I'm doing the same and agree 100%.
what two stroke oil are you using.
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Mobil MX2T
In Thirty years of trying all the two stoke oils I could find in my area, I can say that I have NEVER experianced an oil like Mobil One Racing 2T (old name MX2T)! With just a change in the oil I noticed an increase of idle speed and accelleration in my non-governed two strokes. This has never been observed with any other oil by me. I don't know how it does it but you can rest assured that I have a lifetime supply put back of this unqiue oil.
I have used Lawn-Boy oil in the past, and now it's mostly Amsoil Sabre mixed at about 60:1.
I use Amsoil Saber professional in my commercial equipment. I use 4oz to 2 gal which I think is in the 60's:1 ratio. I use my equipment all day everyday and have not had a problem in the two years I have been using it.
Soupy, 2oz. per gal is 64 to 1. A bit lean in my book, but it's your equipment. I can't figure out why so many people want to use as little oil in their two-cycle engines as possible. The same people wouldn't only fill their car engine half full. I don't get it.
Most people use this oil at 100:1 0r 80:1 so I figure I'm safe going 64:1. Plus it's easier to measure with this dose. If I was using any other oil I would mix it stronger.
I think the people that run higher ratios are the same people that don't believe in changing their oil every 3months or 3,000 miles. We all know that motor oil lasts longer than 3,000 miles. Why is it so hard to believe that a good 2 cycle oil can be run at higher ratios?
It's not about quality of the oil, It's about quanity of the oil that can be the destruction of a two-cycle engine. I will admit that oil quality is important, however when you consider that in a two-cycle engine the oil needed to keep those finely fitted machined parts from making actual contact is just passing through, I for one want to make sure that there is enough to do the job right. After all it's only oil, most folks don't use enough two-cycle mix to worry about the oil useage. Also consider this, the more oil the more additives, things like detergents, anti-wear agents, and dispersants. I run everything at 32 to 1 and I don't have problems with carbon build up, smoking, or oil driping out of the muffler. I don't get the high ratio thing at all, WHY would you risk running less oil?
Let me see, we can build chips on the head of a pin, send people into space but make an oil that can run at 100 to 1, not possible.
I use Red Line for my weed wacker. I don't know if it's any better than anything else, but a friend has a brush clearing business and does a lot of work for the state of California. Home use is nothing like what these weed wackers see, five days a week. He said that over 30 years they have tried many different brands and he says that most of them do a good job, but he prefers Red Line.
This brings me to a question. When is my Echo ever going to wear out? It just keeps running and is almost 10 years old. I have a couple of acres to cut with a lawn mower and a lot of trimming. I use it about 2 hours a week, maybe 40 weeks of the year. I change the plug, fuel filter and air filter two or three times a year, use regular unleaded gas and Red Line oil. I have never adjusted anything, ever, just run it. I do make sure that I keep it spinning and don't lug it down, and I warm it up by going easy for the first five minutes or so. It just keeps going, and is never difficult to start. I guess I'll just keep running it until it fails.
This brings me to a question. When is my Echo ever going to wear out? It just keeps running and is almost 10 years old. I have a couple of acres to cut with a lawn mower and a lot of trimming. I use it about 2 hours a week, maybe 40 weeks of the year. I change the plug, fuel filter and air filter two or three times a year, use regular unleaded gas and Red Line oil. I have never adjusted anything, ever, just run it. I do make sure that I keep it spinning and don't lug it down, and I warm it up by going easy for the first five minutes or so. It just keeps going, and is never difficult to start. I guess I'll just keep running it until it fails.
I own a lawn care service so it's different for me. Any old two cycle oil would be fine at the correct ratio for a homeowner. My trimmers and blowers are used on 10-15 properties a day and see no problems running Amsoil at the 64:1 ratio. I'm not brave enough to try the 100:1 because Amsoil states to use 80:1 in severe use. I decided to go with the 64:1 because of the added oil and the ease of measuring the mixture.
Amsoil is used by many lawn care professionals per a forum I am a member at and no one has had trouble. Most use the 80:1 or 100:1. Before I used Amsoil I would battle clogged spark arrestors and fouled plugs.
There seems to be two schools of thought on two-cycle oil, the use what the engine manufacturer recomends and the use what the oil manufacturer recomends crowds. I guess I'm in the first group. I have read many posts from the Opti-2 Amsoil folks and from what I've read their choice of oil and ratio seems to be working for them. However, I have taken the advice of lawn-care professionals and small engine service shops in my area and use the full quanity of lubricant recomended by the engine manufacturer. Actualy I have been advised that the 50 to 1 engines should be mixed slightly heavier to avoid reduced longevity. I still have some Amsoil Saber on the shelf that I use as an engine prelube, I figure it is loaded up with anti-scuff additives and should work well till the mix oil is flowing through.
Stihl black bottle for my Stihl weedwacker.
Here is my $.02 on my reasons for using the lean mix ratio.
I will always use a synethic oil in every thing I own. I once ran a test when I worked at Generac with syn oil vs conv oils. Same 100 hr service (full load on gerenator (6kw 16hp twin brigs)at about 600-700 hrs the gen on conv oil would no longer pull its rated load. Test ended at 1200 hrs on syn still pulling full load. So that told me syn is the way to go. This took care of all my 4 cycle engins and I began extending the change intervals. (saved time and saved some money).
All of my lawn equipment is 2 cycle except the edger and roto tiller(not used often). I had 3 cans of different mixes most would go bad because I wouldn't use them fast enough and one regular can. I found the amsoil 100:1 and gave it a try at 80:1 sometimes lower sometimes higher. I got rid of 2 gas cans. All has been great for I think 3-4 years now. Next I ran out of regular gas for edger I said its mixed pretty lean put it in. It ran great maybe evan better I get rid of another gas can. So I went from 4 to 1 and have more space for things I like in my garage.
That is part of the reason you mix at 32:1 for everything to get rid of all the cans.
My last input is this. My last quart of 100:1 cost $9-10 (I don't remember). I can mix 16 gallons of mix at 64:1 with one quart. At 32:1 you only get 8 gallons of mix. I'm not sure what the Mobile 1 product costs but I'll guess it is about $7-8 a quart. So I have saved $5 a year(big deal). But to a landscape company that uses 16 gallons a week that becomes $260 a year.
Again my $.02
The idea that every two cycle oil works best at the same mix ratio, makes no technical sense at all. Certainly the quality of the basestock and additive chemistry and the amount of stoddard solvent in the mixture all come into play when determining optimum mix ratios for a particular formulation.
TS
TS
I agree that it makes no technical sense. But I have to believe that Amsoil has tested their product on more than 1 type of 2 stroke engine and has found it to perform well in most "most" applications. Their web site has a recomendation table as which 2 stroke oil to use for which application.
Along this same line I have to believe that each engine manufacture has tested their engines with a certain oil, and has found it to work well at a certain mix ratio. If you use Sthil oil you can use it at 50:1 but if you use any other oil mix it at 32:1. Their 32:1 recomendation is probably for the cheapest 2 stroke oil on the shelf.
Again this in my $.02
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