# SAE30 - Kohler K301



## film495 (Nov 1, 2013)

I have a 70s Ariens garden tractor with a 12HP Kohler. I've been switching between SAE30 for summer and 10w30 or 5w20 for winter. I'm never anywhere near the hours needed to change the oil, machine gets light use, and it seemed silly this spring when I was draining out synthetic oil that looked like it was new to change the viscosity. I was looking through charts and some say SAE30 is for above 32F, and I've seen some charts that say down to 10 degrees. I started it today to clean some snow at about 20F, and it was a little slow, but I would say started normally, one crank, about 10 seconds and it turned over, one more short crank and started up fine. 

So, my real question is, there may come a time when it is brutally cold and I need to start the machine to clear snow, maybe in an emergency situation etc. Can I just put a heading pad underneath the pan to warm it up for an hour and that would work? I remember a video a friend of mine showed me several years ago of a truck that would not start on a snowmobile trip, so they piled a bunch of hot coals under the engine, and got it going.


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## sixbales (May 18, 2011)

Hello film495, welcome to the forum.

Try the heating pad idea and see if it works for you.


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## ZZ71 (Dec 19, 2010)

I had Ariens snowthrow for years, my first was a 1972 and I always ran AMSOIL Synthetic 10W-40 in it from 1 hr. I would run them 10 yrs, change oil every 5 yrs, sell it and buy a new one because I could. The old one was always still in good condition. 


If you are determined to use a 30 wt then look at this synthetic oil which not only qualifies as a 30 but also a 10W-30 so you would not have to change it seasonally.


2010 my shoulders could take the 13hp/36-in walk behind anymore so I upgraded to the JD X728.


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