What's best 2 cycle oil (chainsaws, trimmers, etc)

Status
Not open for further replies.
Hey Mr. hoss!
I've read some of your posts over at Lawnsite.com, a sight I recently discovered. There is a wealth of knowledge over there.
It seems as though there are some professionals who put thousands of hours on their equipment who are using Opti-2 with great success. I was about to order some, when I stumbled accross this thread, and then had second thoughts.
I don't put the hours on my equipment that the pros do, but I'm a fanatic about maintaining my equipment and I want to use the very best 2-cycle oil available. Unfortunately, it seems there is no clear cut answer as to the best.
dunno.gif
 
quote:

Originally posted by harrydog:
Hey Mr. hoss!
I've read some of your posts over at Lawnsite.com, a sight I recently discovered. There is a wealth of knowledge over there.
It seems as though there are some professionals who put thousands of hours on their equipment who are using Opti-2 with great success. I was about to order some, when I stumbled accross this thread, and then had second thoughts.
I don't put the hours on my equipment that the pros do, but I'm a fanatic about maintaining my equipment and I want to use the very best 2-cycle oil available. Unfortunately, it seems there is no clear cut answer as to the best.
dunno.gif


Lawnsite is a great site. Tons of info.

Opti2 has worked awesome for me. I put it in thousands of dollars of equipment every year. If it ever had problems I would know it. I wouldn't let oil cost me my business.
 
I frequent Lawnsite.com and have linked this site many times. Name there is sawman.

Opti-2 is a good oil mix.

I dont understand why people say that they dont do it for a profession so they dont want to use the best equipment or oil! You will save so much $$ by buying better equipment, or wear and tear by better oil, etc.

Im glad to see some people from Lawnsite posting on here, at least someone read what i wrote.
grin.gif
 
I agree Blano. You are pretty arumentative sometimes but I threw away the Opti2 I have been using for about 5 years after trying the Mobile MX2t. Runs cleaner, less smoke and the main thing is I like the smell.Just kidding about the smell thing of course. I did not see any advantage to Opti2. Ratio was as advertised and it still smoked and would foul a plug . So no advantage. I thing the EUTECTIC stuff my be marketing like the stuff Castrol presents. I gree I have not used it in many , many machines, but I have tried it in 6 different machines. They all seemed to run better, in my opinion. This is not intended to cause any hurt feelings. Just another man's findings.
GregH
 
Could the Opti-2 just have problems in the cold winter months? I tried using it in a gas ice auger and it didn't seem to mix very well. It looked like it flaked up and seperated. I also had a friend who ran it and blew up and auger. Seems many run it in lawn equipment without problems, but that is during warm weather. Just something to think about.
 
I am no expert and do not run a landscaping business. I am simply a consumer. That said, here is what I have experienced.

I started off with whatever home depot sold. I ran this in my ryobi weed whacker. It did ok. I then bought a husky chain saw and continued to use the same fuel/oil mixture. I got it back from being sharpened the second time and it would not start. I took it back to the dealer who sold it to me (at list price) and who had sharpened the blade for me and they looked at it. Aparantly the plug was fouled. The cleaned out the fuel tank, replaced the plug and gave me a 6 pack of husky oil. I guess they felt sorry for me. Husky oil runs 50:1. The home depot stuff I bought before was running 32:1. Now, the chainsaw runs great but the ryobi string trimmer fights me to stay running. I have to keep the choke on to keep it running. I have cleaned the air filter, cleaned the carb, cleaned everything that can be cleaned, tweaked the mixture screws and no joy. So I deal with it.

I am seriously considering a 40:1 mx2t test next year to see if it works better than the 50:1 mix with the husky branded oil to see if the ryobi likes it better.
 
quote:

Originally posted by blano:
any iso egd aircooled oil will work fine and there are many.

Agree! I personally use Mobil 1 MX2T, but will recommend any JASO FC, ISO-L-EGD oil. Use one with these "specs", and you'll be ahead of most people out there...
 
My background is in 2-stroke motorcycles, both off-road and street driven. I have used petro based, and synthetic premix oils, from several manufacturers. The good synthetic oils do a better job in coating all metal surfaces, and burn cleaner. This statement is from my own experience with top end and crankcase inspections/tear-downs.

I use Bel Ray MC1+ in all my trimmers, at a ratio of 40/1. With this system, I do not have to replace spark plugs, and the powerheads outlast the rest of the trimmer (LOL)! I have owned Ryobi, Weed Eater, and now Husky trimmers. This mix worked in them all.

Ask your local dirt bike dealer what his customers use in a synthetic pre-mix oil. Any oil that will give good performance in a high-strung dirt bike, will work very well in 2-stroke lawn equipment.
 
quote:

Originally posted by cryptokid:
for somthing like a line trimmer or blower just use any old oil. it doesnt really matter. use 10w30 or tcw3 or whatever.
little 2stroke engines will run forever and a half on any kind of oil.

i think you guys are too picky about things.
i can understand wanting a good 2stroke oil for a dirtbike, pwc, outboard, or some high end chainsaw. but for simple little $150 string trimmer or blower, using a GOOD oil is a waste of money. i used klotz in my dirtbike, but i wouldnt waste my money putting it in my blower or string trimmer.
what is more important, is to properly tune your engine. adjust the low and high speed needles for proper air to fuel ratio for whatever gas and oil you use. i have a green machine string trimmer thats probably older than i am, and it runs great to this day using whatever oil i had sitting around, even used car motor oil. it uses a zenoah g32 engine, which is specked at 32:1 oil mix. do ya think i care? i just dump a bit of oil in the gallon gas can, dont even bother to measure it. if i had to guess id say i average about 50:1 mix for the thing.
my point is that it just doesnt matter. little 2strokes dont require good oil, they dont require good gas either.

proper tuning of the carb is what keeps your engine internals cleanly, and keeps your exhaust from plugging up. just about every single small 2stroke is set way to rich from the factory, and as the air filter plugs up, it gets even worse.
thats as simple as it needs to be , a little carborator tweak once in a while and your off and running for another month.


I can understand not wanting to run an expensive 2-stroke oil...But at the least use whatever 2-stroke stuff you can get at Wallmart for $1.99 a qt.

2-strokes are very tempermental. I wonder how much carbon 10w-30 leaves?
 
quote:

Originally posted by Gebo:
My Dad doesn't believe in "synthetics" and uses various 2 cycle oils. Generally, whatever the salesman tells him. Every year he has to take his weedeater, leafblower in for repairs. He just told me the other day he was gonna buy another ">>>>>" because the last 3 had lasted 2 years.

I've been using Amsoil 100:1 since I got married in 1983 and have NEVER had to take any 2 cycle piece of my equipment in for any kind of repair. 2 weedeaters and 2 leaf blowers. Maybe I'm just lucky??? No, I like to think of it as "wisdom."
grin.gif


That is too funny. I have the same problem. My 2cycle engines never have any problems. None of my family will run Amsoil.
 
That's funny Msparks, when I sold Amsoil I couldn't get anyone in my family to use it either. It's pretty bad when your own mother won't buy motor oil from you
grin.gif


At least she used to buy those stupid boxes of caramel corn when I was a boy scout.
 
If its that bad, I wonder why Husquevarna lengthened a friends warranty to double what the factory offered, because he was using opti-2?
This is the only forum I have read negative about it.
 
Any extended engine warranties are add-on's serviced thru Interlube International (Opti).

Many dealers will sell a new lawnmower with 4-6 qts of Opti oil which includes the extended warranty. This is the same class of extended waranty offered thru Sears for a washer & dryer.

Personally, I'm not a fan of Opti-2 or 4. Many users give glowing accounts of the performance, yet can't explain the principal behind it.
 
Hello all,

Was just surfing through and this thread caught my eye, so much so I felt compelled to join so I could throw my $1.14 in (.02 adj for post dot bomb Bushanomics). My opinions are based on 6 years of employment as a repair monkey (we werent techs back then early-mid 80s) at a large pro equipment shop and the various OEM sponsored workshops and training classes that job allowed me.

There are 4 major concerns that OPE manufacturers have with the oils used in their equipment.
The dispersant package, the lubricity, the combustability and volatility. These last two are a very delicate balance of properties that need to be addressed. The way you stay clear of issues is to ALWAYS stick with an OPE mfr. oil preferably the one that made your equipment if not stick with one that makes pro level equipment ie Echo, Stihl Redmax etc. And heres why:

The fundamental reason is who will replace the equipment if the powerhead fails especially in the 1-2 year professional use warranty period? I'm not saying that the mfr won't replace it if you use a another branded oil but they are the ones with everything to lose if equipment fails prematurely - $$$$, reputation and brand loyalty. And thats a whole lotta open ended hours to cover- they have a vested intrest in seeing that formulations and variances between lots are to spec.
Next up is the fact they have a first hand knowledge of the vital areas the oil needs to address and the use and duty cycle the engine will be experiencing.

Many of you have suggested full on synthetics and even motorcycle oils as being ideal. The issues that I have witnessed from their use is the compromises and balances of those oils and other non mfr oils are skewed to different priorities than what an OPE engine requires. The fact is an OPE engine will see a duty cycle of 90-90-10 meaning 90 percent operation at 90 percent of output and 10 percent at idle or transition. I don't see any dirtbike rider being able to run his possibly liquid cooled large displacement engine anywhere near that duty cycle. Full synthetics have issues surrounding their usually desireable lack of volatility and the buildup of unburned unflashed residues that remain - If you ever wondered why they suggest ratios in the parts per million range thats why. Many of the dirt bike and related full synthetics are spec'd for liquid or air cooled and oil injection as well which even if they list ok for premix presents another setof unnecessary compromises.

What kills an OPE engine early is almost always oil related either too much not enough or the wrong off spec oil. It has to mix easily with the fuel it has to burn completely or flash off under the heat of normal operation and it has to lubricate. The oils that fail to combust or flash off cause ring jacking slight ammounts of unburned oil will seep under rings if they flash off its ok if not they form hard carbon deposits which attract more oil which leads to Screech Ping!

Ok one last thing there is a product that is not OPE made that I do absolutely believe in using its called Ringfree made by Yamaha and Chevron its related to the techron additive from what it says on the label but it must be at a very very high concentration it lists a shock treat and a constant treat level. Constant treat mixed in with your premix will provide many additional hours of operation by virtue of negligable buildup of anything inside the intake exhaust or combustion chamber you can literally wipe a sparkplug off with a paper napkin after 50 hours and its shiny new no carbon at all. Only available from Yamaha outboard motor dealers. If you use commercial equipment hard this stuff is for you.
 
Unkotare,

I just don't agree with you...simple as that.

The bottom line for me is this: Get whatever you want as long as it meets ISO-L-EGD and JASO FC.
 
Go to the lawnsite and look around. The Mobil-1 and Amsoil synthetic 2-stroke oils absolutely rock.
 
blano said:
Why in the world would some one want to run as little oils as possible in a two cycle? [/quote

I still use the Amsoil Saber Professional at a 50:1 mix. Weed Eater and Blower love the rich mix.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top