engines , talking to Kohler sales guys they tell me l must use Kohler oils in their engines (l'm talking 13 to 25 Hp engines ) , last saturday l went to buy some oil from the local mower shop he didn't have Kohler or Honda but he had his own 4 stroke oil , he said its all the same ,their is no difference .
Know we have all heard the old saying Oils just ain't Oils . Should l be buying honda and kohler oils for the different engines or just go for the local guy at $6.bucks per litre .
Go for it guys tell me what you think ????? :wave:

I doubt that Honda and Kohler have their own special recipe but I could be wrong.
I would follow the oil weight recommendations with a good quality oil and I think you would be fine.
I am guessing that other companies bottle Honda’s and Kohler oils and just change the bottle and label, I see this a lot in the food industry, same food different package.
My $0.02,
Bob

I have to agree with Bob O, if you use a quality oil with engine manufactures ratings and change oil on recommended intervals you will be fine. The shop owners would love for you to use Honda or Kohler oils because of the mark up. I my self use Havoline 10w-30 oil in all my equipment. I have 2 Snapper riders that are 17 years old (1 Briggs 14hp and 1 Kohler 14hp) plus a Craftsman tractor 12 years old (kohler 14hp) and they have never had a oil related problem. Go to your local auto parts or discount store, buy a name brand oil and save your self some money.

Kohler and Honda are not in the oil business, they market oil with their company name on it but that is the extent of it.

Look in your owners manual for lubrication recommendations. Most small air cooled engines recommend a high quality detergent oil classified "For Service SF, SG, SH, SJ" or higher. I believe that both Honda and Kohler recommend 10w30 in their engines.

PM oscaryu1, he knows the most about everything and how to help.

Command engines use 10w30 hydraulic lifters versus solid lifters 30 wt. Oil consumption will be a little higher with the multi-weight oils but all engines list 10w30 as an acceptable substitute for SAE30. I tend to use more SAE30 when I service engines and only use 10w30 on the Kohlers with hydraulic lifters. But I have noticed that most Honda engines spec 10w30

ive been running jhon dere torque guard in all my small engines after i tore down a kawisaki motor becouse of rings that had been run on torque guard for 13 years and was the cleanest engine ive ever seen thats why i use jhon dere torque guard

I like Mobil 1 for small engines. I think that a synthetic is more stable at higher operating temperatures. All of my small engines are air cooled and I worry about just how hot they are getting on 90 and 100 degree days when I mow the grass at WOT for an hour.