OK so I run to the local Auto zone to get some 2 cycle oil for the chain saw. Guy says is this for a boat motor? I said no a chain saw,, OHHHH MY GAWD YOU CAN'T USE THIS IN A CHAIN SAW!!!!! Huh?? You have to use chain saw 2 cycle oil,,, so I said what's the difference 50:1 is 50:1, hell in the old days I used 30 weight in the saws and every other 2 cycle motor,,,, So somebody tell me is there a difference in 2 cycle motor oils or was this guy full of ahhhhhhh hot air?
2 cycle oil
- Thread starter skeets
- Start date
And you think the auto store employee knows more than you??? Ask him to explain why. There may be 2 chemicals different but in a thousand hrs of use, you won't see any difference.
Burt
New member
Equipment
L3700SU, box blade, 6 foot rhino blade, 1 bottom plow, 3 point receiver hitch.
Skeets:
Reminds me of the old Radio Shack ad that said: "You have questions, we have answers." You'd go in there and ask for something specific like: A Red LED, or a PL-259 connector and they'd ask: "What's that?"
You're like the rest of us dealing with the dumbed down generations of 20 somethings and even 30 somethings that went to school and didn't learn how to think.
We now just lower our expectations when entering a store of any kind. Except for the older employees, we almost end up doing their jobs for them. We give them the part number, hand the stuff to them scan side up and bag it for them. At least we can do better than they can.
Thanks for the reminder.
Burt
Reminds me of the old Radio Shack ad that said: "You have questions, we have answers." You'd go in there and ask for something specific like: A Red LED, or a PL-259 connector and they'd ask: "What's that?"
You're like the rest of us dealing with the dumbed down generations of 20 somethings and even 30 somethings that went to school and didn't learn how to think.
We now just lower our expectations when entering a store of any kind. Except for the older employees, we almost end up doing their jobs for them. We give them the part number, hand the stuff to them scan side up and bag it for them. At least we can do better than they can.
Thanks for the reminder.
Burt
I use the outboard oil........no difference.
Just think about it though.......you can run in through a $5K Mercury but not a $200 weed eater?
Just think about it though.......you can run in through a $5K Mercury but not a $200 weed eater?
Will it burn it - yes.
Is "oil = oil" and it doesn't matter what you burn in it? - no.
Different 2cycle oils are formulated for different uses. For instance, my dirtbike.....I ride woods, mostly 1-2 gear singletrack (think goat trail on side of a mountain). Engine may run low to med revs. Because of this, the engine temp doesn't get very high, which means some oils don't burn efficiently, which means when running those my engine at rebuild time will have high amounts of gunk, carbon build up inside, it will run sluggish, maybe to the point of fouling plugs, smoke like a freight train and spooge out the end of the exhaust. When I run an oil made towards these conditions, the oil burns great, engine runs nice and crisp, much less smoke, no spooge out of the silencer and the engine is very clean inside come rebuild time.
Those same oils that would gunk my engine up under my normal riding conditions would be much better suited for guys racing motocross where the throttle is pinned wide open the majority of the time. Much higher revs and inside engine temps.
Both oils would protect the engine in either situation. The oils that are tailored for the conditions would do it better.
Will any 2cyl oil you pickup (or even motor oil) mix in gas and burn through your weedeater / chainsaw? Yep.
Are there better alternatives? Most definitely.
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Is "oil = oil" and it doesn't matter what you burn in it? - no.
Different 2cycle oils are formulated for different uses. For instance, my dirtbike.....I ride woods, mostly 1-2 gear singletrack (think goat trail on side of a mountain). Engine may run low to med revs. Because of this, the engine temp doesn't get very high, which means some oils don't burn efficiently, which means when running those my engine at rebuild time will have high amounts of gunk, carbon build up inside, it will run sluggish, maybe to the point of fouling plugs, smoke like a freight train and spooge out the end of the exhaust. When I run an oil made towards these conditions, the oil burns great, engine runs nice and crisp, much less smoke, no spooge out of the silencer and the engine is very clean inside come rebuild time.
Those same oils that would gunk my engine up under my normal riding conditions would be much better suited for guys racing motocross where the throttle is pinned wide open the majority of the time. Much higher revs and inside engine temps.
Both oils would protect the engine in either situation. The oils that are tailored for the conditions would do it better.
Will any 2cyl oil you pickup (or even motor oil) mix in gas and burn through your weedeater / chainsaw? Yep.
Are there better alternatives? Most definitely.
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Different oils for different uses.
High speed, air cooled 2 stroke engines in a chainsaw or trimmer require a different oil than low speed, water cooled boat engines.
Different specs. Different grade. Avoid the TCW oils in chainsaws.
High speed, air cooled 2 stroke engines in a chainsaw or trimmer require a different oil than low speed, water cooled boat engines.
Different specs. Different grade. Avoid the TCW oils in chainsaws.
Agreed, if there wasn't any difference in the oil there would only be one kind. You might not see the difference in a week but if you use the wrong oil the life span is shortened.
That logic doesn't track. I'm not going to run the same oil that a gasonline-engined, $40,000 pickup would call for in my $3,000 Kubota diesel. The value of the object has no relevance.
The logic does track.
The point is the risk taken.
I'm not all that concerned about my $200 Echo weedeater or my $150 chainsaw.
I might be more concerned about a $5K Merc.
I'm not getting into a pointless pissing match over this. I stopped last week at Walmart on my way out of town to mow a property, all they had was outboard oil so I bought it, used it.
I did a search on this........go to boater's forums.......this question has been asked many times. Guys who have leftover outboard fuel have used it in chainsaws for years with no ill effects.
I'm going to run out what I have........not concerned.
As much as I try to standardize my fluids between vehicles/equipment, I do keep 3 different 2 stroke oils on hand. Air cooled, water cooled, and motorcycle varieties. I'm sure any of them could be substituted in a pinch, but for general use, I use what my little pea brain can justify as the "best" in that particular application. I avoid using TCW3 in my air cooled engines.
I think Amsoil still only makes one oil for all pre mix applications.!
I use evinrude 100 to 1 in my outboard because that's what its computer is set for, for my St IHL saw I use the small bottles from stihl that make a gallon at a time and I dump what didn't get used in the mower. My trimmer is a 4 cycle.
If I had several different 2 stroke with different mix ratios I would just use one of the one mix synthetics such as amsoil.
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I use evinrude 100 to 1 in my outboard because that's what its computer is set for, for my St IHL saw I use the small bottles from stihl that make a gallon at a time and I dump what didn't get used in the mower. My trimmer is a 4 cycle.
If I had several different 2 stroke with different mix ratios I would just use one of the one mix synthetics such as amsoil.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
To be honest I use, used motor oil, my Husky bar like M1 15w50 out of the Harley mixed with Redline MTL and Redline Gear lube,,, My old Mac 10-10 didn't care what you dumped in it,,, the Mac is 30 some years old and the Husky about 3,,,
And Im still trying to figure out about the 2 stroke oil cause now I found little packets of oil that you mix with fuel for( ANY RATIO )mixture, says ALL 2 cycle motors,,1 pack in a gallon of gas, so now Im even more confused
And Im still trying to figure out about the 2 stroke oil cause now I found little packets of oil that you mix with fuel for( ANY RATIO )mixture, says ALL 2 cycle motors,,1 pack in a gallon of gas, so now Im even more confused
Back in 1976 I was a mechanic at a Kawasaki motorcycle shop. We had a customer bring in a fairly new 100cc dirt bike ( 6 months old) that wouldn't start. In the 2 stroke oil tank (it had oil injection) they had put 4 cycle engine oil. I am not sure how long it ran but possibly a few tank fulls of oil. It had caused so much carbon build up on the piston rings that they stuck in the grooves and the combustion blew by cooked the piston. Therefore no compression and no go.
Stan
Stan
In this case the auto parts guy was right.
I have too much invested in my saws to run the wrong oil!
But I do run outboard oil in my outboard.
I have too much invested in my saws to run the wrong oil!
But I do run outboard oil in my outboard.
Skeets....I'd run away from any oil that claimed it was for ALL ratios and engines!!!
I see you ride too.....it's the same as saying rubber is rubber and this tire is for ALL uses, weather and wear. No such animal. A high mileage touring tire that you run on your HD would put me on my ass the first time I laid it into an aggressive lean in the rain on my sport bike. And the tires I run on my sport bike that grip the road like Velcro wouldn't give you 5,000 miles of wear on your HD.
Run a good quality premix oil in your saw AT the mix ratio your saw needs per the manual. Think mine is 50:1. That will be what your saw is jetted for from the factory. You run the premix at a different ratio and the saw may run like crap or too lean and develop a nice hole in the top of the piston.
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I see you ride too.....it's the same as saying rubber is rubber and this tire is for ALL uses, weather and wear. No such animal. A high mileage touring tire that you run on your HD would put me on my ass the first time I laid it into an aggressive lean in the rain on my sport bike. And the tires I run on my sport bike that grip the road like Velcro wouldn't give you 5,000 miles of wear on your HD.
Run a good quality premix oil in your saw AT the mix ratio your saw needs per the manual. Think mine is 50:1. That will be what your saw is jetted for from the factory. You run the premix at a different ratio and the saw may run like crap or too lean and develop a nice hole in the top of the piston.
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