One Synthetic Oil for all OPE

Okay - it also occurs to me that the snow blower and the generator live in the garage during winter, where the temperature seldom goes below 30 F. The generator (Champion 3500 watt with 196 cc Chonda motor) has T6 5w40 in the sump, and has run several hours while it was snowing last winter. It runs WOT at 3600 RPM. The Ariens Deluxe snow blower with [Chinese] LCT 254 cc motor has M1 5w30 in the sump, but it runs a lot slower than 3600 RPM.

I am starting to get the feeling that the snow blower would probably be happy with any synthetic oil from 0w20 to 5w40. On the other hand, none of my other OPE should run on 0w20. So T6 5w40 in the snow blower: yeah or nay?
 
I have experimented quite a bit with different weight oils in my snowblowers. Anything heavier than 5w-30 makes the engine hard to start in the cold. I would stick with 0w-30 or 5w-20. 0w-20 will work also but is not necessary. If you want something cheap, go 5w-20 conventional and do short OCI's. 5w-30 synthetic, 0w-30 are my choices. Snowblowers are splash lubricated and having an oil that is easy to splash around in the cold is important.
 
I have 15+ yrs old Simplicity snowblower with HMSK100 on it...and in (almost) all these years it was cured with 10w/5w-40 oils...and it still runs...

It starts on a 2nd pull...but this is not due to THICKER oil, but due to it has recesed valves...
 
Okay, for the record I am hoping to reduce the stash from five oils down to two or three. One of those will have to be 0w20, which wouldn't be a good choice for most OPE. Perhaps it would work in the snow blower. I can see where a good synthetic 0w20 could replace a dino 5w30 in this application.

Originally Posted By: AMC
I have experimented quite a bit with different weight oils in my snowblowers. Anything heavier than 5w-30 makes the engine hard to start in the cold. I would stick with 0w-30 or 5w-20. 0w-20 will work also but is not necessary.

My thoughts here are that the generator pull starts at 32 F with 5w40, so the snow blower should also start with the electric starter.

Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Basically, snow blower engines never really get all that hot. Yes they get hot, but they dont get summer time in Arizona hot. They have cooling fans blowing cold air on the engine, which rapidly cools it. A 20 weight is more than enough when you take the temperature viscosity curve into equation.

Whether or not a 5w40 oil would ever get warm enough to do its thing in a snow blower is the real question. The generator runs wide open at 3600 RPM; the snow blower doesn't. I suppose that the worst case is that I keep a little 5w30 on hand for the snow blower; it's only a 20 ounce fill.

Originally Posted By: Kamele0N
I have 15+ yrs old Simplicity snowblower with HMSK100 on it...and in (almost) all these years it was cured with 10w/5w-40 oils...and it still runs...
It starts on a 2nd pull...but this is not due to THICKER oil, but due to it has recesed valves...

This is definitely encouraging on the 5w40 front. I thank everyone for their valued input.

My feelings towards 5w40 were heavily influenced by a change from QS 30 to T6 5w40 in my cool weather leaf vacuum. There is a noticeable difference in the effort to pull start that machine at 40 F vs. when filled with mono-grade 30. That ease of starting has to work across the board.
 
So your snowblower is special one that runs below 3600rpms @wot....is this "inverter" model where you generate electricity for an electric motor with gasoline one?
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Kamele0N
So your snowblower is special one that runs below 3600rpms @wot....is this "inverter" model where you generate electricity for an electric motor with gasoline one?
smile.gif


The generator is a Champion 3500 watt, not the inverter type. It runs at 3600 RPM. The snow blower clearly run slower, although I don't have an exact figure.
 
Originally Posted By: Kamele0N
Almost all OPE equipement is pre-set to run around 3200 to 3600 rpms @wot...

Understood, but my ear says the Ariens 254 cc runs slower than the Champion 196 cc.

Barring an extended power outage, my JD D140 lawn tractor gets the most running hours per year at 30 hours on average. It runs on Mobil 1 10w30 EP and doesn't seem to consume any oil. The snow blower is only two seasons old and has seen very little use due to two mild winters. It may have 4-5 hours max on it with Mobil 1 5w30. When we have a big snow event, I might run it 4-6 hours per day for two days, possibly 15 hours in a snowy season. None of my other OPE approaches 30 hours in a season, but any and all can be called on to run for two hours or more at a shot. For that reason I am thinking of running 5w40 in everything except the snow blower, and purchasing a quart of 5w30 once a year for it. One gallon of 5w40 will cover the John Deere with two quarts to spare for everything else.
 
The most common killer of OPE is lack of oil.Easily preventable by checking level before use. I mostly run 10w30, but both mowers got 20w50 leftover from old BMWs, Snow blower gets 5w30. Hasn't blown yet.
grin2.gif
 
FWIW, the Honda GC/GCVs I occasionally care for see nothing but leftover Valvoline MaxLife 5W-30 or a HDEO 10W-30. I have Motorcraft 10W-30 HDEO(a P66 product, rebottled Kendall or Philips 66 I think) in my parent's pressure washer that uses a GCV160. I think I'll use PP or leftover ST in it.
 
Originally Posted By: andyd
The most common killer of OPE is lack of oil.Easily preventable by checking level before use. I mostly run 10w30, but both mowers got 20w50 leftover from old BMWs, Snow blower gets 5w30. Hasn't blown yet.
grin2.gif


It should go without saying that BITOG members know to check the oil level, but then again, you know what they say about assumptions. Yours is an accurate and valuable post to be sure.
 
Originally Posted By: Astro_Guy
Originally Posted By: Kamele0N
Almost all OPE equipement is pre-set to run around 3200 to 3600 rpms @wot...

Understood, but my ear says the Ariens 254 cc runs slower than the Champion 196 cc.

Barring an extended power outage, my JD D140 lawn tractor gets the most running hours per year at 30 hours on average. It runs on Mobil 1 10w30 EP and doesn't seem to consume any oil. The snow blower is only two seasons old and has seen very little use due to two mild winters. It may have 4-5 hours max on it with Mobil 1 5w30. When we have a big snow event, I might run it 4-6 hours per day for two days, possibly 15 hours in a snowy season. None of my other OPE approaches 30 hours in a season, but any and all can be called on to run for two hours or more at a shot. For that reason I am thinking of running 5w40 in everything except the snow blower, and purchasing a quart of 5w30 once a year for it. One gallon of 5w40 will cover the John Deere with two quarts to spare for everything else.


Larger displacement motor may run at a slightly lower RPM.
 
My mower has a briggs right now its getting a mix of 5w30 synblend and 10w30 formula shell. Not ideal the 5w30 synblend is left over from the snowblower was consolidating shelf space. Mower runs great. Next year I'll run 30 or 40wt HD in the mower.

Snowblower is 15 yrs old always had a 5w30 synthetic or synblend. Great motor the Tecumseh is.
 
Okay - just checked the stash again prior to the busy late summer and fall season. I have 4 quarts of older API SL Mobil 1 5w30 on hand. Some of that (2.5 qts.) will get used in the JD 140 and the pressure washer at the end of the season, the rest will be held over for the snow blower next spring, and anything left will go into the drip oil jug. Two quarts of 15w40 Rotella T5 also remain, but will likely be used by the leaf vacuum this fall. Drip oil should cover much of the OPE next year, excluding the generator and JD 140. Where the garage now has six jugs there will be only two; that's definitely progress. 2019-20 will be a new ball game in terms of oil for the OPE.
 
Usually stock up on napa 5w30 full synthetic or super tech.. if not mobil 1.. if I go conventional/syn blend its formula shell, Castrol or valvoline/napa
 
Astro_Guy said:
I've been struggling with this question for several years now, having no fewer than four different oils in use with my OPE. My local conditions here in SE Pennsylvania might range from 0 degrees in winter to 100 degrees in summer. Only one machine in the fleet, that being the generator, would ever be called upon to operate across that entire range. I've decided to leave the snow blower out of this, as that is a really special purpose application very different from the others. Other than the generator, that limits the operating conditions to about 25 F to 90 F. Above 90 F I will happily wait for cooler weather.

Given my circumstances, I could just go with a synthetic 5w30 but favor something in an Xw40. There is both 5w40 and 15w40 in the fleet now. Aside from the lawn tractor, it is all pull start. The only machine running 15w40 is the leaf vacuum, mainly because it uses a lot of oil. It started a lot easier in the cooler late fall temperatures with 5w40 than the current 15w40 fill. I am never going back to the straight SAE 30 it calls for as it is very difficult to pull start it in cool fall temperatures when it is needed most.

So with that as the background, here are some of the contenders and my thoughts were needed:

1. Mobil 1 0w40. 3.6 HTHS; 12.9 KV100. This one is on the list because I have about 6 quarts on hand.

2. Mobil 1 5w40 Turbo Diesel Truck. 3.8 HTHS; 14.5 KV100. Seems to be be a happy place on that specification.

3. Rotella T6 5w40. Unknown HTHS; but 14.2 KV100 slightly less than M1 TDT. HTHS might be similar.

4. Delo 4000 XSP 5w40. 4.2 HTHS and 15.4 KV100. This one worries me for the Honds GCV160 powered equipment, particularly the push mower that is used for trimming what the lawn tractor cannot reach. That machine sees 5-10 minutes of run time per week, some of that in short start stop cycles.

Okay, so there you have it. Your thoughts: stick with a 5w30 or chose one of these or another 5w40?
Click to expand...

Cut it down to two. A 5W-30 for the gen set and the snow blower. Use a 15W-40 (conventional or synthetic) in the tractor and the blower.
Push mower too, if you have one for trimming.


My 2¢
 
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