Or at least it appears so to me.Won't need to be any discussions about which to use because you can't get it!I have been trying to find some Castrol 30 wt hd motor oil because that is what I use in the tractors and lawnmowers and such. Wally world was the first to drop it,then the Advance,autozone,oreilys, no one carry's it.I have went to stores in different towns with no luck. The only 30wt oil they carry is their store brand.Which I guess is ok but not Castrol.

Mack, I think it's because they're all trying to move us over to the world of synthetics. Call me old fashioned, but I still prefer well, "old fashioned oil". And it's all getting hard to find. Fortunately I think good ol' Rotella will still be around in "regular" oil but even they are hawking the synthetic blend. What has soured me on it is back in my former boat Captain days, I would hear horror story after horror story of boat line's trying synthetics only to have the engine "open up" in a myriad of profound leaks! One Captain even ended up shutting the engine down and being towed in cause his engine leaked all the oil into the bilge, almost lost the engine from it. The boat I used to Captain is also no longer on synthetic blend for similar issues. Just sayin'. I know most will disagree, and that's okay by me.

try this from TSC
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/traveller-hd-sae-30-motor-oil-5-gal?cm _vc=-10005

I expect all the farm supply stores (Orscheln, TSC, Fleet & Farm, etc.) sell the five gallon pails of oil. The TSC price beats Wal-Mart by 12˘ a quart.

Synthetic blend is a rip.
10% synthetic and 90% conventional oil.
I used to buy nothing but Castrol.
Call me old fashioned but now I only buy oil made in the
U.S.A.

I have to agree with Senior Griffey. Few years back we had a discussion on oil over the phone, we must have chatted for over 45 minutes . He told me about the blends and after some research he was correct. I run full, cheap,WallyWorld Motor cycle oil in my car. Best Blend you can get is blend your own . The major oil companies follow California's mandate which made certain oils obsolete, 30,10-40,20-50,nondetergents all gone. Now the rest of the country is catching up. Some old stocks are drying up. If you find some stock up.Even 10-30s are dwindling in some places. Some of these oils are avail.online only.

I have Castrol 30wt but I'm not really concerned about not finding it in the future. It wouldn't concern me at all to use a store brand or a 10w30. Anything modern has to be a major improvement over oil found just a couple of decades ago.

I had the same experience with synthetics. I use them in my modern cars but even my cars from the 60's and 70's started leaking like a sieve.

You get what you pay for. In the case of expensive major brands, you're paying for expensive advertising of the brand.

Please eddicate the iggorant (me). What is synthetic oil synthesized from ?

Troy, not to be a jerk (well, OK, I am a jerk - and ignorant to boot) but you present a logical fallacy, i.e., "anything modern has to be a major improvement . . ." - Why ? So many things are substituted, down-sized or made without quality control these days. So far, discussion about synthetic oil raises concerns that it can be problematic for use in older engines. I'm a curmudgeon, given the choice, I'd always opt for "Old Reliable" over "new and improved". ; )

https://lucasoil.com/products/lucas-motor-oil/conventional/lucas-30-wt-plus-moto r-oil

Rich - I agree in regard to the "anything modern" comment!

Take for example,....a simple rubber band! I don't think you can buy good quality rubber bands anymore! A number of things my Dad secured with rubber bands many years ago ( he died in 1995) like a roll of paperwork for example,.....I can roll off the rubber band my Dad used years ago, then roll up the papers and secure with the same rubber band which is still soft, pliable and "stretchy"! Something I secured with a rubber band a couple years ago? FORGET IT! The shriveled and dried up rubber band breaks as I'm taking it off!

You know, in thinking about this, I wonder if the rubber band thing might just compare to the poor quality tires we have to put up with for our Model T's nowadays,...???

Sorry,........didn't mean to change the subject of "motor oil" to rubber,........but again,.........modern is better? Not always,......harold

Many years ago I'd been told by mechanic friends that new engines run with synthetic oil would never break in, and old engines would leak like sieves. So I never used synthetic oil...until I moved to the Yukon in 2007. We lived in an unserviced (no utilities) bush camp, where synthetic was highly recommended by the locals for those "winter-cold start" mornings. My '04 Ram 2500 Hemi would crank and start easily down to -50*F with no block or battery heater (below that we didn't go to work), without raps or clatter; I was impressed that the oil seemed to stay with the bearings when the engine was shut off, and provided enough lubrication to allow the cold battery to crank the engine up the next morning. So I now believe synthetic oil has its place.

That said, one of the guys I worked for in Whitehorse had nearly 90 diesel generators running at mining and exploration camps in the bush, running on the cheapest discount store oil available. As long as the API rating was right for the engine and viscosity was right for the season, he used to say "oil is oil...". With premium filters (he was a Baldwin dealer) and regular oil & filter changes (religiously every 200 hr) those diesels (Isuzu, Mitsubishi, Yanmar, Kubota, and Deere) were expected to run 20,000 hours without any other service. So I get what Steve meant about paying for expensive brand advertising.

I have never seen (technically) a breakdown on this, but back in my misspent youth in the Oilfields, we burned "drip gas" (condensate) straight out of the ground and used crude oil straight out of the ground, it all worked and was free. You cannot tell visually or by feel the difference in most crude straight out of the ground or straight out of a can, and the engines didn't seem to care.

I switched my 2003 Pontiac Grand Prix to full synthetic last year at 82,000 miles. Just had my second full synthetic oil change at 87,000 miles.

I gained one mile per gallon highway. Did 30 mpg on a 700 mile drive. Previously had never done better than 29 mpg.

However, I would never switch to full synthetic for the gas mileage.

Never have had problems starting cars in Minnesota winters even on the coldest days using conventional oil. However, since the switch to full synthetic, it seems to turn over a easier on the coldest days - I think that is real advantage.

I use multi detergent store oil so no end of the debate for me! LOL And even if I need straight 30 detergent I would still use store brand.

Got nothing to do with any companies forcing anyone to do anything. The stuff doesn't sell anymore and their cutting it out. Many don't realise 2 cycle oil is rated by a letter code. A thru I believe F. F being the best.(best lube, cleanest burning ect). A and B haven't been produced in years ( slow turning/low HP engines) because the better stuff works better anyway. Just doesn't pay to make it. For your info Red Max 2 cycle is the best you can buy.

Castrol is now owned by BP. Since their purchase, the inventory of lubrication types has steadily been reduced. They continue to delete lower volume lines, and those requiring these specialty products are left in the lurch. That's what happens when the market is dominated by a few players.

Allan from down under.

As long as MMO is still around we"ll have something to debate.

Well if BP bought castrol it will go down hill.
I found out I can order it thru Orielys but by the case,last count they had 12 cases. I might go ahead and spring for at least 1 case of it if not 2. I have to many tractors and small engines that can't use 10w-whatever stuff.

I was using the Walmart store 10w-30 brand oil in my zero turn.On a hot day it failed,and the engine was damaged.
Castrol has held up well in other stuff that gets hot for my use and since I rebuilt the engine that is all I want in it.And now the jerks are jerking it off the shelves.
20-50 Castrol is what is recommended for alot of the newer zero turns instead of the Mobil 1 synthetic 15-50 or 40 can't remember which,that Exmark and others did use. So if it holds up to hydrolic drive unit temps,it must be a good oil.

The stores stock what most people buy. SAE 30 has become unpopular for the modern cars so they don't sell much of it. That's why they don't stock it. Same with the manufacturer. Actually 10W 30 should be fine. It acts as a thinner oil when cold and like SAE 30 when hot. The car is easier to crank when cold and the oil flows better than 30 when cold. I doubt very much that the problem with the engine was caused by the oil. Must have been something else.
Norm

Perfectly correct Norm.

https://www.castrol.com/en_us/united-states/other-fluids/monograde-oil/castrol-h d-30-40.html

I found a contact email on this page.so i sent them a email asking about if they had stopped making it or what. We will see what the response is.

Interesting to hear that Castrol has been bought out by BP. I have used Castrol full synthetic in our modern cars for several years. Guess I'll have to find another brand, we won't use any BP products since the Gulf Coast fiasco. JMHO Dave

David, it happened around 2000. Friends of mine are Castrol agents, and they are getting more and more grief over not being able to supply lines which have been used for years. They are tempted to switch back to Valvoline.

Allan from down under.

I think there are at least 2,000 000 000 000 truckers that use Rotella 15-40? At approx 11 gal per change per truck that is a lot of oil and expense.If you think your car engine is expensive price a Cat,Cummings,Detroit,and many others! Oil is cheap and saving a dollar might be penny wise and pound foolish! Of course i'm wrong but i think the only companys that recomend straght 30 wt are roofing companys?? Bud in Wheeler,Mi.

Norm I understand completely what you are saying and 99% of the time I would agree.But in this strange case,the engine was full of oil and it turned completely black in a couple hours of operation and the engine chunked a rod,makes me think oil.
The oil had a terrible burnt smell to.and there was no accumulation of trash around the engine.I overhaul to many that run hot from that simple to solve problem.
A 5500 $ machine I can't afford to replace ,I keep a check on oil levels. Just wish i had not stooped to cheap oil.
I tried the wally world 20-50 oil in my wagon with 360,000 miles on it. It has started using more oil with the cheaper stuff than it did with Castrol of the same weight.So it will get castrol next oil change. I ran it for years but thought I would give it a shot for economy sake and it turned out to be false economy.
I have used castrol oil since i started driving 30+ years ago. When i bought a used NCHWY patrol car in 2000 there was a decal under the hood, Castrol 20-50 ONLY. That car knew no top end as far as speed was concerned.I figure if the state and later the county that got that car used Castrol only, it must be good enough to justify the extra cost.Kinda reinforced my faith in the product at that time.

I can still get straight 30 from our local Meijer Store cheap.

Restoration Supply still carries 30 wt. by Penrite, and Lubriplate.

Well here is the response from Castrol,apparently it is not in jepardy as far as being made,just not on shelves.
Thank you for contacting Castrol North America.

Castrol HD 30 is available for purchase through retailers such as Wal-Mart, Advance Auto Parts, AutoZone, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Pep Boys, NAPA Auto Parts and by select quick lubes, dealerships and auto service centers around the country as well as online via www.amazon.com.

The available grades of Castrol motor oils are dependent on the location and purchasing options in your area. The above mentioned national retailers who carry Castrol products order their products from a warehouse, who in turn, order the product from us. Generally, retailers base the product line that they sell heavily upon consumer demand therefore we are unable to advise you of a specific retail location that carries a specific Castrol product so we would suggest that you call the retailer directly to inquire about specific product availability.

We invite you to use our online Castrol product vendor locator at the following link:

https://maps.castrol.com/?_ga=2.232080406.840563172.1525098001-1978315050.152457 5585#%2F

Simply enter your city, state and zip code information and the locator will provide a list of New Car Dealers, Repair Shops / Quick Lubes and or Retail Locations within a 0-100+ mile radius.

Thank you again for contacting Castrol. We value your patronage!

Castrol Consumer Relations

Ticket: https://ccrdesk.freshdesk.com/helpdesk/tickets/35977

To answer a question early on in this thread this link tells you what synthetics are made from.
http://www.synthetic-oil-technology.info/

Thanks for that, Garland !

When I lived in New Orleans I had a friend who worked for a tow-boat company. He told me you could always tell their towboats on the river, as they sounded just like a locomotive -- because they used the same engine.

These engines are located in the bilge of the towboat, so changing the oil is difficult. It must be sucked out. And, they hold approximately a 55 gallon drum of oil. They traditionally changed the oil at, if I remember, 5,000 hours, which isn't as long as you'd think, since they never shut them down except for service.

When synthetic oils came out, they decided to try it in one boat. After several years of trial, with regular inspections and chemical analysis, they did the normal tear-down overhaul of the engine, and were astounded to find that it needed no work at all!

At the time he told me this, about 18 years ago, his company had gone to 100% synthetic oil in their towboats, and they NEVER changed the oil. They did change the filters regularly, and added enough to make up for what was in the filters, but the only time the oil was changed was when they did an overhaul, and that interval between overhauls had been lengthened from 20K to 100K hours.

I asked him about the stories about synthetic oil leaking out of heretofore unknown holes. His answer to that was that those holes were being blocked by crud in the engine, which doesn't occur with synthetics. They find the engines to be 'as clean as new' when overhauling them.

I imagine that using synthetic oil in a Model T would not be a good thing, for two reasons. First, it's more expensive, and the cheapest oil you can get today is quantum leaps better than the car was built for. Second, would be the leakage thing. As we say, "T's mark their territory."

I run 20w50 synthetic in my engine ,I tried it about 5000 mi.after an overhaul. Before that it was 5/30 or 10/30. and changed regularly. Since the engine had new gaskets all around at overhaul leaking was not an issue. Since converting to synthetic the engine has not sprung any new leaks and any it has are just the normal(Territory marking) drips. The syntec stays cleaner longer and doesn't have to be changed as frequently . I change my oil once a year, the last change, the oil was normally dark but still had some clarity visible. With reg oil I had to add ATF so Turbo Discs wouldn't chatter, Kevs would chatter sometimes too. Since converting to syntec, no chattering anywhere,at all. While cleaning the oil screen and magnet, inspection of the drums showed no bluing or excessive heat or wear issues. If you should decide to try a syntec oil, use 4 stroke motorcycle oil only, cycle oils are designed to be used with wet clutches like out Ts Modern Car syntec oils may cause clutch slipping. I use the cheaper Wallyworld motorcycle oil for 4 stroke engines.