Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I'm a new owner of a 926le and I have a few questions.

1.  The time has come for the first oil change.  I'm curious what everyone is running in the Tecumseh L head.  I have always been a Castrol guy, but last summer I switched to Mobil 1 with the extended life formula.  I figured that a few extra detergent's couldn't hurt in my small engines that require a multi-weight oil.

2.  I used the machine for the first time in serious snow (14 inches) last weekend.  I did run the machine twice so it was not more  than 8-10 inches of fresh snow.  EOD  was a good 2-3 feet.  The machine seemed to clear the normal drive pretty well, throwing about 20-25 ft.  Does this sound normal?  Reason I'm asking is because I've read about how the Ariens is the "throwing champ" and my next door neighbor's 14 year old  John Deere seemed to throw just as far or farther.  EOD the machine seemed to chew through it pretty good, but it still rode up as much as chewed through.

3.  Hard to start.  I follow the guide, prime, choke etc.  After 5-7 pulls, I can't even get it to fire or sputter.  I can do the same thing with the electric start and fires in about 2 secs.  Is this normal?  Even warm starts are 2-3 pulls.  Kind of embarassing when your new machine takes 3 pulls and the 14 yr old fires on 1.

4.  Loading up @ idle.  When I idle the machine down for 1-2 minutes and then open the throttle, the machine seem to run very rich for about 1-2 seconds, blowing blue/white smoke  like the mixture is too rich, much like a choked engine, but this is after running and warm, so Choke is not an issue.  Once  it  clears the carb,  the engine purrs strong with no smoke or hesitation.

5.  Scraper Blade Adjustment.  I've adjusted the blade to 1/8" as the manual recommends (I used two small  finishing nails to get the same height on both sides).  It seems that my blower leaves more snow behind on the goundthan my neighbors John Deere or the other neighbor's craftsman.  Any suggestions? 

Now, for the good news,  my poor neighbor had a craftsman 5.5hp going through the same  snow  storm and drifts and wasnt' having a very good time of it.  I had  no problems going where he couldn't.  In fact, I ended up doing most of his drive.  The John Deere didnt have drift  cutters or as high of an opening, so the pattern became me breaking the EOD and the John Deere  cleaning  up the rest.  I think the machine is a workhorse overall,  and seems to be happiest under load--is that a characteristic of the L-head? I've always been a B&S guy as the Tecumseh on a pushmower I had didn't make it 6 years with perfect maintenance,  I just need  to tweak it a little it sounds like.

Any other suggestions for a Snow thower noob would be greatly appreciated.

1. My engine manual said to use Synthetic so I use synthetic, what does your manual say? I think following the maintenance schedule is more important than the specific brand of oil.
   
2. Riding up can occur when the augers are feeding the impeller more snow than the impeller can throw. It normally happens in deep snow. Select a slower gear, if you are in first already blip the traction control or take partial swaths. The chute control can have a big effect on how far the snow flies. Since the impeller turns clock wise ( from the operator position) the snow will fly further when the chute is pointed right. The angle adjustment at the top of the chute also controls things alot. The machine must have some load to cause the governor to kick in and cause the engine to actually start working, this can mean that it will throw snow at a faster speed setting since you need "enough" snow coming in. Finally the auger system belt should be adjusted per the manual, if it is slipping the snw won't go anywhere. Since you have 20'-25'  thats probably not a problem although you might want to check it since it is new.
   
3. I have a B&S and it normally starts in 1-2 pulls when cold. Make sure the gas is turned on ( there may be a cutoff valve) and prime 5-6 times when cold and its the first try. Also set the throttle to fully on. The throttle is more of an off on thing than a real throttle, I hardly ever slow it down. If I want to slow it down I turn it off. Remeber to turn the choke off once its warmed up ( about 1-2 minutes).
   
4. See my comment in 3 above about the throttle. Only other thought is to make sure the choke is off.
   
5. Were you on a level surface when you did the adjustment?  1/8" should give pretty clean results unless the driveway is really wavy or moade of gravel. Check the height adjustment, maybe the bolts weren't tight enough.