312-8 w snow plow blade, wood seat and 1st time snow…gas consumption?

[ARK 9]

Fellow RSq members,

With a full tank of gas, a well tuned engine, a Toro plow that works as designed and wheel weights but no tire chains I had a chance to clear the first snow fall off the driveway.  Everything went as it should, with over 40 years of pushing a larger plow with hydraulics the little 4' Toro plow actually does a decent job, just have to look out for curbs and bumps in sidewalks and slightly raise the plow as you move forward.  From habit, I waxed the plow face, oiled the scraper bar and rear of plow blade

 

Those of you who have experience with WH and plowing snow can you give me an idea of fuel consumption?  Liters or gallons used per hour of work.  I find that I keep the engine at about ½ throttle because of the ice base under the snow.  If you can, a comparison between plowing snow and mowing grass based on equal time doing each.

 

I don't have a tach but with a bench tach I performed a RPM vs. throttle position and labelled the RPM points beside the throttle to indicate engine speed.

 

Prior to actually plowing, I Seafoamed the carbon choked engine.  When bought the engine displayed a muffled carbon based mass that started very slowly with choke then slowly came to life.  Since cleaning, adjusting, tuning the engine now comes to life with the first crank, no hesitation, no puffs of smoke, no missing, no strange noises…all with no parts.  Seafoam and Mobil 1 5W30 are a good combination here in Central Ontario.

 

Thank you!

[varosd 1,185]

sounds like you had some fun!!

the Kohlers use a lot less gas compared to the Onans

just using a snowblade and not using a belt driven deck or throw, you gas usage will be low.

All my engine manuals always say, run full throttle always.  I will drop it down to idle and let engine cool down then turn off.

[ARK 9]

Engine RPM and Ice on pavement makes for an adventure that seems far too slippery.  I have a set of tire chains but have not installed them because I wanted a lesson on the drivability of this machine.  Using all gears and different engine RPM does a rather good job of over coming ice traction, but I found at WOT the ice below the snow interferes with traction as the wheels spin far faster than what is needed.

 

With mowing more HP is needed and used, in my case hilly terrain vs level and short plowing distance, the mower drive and mule require HP as you said.  With lower HP needed to plow is there a danger of any kind with the motor.  I run the engine at about 2200RPM.  This will probably change as snow amounts grow and moving mounds further away.

 

Thanks for the reply.

[dcrage 630]

From reading this forum for several years it is my understanding that the "run full throttle always" recommendation is precisely to minimize engine wear -- I believe the issue is maintaining proper air flow across the engine block for temperature control