Originally Posted By: Mamala Bay
I have no issue with the oil itself as I've stated it's one of the better ones on the market.
For example would using at 80:1 be considered non normal usage for professional usage when the manual recommends 50:1 . Cost wise it's not too bad, but I'll pay some for performance with less plug fouling and easier cleaning.
My "pay a premium" comment was meant in this way:
The "spin" on the Saber product page is about using less oil and saving cost. How many home owners spend enough on two-stroke oil to see a payoff from buying more expensive oil just to mix less of it? If a typical home owner had trouble making ends meet because of mixing two-stroke oil, they'd just go out and buy the least expensive oil out there - not the most expensive which mixes at a different ratio and eventually pays off in sufficient quantity.
I also buy Saber because it's a better product, even though it comes at a premiumm but because I only use 2-3 teaspoons of it per year (sad, I know) I could care less about using less of it.
On my "hour for hour" wear comments. What's the difference between a commercial lawn guy running a blower at speed and Joe Homeowner running a blower at speed? Nothing. The commercial guy definitely does it more hours per day/year but all that means is that the commercial unit is far more likely to be warmed up properly and burning fresh fuel than the homeowner's unit. The homeowner's unit is likely always warming up because the average jobs are that much smaller. Again, if we presume that the engine was designed properly, that blower ought to be able to keep itself running properly for an entire tank of fuel non-stop regardless of amateur or professional use. The other ways professional gear is abused (tossed into trailers, dropped on the ground, scratches, scuffs) have nothing to do with the pre-mix oil.
The debate on ratio has a lot of different sides which have been argued here before. The engine specs are probably conservative and based on the user running the worst [censored] oil out there, just like "change your oil every 3,000mi" mantra.
Along the same lines, specs on old equipment are based on inferior technology oil and accompanying standards. Some gear specs 16:1 which is crazy on today's oils. Similar "issues" when discussing engine oils for 30-40 year old vehicles calling for "straight 30" - it doesn't necessarily strictly apply any more - get a 15W40 HDEO w/ZDDP and call it a day. If one altered the oil ratio from 16:1 to 50:1, you would need to make appropriate carb adjustments to run properly, of course.
So, if one buys in to the logic used in the past two paragraphs I could see how a particularly superior oil could be run at even lower ratios like 80:1 and 100:1 and actually work. The cheapest oils could be more than half solvent just to keep things moving which isn't required by the most expensive oils, for instance, so you actually have the same amount of "lubricant" at a lower ratio. This wouldn't be a good idea if your gear is still under warranty, in my opinion.
My two-stroke is fairly recent (2003) and specs 50:1. I'm comfortable playing it safe with 50:1 since there's really no upside for me to change. I've read accounts from a number of people running 80:1 and 100:1, homeowner and professional, and everyone seems to claim no problem. I've seen an article comparing different lubricants and ratios posted here but there were some flaws in their method - they were trying mixtures from 8:1 to 100:1 without adjusting the carb and then drawing conclusions based on deposits and operation. Kind of disappointing considering the amount of effort.