Best oil for Tecumseh Snow King?

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The Zinc and Phos levels are nothing to write home about for an oil so well loved here on BIOTG.

M-1 Goldcap 15W-50 is around 1200 ppm Zn and Phos.

Redline 5W-30 is 1400 ppm ZN and Phos.

All things equal ...give me the higher ZDDP oils.
 
Originally Posted By: Pete591
The Zinc and Phos levels are nothing to write home about for an oil so well loved here on BIOTG.

M-1 Goldcap 15W-50 is around 1200 ppm Zn and Phos.

Redline 5W-30 is 1400 ppm ZN and Phos.

All things equal ...give me the higher ZDDP oils.


...if all you care about is Zinc and Phosphorus... (which I, and many others here don't)

Another VOA thread is here

I believe some of the more modern Zinc replacements are calcium-based, which there is a lot of in GC. I'm not driving a 50's muscle car or a Harley so my street engines like it just fine. I use Amsoil ASE in my summer OPE, and GC in my winter OPE for providing cold protection while maintaining 40 weight and resisting shear.

It's odd for you to suggest a 15W50 for a snow blower (remember that's what this thread is about), and I've seen a lot of high-wear street UOAs from Redline despite the Zn and P.
 
I'm a big fan of the HDEOs in OPE ... especially engines that are run hard (snow blowers and wood splitters come to mind) and may have fuel dilution to deal with. Also, winter use often means synthetics for cold weather start-up. So, I like Rotella 5W-40 ... available just about anywhere.

But, if you are lucky enough to find Chevron Delo400 in 0W-30 or 5W-40, I'd use that stuff in a cocaine heartbeat. Around here, it's as rare as leprechaun gold (I've never seen either).
21.gif
 
Abuse a snowblower?

My dad abused his John Deere blower for years. He'd run it for up to 3 hours at a time without a break. He'd run it low on oil. He'd neglect all the fluids. He'd run it into massive, hardened snowbanks to knock them down and throw the pieces off to the side. Often these were as hard as ice and the spiral flange of the auger would get all bent out of shape.

You can abuse anything if you put your mind to it ... or you really don't care.
 
Just stumbled on this old topic. I got my Ariens ready this weekend and did an oil change. After two seasons of storage. I had previously used mobil 1 0W-30 in it without issue. I made the decision to go with Mobil 1 10W-30 high mileage--it seems like a good shear stable oil with a low pour point for the L-Head sno-king. Tecemseh only recommends 30HD, 10W-30 or 0W-30 for the sno-king, I'd avoid a 5W-30.
 
Originally Posted By: Pete591
Switched to Amsoil 5W-30 High Performance Synthetic runs very well.


+1, I ran Amsoil 5w-30 in my 5.5hp Sno-King Tecumseh in temps down to -25F here in Wisconsin, and it works like a champ!

I even ran Amsoil SS0 0w-30 I had a spare quart of one season. Very smooth no matter how cold it got!
 
Going to get my 5.5hp Sno-King ready here soon. Using the left over GC from a OCI on my Passat earlier this year!

Draining out the 0w-40 M1 which was used for 2 seasons due to the short amount of run time the year before.
 
Johnny,
The Amsoil Saber is really, really good. I have a snow-thrower, weed wacker, Lawnboy, and a blower. All want different ratios. I run a straight 50:1 with the Saber and everything runs with little/no smoke, quick starts, and strong.
 
Still using GC, still working great... Good in the cold, almost a 40 at temperature, shear stable and SL rated (for those that panic about such things).

What's with the comments on Saber? I thought all Sno-Kings were four stroke?

If not, I would run Amsoil Saber in either the air or water-cooled formula as required by the engine manual if I had one.
 
Paul2007 was referencing a post I made on page one, on 11/2/08. I no longer have the 2-cycle blower. Got a Honda.

Saturn_Fan, you're a better man than me. At -25 I'm inside drinking coffee. To heck with the snow.
 
Originally Posted By: Johnny
Paul2007 was referencing a post I made on page one, on 11/2/08. I no longer have the 2-cycle blower. Got a Honda.

Saturn_Fan, you're a better man than me. At -25 I'm inside drinking coffee. To heck with the snow.


I hear you Johnny. I love moving snow with a plow or a snow blower, but absolutely detest shoveling it.

My father-in-law can't wait until it snows because he has so much fun using his ATV to plow snow.

We're a strange bunch over here in the North Woods!
grin2.gif
 
Why would this particular Tecumseh engine be more prone to shearing oil than any other similarly applied engine? Other than the cam/valve contact area, where would the "shear for breakfast" occur within the engine? Just curious.

Those old small engines will run quite well on any decent oil. I've owned many of them and ran nothing but proper viscosity dino oil. Never had an oil related problem in over thirty years and up here in the cold white north, they have seen severe service. Every time I had to replace a snow thrower, the engine was running as well as the day I bought it. The rest of the machine would fall apart first. The trick to keeping the old Tecumseh L-head engine alive was to keep the oil level up. They will not tolerate operating with low oil. Any oil will do really. I'd go with a multi weight or a synthetic simply for starting purposes. Straight 30 weight or heavier at 40 below makes for difficult starting. I presently have an 11 h.p. Briggs on my Simplicity. After break in with dino oil, I switch to 5W30 Mobil 1 synthetic. Turns over very nicely in cold weather. That's the only machine I own that I run synthetic oil in.
 
Originally Posted By: Saturn_Fan
Originally Posted By: Johnny
Paul2007 was referencing a post I made on page one, on 11/2/08. I no longer have the 2-cycle blower. Got a Honda.

Saturn_Fan, you're a better man than me. At -25 I'm inside drinking coffee. To heck with the snow.


I hear you Johnny. I love moving snow with a plow or a snow blower, but absolutely detest shoveling it.

My father-in-law can't wait until it snows because he has so much fun using his ATV to plow snow.

We're a strange bunch over here in the North Woods!
grin2.gif



Yes we are.
 
Hmmm ... what would be best in a snowblower?
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Well, let's break it down. Ideally you would want:

1) 0W-30 weight ... a synthetic so it flows well at start-up ... even in freezing conditions.

2) Strong additive package to deal with fuel dilution, corrosion from moisture in the crankcase and times of extended storage.

3) Strong additive package with plenty of anti-wear additives.

3) Sheer stable formulation to deal with the heat and stress of an OPE engine run at WOT and under heavy load.

Hmmm ... sounds like a HDEO 0W-30 would be ideal ... like this one:

https://www.cbest.chevron.com/generated/MSDS/PDS7668754.PDF
 
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