Mobil 1 in Home Snow Blower

How far off is your shed? You can run a single underground-rated romex line out there buried a foot deep, as long as its fed by a GFI. It's so nice having power in out-buildings.

My blowers crank hard near zero, but thankfully I don't get snow in a weather pattern that brings that kind of cold. Usually. I run whatever junk leftover synthetic in them, 5- or 10w30.
18 inches is code, or 12" with 2" of concrete on top.
If you run it in conduit you have to de-rate it 10% and use individual strands of wet rated wire as conduit is never considered to be a dry environment.

Not saying you HAVE to do that, just providing the info in case they didn't know
 
I should add that I have used my snowblower here in eastern Canada for 20 years now and have not yet had a repair. It is a White brand with 8.5 hp Tecumseh motor. Until this last snow event I have always been able to start it manually with just one pull. I am thinking the problem may have been the gap of the old spark plug, or the gas which was left over from Fall use of lawn tractor or maybe both, or maybe it was just me. In any case, I now have new gas, a new properly gapped spark plug and I changed the oil.. I wait in hope to see how it goes next time! I will post the results when it happens. Again, thanks for the comments/advice!
 
I remember when my old MTD Tecumseh (1996) started taking more than one pull to start, turned out the primer hose had a crack in it right where it bends into the carb. New hose = one pull.
 
I have a Yardworks/MTD 8hp Tecumseh and I made no difference between 5W30 and 0W30 pulling it by hand. Its just stiff in the cold. I replaced the electric starter to solve pulling over in the cold. Its been running 5W30 synthetic most of its life except the one year I ran 0w30 in it. 17 years old now.

The original carb had no mixture screws. I bought a chinese carb that did. It runs a lot better. The primer hose cracked on me right at the barb on the carb.
 
I have a Yardworks/MTD 8hp Tecumseh and I made no difference between 5W30 and 0W30 pulling it by hand. Its just stiff in the cold. I replaced the electric starter to solve pulling over in the cold. Its been running 5W30 synthetic most of its life except the one year I ran 0w30 in it. 17 years old now.

The original carb had no mixture screws. I bought a chinese carb that did. It runs a lot better. The primer hose cracked on me right at the barb on the carb.

I have a similar machine and don't notice a difference with 5W30 or 10W30, IMO. I gotta think the OP has another situation brewing (gas, plug, primer etc...). My Tecumseh has always started right up and with the electric start I can't let go of the button fast enough before it starts.

just my $0.02
 
0w20 checked often. These air cooled engines seldom get hot enough to get the oil up to temp.

Also older flat head engines that do not "burn oil" or "Smoke Oil" will still deplete a good 4 oz or so with each use when you use a low viscosity. Keep an eye out on the level. At 19 oz there is not much to burn.
 
Mobil 0w30 allowed me to pullstart my generator on the coldest day. It was easy enough that my 9 year old could start it. Regular dino oil made it to hard to give the rope a good pull. Try it and see what your results are.
 
Considering the cold temps, infrequent usage, and short run times, I would entertain a 0w20.

See if you can find a pad heater for either the engine or starter or both if it’s an issue.
 
Flat head Tecumseh, 5-30w is fine. I have 2 of them in the 8hp flavor and one see's below zero starts frequently.
Now my BS OHV 5600w generator is a different animal. Without a 0 bottom number oil in it you cannot spin it over via recoil starter fast enough to start at 0F temps. You can lift it off the ground with the recoil trying to turn it over and it will never spin fast enough to fire up with a 5-30w full synth oil in it. 0-30w synth. and it will start. This is outside unheated shed storage.
 
I’ve got M1 0W-30 in my Briggs OHV snowblower in an unheated shed. Starts up with one pull without much effort.
 
I have a Snapper 6200 watt generator with a Briggs 210415 11hp engine that is 15-20 years old that has had moderate use. Used only during power outages. In the last 36 hours is has run at least 20 hours in15-32 degree temps with multiple cold starts. It has Valvoline 5-30 syn oil and has always started on the first pull. 5-30 syn is the recommended oil for cold weather use in this engine and has worked well. The engine is pushed hard, running 3600 rpm from startup to shutdown. After this use, it will get an oil change and always gets the fuel tank and float bowl drained.
 
Using SHELL Rotella Gas Truck 5w-30 ( S.N.+,GF-5 ) for the 5 H.P (?) Troy Bilt 2410 . So far , doing fine . Using it today . Would use MOBIL 1 5w-30 . Been using S.O.P.U.S. oils for decades .
 
Thanks folks for the info and advice. It seems that after installing the new spark plug and the 0W30 Mobil 1, one of them or the combination of both have solved my problem. The last few times I have been able to start the blower with one pull and it seems easier than ever! Thanks again!
 
I really like my snowblower , I won't subject it to a Mobil product. . Doesn't matter what machine I put Mobil in it sounds rough . Car , truck , snowblower , lawn tractor , zero turn , push mower etc .
My zero turn has a Kawasaki engine runs smoothly on any oil and weight 10w30 to 15w50 .I tried Mobil 15w50 and took it out after 2 cut
I have used M1 oils in everything, from cars, to trucks and all my OPE for the last 44 years. I have never experienced anything like what you claim. By the way I have never had an engine fail or show any sign of wear using M1 oils.
 
I have used M1 oils in everything, from cars, to trucks and all my OPE for the last 44 years. I have never experienced anything like what you claim. By the way I have never had an engine fail or show any sign of wear using M1 oils.
My ear doctor said my hearing is like the bionic man's hearing . It's unsettling at times . I can't watch TV hardly with all the crazy noise they pump in . I'm not being a smarta$$ . I'm very noise sensitive .
 
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