How often to change oil on snow blower?

[martinq]

More than a year after the initial post and I've finally gotten around to changing the oil on the Ariens. What came out was actually pretty sparkly. I had more than a quart of oil remnants lying around so I filled her up, ran her for 10 minutes then drained the oil again. The final fill was Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5w30. There is no snow in our extended forecast but should we get hammered again this season you may all blame me.

I was just going to say, if it looks dirty / sparkly then do it again! Good job.

 

[02zx9r rev2]

Even though you already changed it, I will chime in as well. My 2018 Troy bilt 2460 has had just a couple of oil changes, just hasn’t seen a whole lot of usage.

I installed an hour meter on it a couple of years ago and before we got this last storm and 41 inches of snow it had 1.2 hours on it. Now it is over 5. I will change it at end of season. Depending on usage I may go a few years

 

[odie]

Every few years . Use PENNZOIL Platinum 5w-30 . Next O.C. plan to use ULTRA Platinum or blend of the 2 .

 

[762fermeandyou]

I been sticking to the 25 hr schedule with my 2 Ariens snowblowers. Takes me about a hour or so to do my driveway and blow out the end of my neighbors for him. Used mostly Quaker State green bottle 5w-30 for 15 yrs. Last few yrs been using the Mobil 0w-40. Oil never looks bad. I think greasing all the points and inspecting belts and adjusting cables and skis equally important.

 

[martinq]

I been sticking to the 25 hr schedule with my 2 Ariens snowblowers. Takes me about a hour or so to do my driveway and blow out the end of my neighbors for him. Used mostly Quaker State green bottle 5w-30 for 15 yrs. Last few yrs been using the Mobil 0w-40. Oil never looks bad. I think greasing all the points and inspecting belts and adjusting cables and skis equally important.

Don't forget the gearbox and drive train.

 

[50yr Street Mech]

Depends on the season. I've had some winters where there wasn't enough snow to snowblow, then you get a season like this year when you get slammed with snow. My 1997 Lawn Boy with a 5hp flathead Tecumseh needs an oil change before I put it away. Use any 5W-30 synthetic oil that's in my stock. Great machine. They don't make them like this one anymore IMO.