Buy the best oil and filter you can afford and change it often, heat and dust is the enemy.

 

I have a tiger cat 2. Was wondering if there was a particular oil that would be better than another? one that would be better suited for hydraulic use? would scag brand oil be any better than a 20w50 off the shelf? Or hydro oil from another mower manufacturer that has made their oil specific for mowers? I am a big fan of synthetic, but i am not sure the scag would benefit from synthetic since much of the oil in the system can't be changed and the reservoir is so big. I just want to try and use the best oil for the pumps to get the most life out of it. so what do you all use? and have you had any oil related problems? thanks!!

Stick with the Scag Branded Oil.

 

I just want to try and use the best oil for the pumps to get the most life out of it. so what do you all use? and have you had any oil related problems? thanks!!

The general consensus around here is most everbody uses a good synthetic in the hydro units. Lots of posts on the subject here. Search, right ?

 

i have searched and read till my head spun. synthetic is my usual go to, but not sure if it’s right for this mower. I have seen the difference in pump wear between dino and synthetic. am proably over thinking this, but hate to buy scag oil not knowing if it’s any better than an oil off the auto part store shelf. I hate to put synthetic in knowing it’s just going to mix and dilute with the dino left. There’s a reason most manufactures are now custom tailoring synthetic oil for better pump life, stock motor oils were not holding up. scag don’t care as long as it makes it thru the warranty. I just can’t bring myself to grab a random 20w50 oil off the shelf, dump it in and never give it a second thought, which is what most people would do.

 

Were I in the hot region of the south I'd be tempted to try out the Redline Racing or Motul Motorcycle synthetic 20w60.

Where I'm at it is typically not over 90F for any significant period of time, so the 15w50/20w50 is likely more than thick enough. Though it would be interesting to compare the VOAs of Scag, Hustler, Bad Boy Mowers oils to see what their additive packages look like compare to the racing / EPA oils.

 

Tiger Cat 2 came out with Synthetic oil in them. Most major brands specify to use synthetic 20w50. On all the hydros we top off/ service a year (we service roughly 60-70 hydros a year) we use 20w50 Kawasaki Synthetic. No particular reason we use Kawasaki, we just have it in bulk barrels.

 

Amsoil 20w-50 Hydo oil. made my TTII run super quiet compared to the factory fill.Link here