Gold Standard for 2 Cycle Oils? Chainsaw

Used with ethanol free fuel its a good combo.
Which is saying no Thnaks to the moonshine(ethanol) ;)

Echo redarmor is one of my favorite 2 cycle oils, but last 3 bottles were vp racing at half the price.... Walmart clearance all the VP racing in the fall.
Got a ton of the quart cans of fuel for a dollar too.
Nope, "moonshine" means you mix it yourself.
 
After watching teardown videos, I will not use Stihl Ultra in the silver bottle. It is JASO FB and we are now leaps and bounds beyond that. It aint cheap either so why bother? I would happily use HuskyXP+ any day if needed to.

I have been addicted to Echo / Shindaiwa Red Armor. I have owned a GT-225 since new, which I started out using echo power blend, and some MC-1 racing oil I had left over, and although the port is good and cylinder wear is minimal and almost not visable, when I bought my SRM-225, it has only seen echo red armor and ethanol free, in which the cylinder and piston looks new, and there is no carbon on the exhaust port. My rebuilt CS-670 chainsaw got a 32:1 mix of it, and now gets a 40:1 mix and it too looks like brand new.
 
Echo Red Armor has worked very well for me. I use it in my Echo line trimmer, and my Hitachi (Tanaka) leaf blower. Never had an issue with either piece of equipment.
 
Amsoil Saber or Echo Red Armor either at 40:1 or 50:1. I run three antique Lawn-Boys and keep my mix at 40:1 just for a little more piece of mind. Both oils are high end, but the Amsoil is less than half the price of Echo Red Armor. Red Armor is around $12 for a 16oz bottle, while Saber is around $17 for a full quart. If you have an Amsoil dealer in your area, grab that. If not, then Red Armor is the next best. This is the exhaust port on my Husqvarna 128LD trimmer that I’ve had for a little over three years. It’s seen duty not only as a trimmer, but I also have the edger, pole saw, and mini tiller attachments that have all been used quite a bit. Except for the first tank of two, I’ve only run either Saber or Red Armor at 40:1 mixed with 90 octane ethanol free rec fuel.
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L8R,
Matt
 
Amsoil Saber or Echo Red Armor either at 40:1 or 50:1. I run three antique Lawn-Boys and keep my mix at 40:1 just for a little more piece of mind. Both oils are high end, but the Amsoil is less than half the price of Echo Red Armor. Red Armor is around $12 for a 16oz bottle, while Saber is around $17 for a full quart. If you have an Amsoil dealer in your area, grab that. If not, then Red Armor is the next best. This is the exhaust port on my Husqvarna 128LD trimmer that I’ve had for a little over three years. It’s seen duty not only as a trimmer, but I also have the edger, pole saw, and mini tiller attachments that have all been used quite a bit. Except for the first tank of two, I’ve only run either Saber or Red Armor at 40:1 mixed with 90 octane ethanol free rec fuel.

L8R,
Matt
not to be too particular but that makes the echo red armor 41% more not double. (8.5-$ vs 12)
also red armor is available in gallons ~~around $65

The real deal is if you can find any vp racing clearance at walmart they were as low as 3$ last year.
 
I’ve been really happy with pre-mix Red Amor in all my 50:1 stuff. It seems to do really well too in things like my chain saw that are used infrequently. The only small downside I see is that the exhaust has rather distinctive sharp almost metallic smell to my nose. Others on here have dimmed Red Armor in general as “it’s good but it stinks.”

I run three antique Lawn-Boys and keep my mix at 40:1 just for a little more piece of mind.

Lawn Boys specs ashless TC-W type oil(current is TC-W3) mixed 32:1. Since you mentioned “antique” it’s also worth saying that is for D series engines and newer with needle bearings. Plain bearing D engines and all earlier spec 16:1.

8 oz. of Lawn Boy brand TC-W3 mixed with 2 gallons of usually E10 serves me well. They start and run great, have plenty of power, and what carbon I get cleans off very easily. The “Gen II” oil claims to also have ethanol stabilizer, but I still generally don’t keep it longer than a month. Depending on the grass height, whether I mulch or side discharge, and tryywhich mower exactly I’m using, 2 gallons is usually good for 3-5 mows. I’ve used self propel a lot less this year, but it definitely eats into that. A Duraforce with factory carb jetting sips gas, but also runs awful-rejetting(I’ve had good luck just doing the Briggs 42.5 pilot, which also requires no disassembly of the mower or carb to change) brings fuel consumption back in line with older models but runs much better and gets the power these beasts are capable of.

Long story short, though, I like to use the type and ratio of oil the manufacturer says. OMC knew a thing or two about making two strokes. The mowers run both slower and cooler than a typical trimmer or blower, which OMC also said justified the use of TC-W oils. Whatever the case, I use my Lawn Boys weekly(sometimes even use a 19” to trim and a 21” to do the bulk of the mowing) and they aren’t making them anymore so I want to keep mine going!
 
I accidentally mixed 40:1 back around 2008. After I bottoms uped my measuring cup I realized my mistake. I figured I would run it and just see what happens as I had spare spark plugs on hand.
Think I'll try 32:1.
 
I wish we had E0 pump gas around here, for my customers that don't use their 2-cycle equipment very often I usually recommend they just buy the ethanol free fuel in cans. I recommend the VP racing over the Trufuel, and haven't tried the Echo canned fuel yet.
Av gas also works well an won't degrade if it sits.
 
Av gas also works well an won't degrade if it sits.
I guess if you have access to an airport, but aren't those fuels leaded still? Seems like a hassle.

I've been mixing my own fuel 50:1 with regular e10 87 pump gas for years now with no issue, but I only make the fuel in 1 gallon batches and use quite a bit of it, so sitting is really not an issue.
 
I guess if you have access to an airport, but aren't those fuels leaded still? Seems like a hassle.

I've been mixing my own fuel 50:1 with regular e10 87 pump gas for years now with no issue, but I only make the fuel in 1 gallon batches and use quite a bit of it, so sitting is really not an issue.
Some airports now sell "mo gas" which I think is 100 octane but unleaded.
 
I’ve been really happy with pre-mix Red Amor in all my 50:1 stuff. It seems to do really well too in things like my chain saw that are used infrequently. The only small downside I see is that the exhaust has rather distinctive sharp almost metallic smell to my nose. Others on here have dimmed Red Armor in general as “it’s good but it stinks.”



Lawn Boys specs ashless TC-W type oil(current is TC-W3) mixed 32:1. Since you mentioned “antique” it’s also worth saying that is for D series engines and newer with needle bearings. Plain bearing D engines and all earlier spec 16:1.

8 oz. of Lawn Boy brand TC-W3 mixed with 2 gallons of usually E10 serves me well. They start and run great, have plenty of power, and what carbon I get cleans off very easily. The “Gen II” oil claims to also have ethanol stabilizer, but I still generally don’t keep it longer than a month. Depending on the grass height, whether I mulch or side discharge, and tryywhich mower exactly I’m using, 2 gallons is usually good for 3-5 mows. I’ve used self propel a lot less this year, but it definitely eats into that. A Duraforce with factory carb jetting sips gas, but also runs awful-rejetting(I’ve had good luck just doing the Briggs 42.5 pilot, which also requires no disassembly of the mower or carb to change) brings fuel consumption back in line with older models but runs much better and gets the power these beasts are capable of.

Long story short, though, I like to use the type and ratio of oil the manufacturer says. OMC knew a thing or two about making two strokes. The mowers run both slower and cooler than a typical trimmer or blower, which OMC also said justified the use of TC-W oils. Whatever the case, I use my Lawn Boys weekly(sometimes even use a 19” to trim and a 21” to do the bulk of the mowing) and they aren’t making them anymore so I want to keep mine going!
Yep, I used to run 32:1 in my Boys, but with Saber and Red Armor, I upped it a little to 40:1. That way I can run the same mix in everything I have. I’ve pulled the carb/reed valve assembly off the D433 on my 1975 5024 Bricktop, and the D600 that I used to have when I still had my 7262, and the crank and internals had a nice coating of oil film over everything. The D433 uses a bronze lower bushing but has the upper needle bearings. I also have a 1978 5277 Vader, and my newest one is a 1987 5254. Last year I mixed a gallon of fuel at 32:1 using Pennzoil XLF oil. Had quite a bit of oil slobber coming off the muffler. Next batch went back to Saber at 40:1. All three of mine have 19” decks. It takes me about an hour and a half to mow and all three run great. But I did order a bunch of parts to rebuild my 5277 with the F100 engine because I want to keep mowing with it for years to come.

L8R,
Matt
 
not to be too particular but that makes the echo red armor 41% more not double. (8.5-$ vs 12)
also red armor is available in gallons ~~around $65

The real deal is if you can find any vp racing clearance at walmart they were as low as 3$ last year.
Yep, that’s kind of what I was getting at.

L8R,
Matt
 
After watching teardown videos, I will not use Stihl Ultra in the silver bottle. It is JASO FB and we are now leaps and bounds beyond that. It aint cheap either so why bother? I would happily use HuskyXP+ any day if needed to.

I have been addicted to Echo / Shindaiwa Red Armor. I have owned a GT-225 since new, which I started out using echo power blend, and some MC-1 racing oil I had left over, and although the port is good and cylinder wear is minimal and almost not visable, when I bought my SRM-225, it has only seen echo red armor and ethanol free, in which the cylinder and piston looks new, and there is no carbon on the exhaust port. My rebuilt CS-670 chainsaw got a 32:1 mix of it, and now gets a 40:1 mix and it too looks like brand new.
You been watching Richard Flagg on YouTube with his chainsaw tear downs?

L8R,
Matt
 
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