K321 Plow Oil

[23 Reo 229]

Going to be plowing with my Raider 14. I am using 10-30 full synthetic in the sump as I live in Massachusetts.

Is the 10-30 synthetic adequate for this application?

Edited December 14, 2022 by 23 Reo

[Achto 27,570]

Should work great.

[ebinmaine 67,467]

IMHO you'd be okay.

 

We have Kohler, Tecumseh and Briggs engines in our fleet. 8, 10 and 16 horse. 

 

We run straight 30 year round in everything except my 1974 c160 with a k341.

 

I find that if I leave straight 30 in that engine below about 25⁰ or 30° Fahrenheit it gets pretty angry about starting.  

[Pullstart 62,850]

Where is the reservoir on the plow anyway?  

 

Sorry, that’s how I read the title at first!  

[bds1984 1,429]

9 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

Where is the reservoir on the plow anyway?  

 

Sorry, that’s how I read the title at first!  

It's right next to the blinker fluid reservoir, directly over the muffler bearings.

[peter lena 8,623]

@ebinmaine  hear you on the straight 30 wt  rotella  , couple of years back with extended cold and needed plowing , changed over to 5-30  wt.  Castrol , starts like its summer  no oil cold transition  issues at all , nothing . just my own experience , pete 

[kpinnc 12,017]

There are several small engine oils out there that have the proper zinc levels and anti-wear additives in multi-weight versions. Often not so in most any automotive xx-30W.

 

Kohler and Vanguard have name brand air cooled engine oils in 5W-30 and others. Amsoil has multiple flavors of small engine oil as well. Motorcycle oils typically have zinc additives that are no longer available in automotive oils. 

 

And of course Rotella is great stuff. Straight or multi grade.

 

But, at the end of the day, fresh oil of automotive type or not is better than dirty old sludge in the sump. 

[ebinmaine 67,467]

21 minutes ago, kpinnc said:

There are several small engine oils out there that have the proper zinc levels and anti-wear additives in multi-weight versions. Often not so in most any automotive xx-30W.

 

Kohler and Vanguard have name brand air cooled engine oils in 5W-30 and others. Amsoil has multiple flavors of small engine oil as well. Motorcycle oils typically have zinc additives that are no longer available in automotive oils. 

 

And of course Rotella is great stuff. Straight or multi grade.

 

But, at the end of the day, fresh oil of automotive type or not is better than dirty old sludge in the sump. 

 

I've been using Kinetix for... 2 or 3 years maybe?

Seems ok.  

Pricing is excellent. 

 

[bds1984 1,429]

So if any of you are looking to deep dive on VOAs (virgin oil analysis), here you go.

 

Diesel Oils

 

PCMO (Passenger Car Motor Oils)

Best bet for zinc in readily available oil AND not overpriced seems to be Motorcraft and Wolf's Head 15W40.  
And for S&Gs, here are two photos of VOAs for Kohler and Amsoil small engine oils.