Last summer I experimented with mixing ratios using Red Line racing two stroke oil in my Echo trimmer. The ratios were 32:1, 40:1, 50:1, 60:1 and 80:1. I chickened out on the 100:1 and did not try it. Using a non-contact IR gun I measured the cylinder head temp after about a half hour use. My gun was cross checked with a lab oven at my cousin's shop. I don't remember the temps, but do remember that 60:1 was the lowest, and that's what I use. This is called seat-of-the-pants engineering, so no flaming, please.
what two stroke oil are you using.
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I've never given it too much thought until reading on here what to use. I always realized there was typically different oil used in water versus air cooled engines. In the past I was using Toro brand oil in my Toro snow blower and I just finished up the few bottles of Ryobi oil I got with my weedwacker. When it ran out last year I bought a bottle of Valvoline Multi-Purpose 2-stroke oil mixed according to the particular machines recommended ratio. It seems to be working fine in both applications. If the Mobil 1 Racing 2T is so good, I might get that next time. It is available at Auto Zone? I don't remember seeing much selection at the one I bought the Valvoline oil at, I'll try a different store and see if they have more 2-stroke oils on the shelf.
harbor
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Amsoil 100:1 for years with no problems in 2 string trimmers, blower/vac & chainsaw. Runs great and I rarely relpace a plug.
Johnny, Pennzoil, YOU!!??
Amsoil Sabre in my equipment, 80:1.
anything tcw3 rated in my mazda rx-7 and 2 cycle blower/vac 
I have 3 gallons of pennzoil and citgo to go through, then amsoil full synthetic maybe,
was blown away by the selection of 2 cycle oils at Gander mountain, they were pretty expensive though.
I have 3 gallons of pennzoil and citgo to go through, then amsoil full synthetic maybe,
was blown away by the selection of 2 cycle oils at Gander mountain, they were pretty expensive though.
Buzzsaw, your playing my song! Just today I pulled the plug on my Lawn-Boy Duraforce engine and checked the compression, I have gained about five pounds of compression in two years of running Mobil oil. I bought my Lawn-Boy off of ebay used and started using the Mobil oil in it right away. No smoke after warm up and clean burning. I wire brushed the plug tip even though it looked fine and checked the gap then re-installed it, I have run about 14 gallons of mix thru it at 32 to 1 this year.
Fishing Louie, Temperture of the engine Only tells part of the story, lower temp is good. However as long as the running temp is within a acceptable range it's a moot point. It's all about the film strength of the oil, that's the part that does the work. To have film strength you must have enough OIL flowing through the engine. Any excess oil will go out the exhaust with the rest of the consumables. Any engine builder will tell you that OIL is the only thing keeping you engine alive, and just one second at top speed without oil in the critical places inside your engine and your engine gets a ticket to engine heaven. I would run Walmart supertech cheap oil at 32 to 1 rather than Amsoil at 80 to 1 even if they gave me the Amsoil. I'm not saying Amsoil is bad oil, far from it, I'm saying that the advice of long time engine rebuilders to run a richer mix is what I'm practicing. So far I have gone through 14 gallons of 32 to 1 fuel mix and the plug and piston crown look as good as the day I first got the mower 2 years ago. Quality of the oil is NEVER a subsitute for Quanity of oil, NEVER. Racing engine builders will all tell you that more oil equals more Power, because of better ring sealing. So far I see no reason to go to the higher raitos, except for cost which for most people is also a moot point.
so if you run 30 to 1, are you not running your engine leaner and hotter than running a mix of 6o to 1 ??? ( assuming a modern non adjustable carb )
I use the ST tcw3 for everything, a blower, weedeater, and a two stoke generator. I know the its not correct to use twc3 in air cooled engines, but its cheap and the engines don't seem to mind. I had a cheap Homlite blower for about 10 years. At first I used two cycle oil, but as time went on I used any motor oil on hand to mix. I gave it away and its still running today.
Back in the bad old days they used to use 30w non-detergent oil as two cycle oil at the then common 16 to 1 ratio (8 oz. to the gallon). That oil was tough to get mixed, smoked like crazy, stunk something awful, fouled plugs, and carboned up ports and combustion chambers but it was all they had and it worked for them. Today's oils are petrolum engineering marvels by comparison, however we still need to ensure that there is enough oil going through the engine to provide a constant film on all the needy parts under all loads and temps. At 32 to 1 ratio I am not experiancing any of the negative effects that the folks from the bad old days did, thus I have a hard time understanding why some folks want to put as little oil in their mix as possible. Bonnie John, the answer is yes and no, yes, you will effectively lean your air/fuel mixture slightly but no it is not usually a problem even in fixed jet carbs (mostly because fixed jet carbs are one big compromise anyway). Bullet, you get away with the tcw3 stuff because it is still oil, even though the additive package is not the best for the application, you would be better off using an air cooled engine oil for the air cooled units. But hey, you own the equipment you are abusing, and until they pass some new law prohibiting it you can use the wrong but cheap oil if you want. IMHO
Stockrex, check out Bass Pro for tcw3 oil, they have a selection too. They often run specials at grand openings like a gallon for $4.99.
I'm going to take one more stab at this debate over oil mix ratios. But i'm going to compare it to the use of oil in our cars and trucks. I'm goin to do a little play on your words mtgrs737.
Back in the bad old days they used to use 30w oil in our cars with no oil filter. Engins didn't last as long because of poor quality oil and no filtration. If you cared about your car you would change the oil every 2000 miles. Years later additive packages, multi visco oils were invented and filtration was added. If you cared about your car you would change your oil every 3000 miles. Today's oils are petrolum engineering marvels by comparison, however we still need to ensure that there is enough oil going through the engine to provide a constant film on all the needy parts under all loads and temps. Again If you cared about your car you would change your oil every 3000 miles. But the users of this site began to realize that with testing oil can be run in cars a lot longer than 3000,4000,5000,6000,7000,8000 miles without causing harm to our engins. Why is it so hard to believe that with todays 2 cycle oils, 2 cycle engins can be run at higher mix ratios. If we have accepted that cars can be run with longer OCI's, why can't we accept higher mix ratios?
Go to www.lawnsite.com and do a search for Amsoil and read about all the guys running it in their lawn business for years. Us lawn care owners have been using it and know that it works. So if you want to imagine how it just has to be bad for your 2 cycle equipment then go ahead, but if you want to know for sure just ask the guys running it day in and day out for years.
First of all we really can't compare autos and trucks to small two-cycle engines, there just not the same animal. To be specific I have accepted higher mix ratios, I'm running HALF the oil I would of in the bad old days! Where do you think I get my advice? I've been given the advice to run more oil from people who have been in the sales and repair of small engines for all their lives, and also a couple of Lawn care business owners have given me the SAME advice not to run 50 to 1 ratio if I wanted my equipment to last. If you think I'm knocking Amsoil youre wrong, I think that Amsoil puts out a good product, I like how they now market four different two cycle oils so they might better suit the many differnt applications in the field. Having said that I will say that I don't use Amsoil any longer, mostly because I don't like the hype they use to market it and IMHO Mobil One Racing 2T is light years ahead of Amsoil. All I'm trying to say is that in a two cycle engine, oil flows through the engine (it's called oil migration) and as long as there is enough of it all is well. I will also say it again that the quality of the oil is never a substitutefor the quanity of oil.
One point that I have not seen mentioned in this thread is that if you are not following the manufacturers recommended gas to oil ratio, you are effectively changing the Air fuel ratio.. duh and should re-jet accordingly.
This is especially important when you run more oil than is recommended as this will cause lean a mixture and can melt down a two stroke in hurry. To lean an oil mixture equals too rich on the fuel side and this can hurt power.
This is especially important when you run more oil than is recommended as this will cause lean a mixture and can melt down a two stroke in hurry. To lean an oil mixture equals too rich on the fuel side and this can hurt power.
In order to lean out a fuel air ratio using mix oil you would have to really add a lot of oil. If you do the math you will see what I'm talking about, and remember that air to fuel ratio is calculated by weight not volume. You stand a better chance of changing the air fuel ratio by not keeping your air filter clean than by going to a 32 to 1 oil ratio from the recomended 50 to 1 ratio. That is why you have not seen it mentioned here.
Soupy, long time - no see!
I will back up everything Soupy is saying. I also run a lawn service and put a lot of long, dusty hard hours on both my 2 stroke and 4 stroke handhelds. I say 4 stroke because now a number of OPE manufacturers are building 4 stroke grass trimmers and blowers now.
I heard about Amsoil 2 stroke mix about 5 years ago. Prior to that I was always using some manufacturers 2 stroke oil with mixed results. I usually had to buy a lot of spark plugs and do a lot of exhaust port cleaning. Now that I use Amsoil at 80:1 my equipment does rev higher, port cleanings have been eliminated, have more power and I can use one can for all of my equipment.
Before I started using Amsoil in my Stihl 4 Mix machines I emailed Amsoil and asked of it was okay to use. They said it was fine to use and they extended their lifetime warranty to include Stihl 4 Mix products. Their warranty basically states that if there is a oil related failure Amsoil will pay for the repairs.
In regards to leaning the fuel/air mixture, there is truth in this. Most manufacturers do not recommend any more than 15% oxygenates in the fuel. Since we know that gas companies are running at the ragged edge of 15% every little bit of extra gasoline that we can get in the engine helps to keep temperatures down. If you can lean the gas/oil mixture as much as possible you will be adding more gas to an already extremely lean mix. It can't hurt.
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Mobil 1 Racing 2T @ 32:1 in everything, 93 octane, double dose Sta-Bil. 60 hours/year on all. No mechanical failures/issues.
As a professional arborist, Motul 800 2T Factory Line "Off Road" has proven itself to me (and us as a comapny) as providing the least wear, least deposits, and most power. The saws and other 2-cycles run long & strong on this oil. Also satisfied with Red Line Allsport and Mobil MX2T.
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