super20dan, it sounds like your recommendation is Florida-specific. The original poster lives in Wisconsin ... effectively in another world.
My Dad had an old 1032 John Deere snowblower with a Tecumseh ... similar to what you described. It had an unknown service history (some neglect, for sure) and consumed oil regularly. Since it was kept in a heated garage, I switched it to (I think) straight 40 weight and the consumption stopped. A season or two later, I switched it to 15W40 and ran it on that stuff until the machine fell apart a decade and a half later.
Its replacement was an Ariens 11528 with a Tecumseh OHV, and that machine has run for over 10 years on XW30 weight oils with no problems, little or no consumption. I broke the machine in carefully myself, so that may have something to do with it.
I'm assuming TriMoto will be using his wood chipper in cooler weather?