50:1 v 32:1

[husq2100]

They were puke green engines made by GM called Detriot Diesel. They were 2 stroke but not like the saw engines. They had open ports half way down the cylinder for the intake and 4 valves for the exhaust. The bottom end was just like a 4 stroke with oil sump and pressurized lubrication.They leaked oil and made smoke. The EPA hated them and got them gone.

I believe the worlds bigest and most effiecent engine is a 2 stroke diesel. I think they also use these on the huge container ships.

I could be wrong

 

[Andyshine77]

I'm not going to say much here as it's an oil thread.

From studying this issue over the years this is the conclusion that I've come to.

For normal use 50:1 is OK, however you're on a fine line. A bit of not so fresh fuel or improper carb tuning and you're done.

32:1 Has many advantages. More power, this has been proven. Better ring seal, and crank ring sealing, less carbon buildup, and of coarse better lubrication.

 

[mowoodchopper]

I'm not going to say much here as it's an oil thread.

From studying this issue over the years this is the conclusion that I've come to.

For normal use 50:1 is OK, however you're on a fine line. A bit of not so fresh fuel or improper carb tuning and you're done.

32:1 Has many advantages. More power, this has been proven. Better ring seal, and crank ring sealing, less carbon buildup, and of coarse better lubrication.

I agree , the facts have been stated!

 

[Brushwacker]

i'm not going to say much here as it's an oil thread.

From studying this issue over the years this is the conclusion that i've come to.

For normal use 50:1 is ok, however you're on a fine line. A bit of not so fresh fuel or improper carb tuning and you're done.

32:1 has many advantages. More power, this has been proven. Better ring seal, and crank ring sealing, less carbon buildup, and of coarse better lubrication.

+1

 

[GASoline71]

They sounded good with a staight pipe and jake brakes would really rattle!
They were not a good long haul engine though!

Without the old 2-stroke diesel's we would have never had the GMC 4-71, 6-71, and 8-71 superchargers that were modified by hot rodders to run on gasoline engines back in the day!

Gary

 

[mowoodchopper]

Without the old 2-stroke diesel's we would have never had the GMC 4-71, 6-71, and 8-71 superchargers that were modified by hot rodders to run on gasoline engines back in the day!

Gary

Thats true!

 

[TommySaw]

What is more important than oil to fuel ratio is the quality of the fuel, the quality of the oil and how the saw is tuned(or any engine for that matter)

50-1 is fine, 40-1 is fine, 32-1 is fine. They go down to 16-1 in karts running aircooled engines.

You have to tune to the mix, put 50-1 in and tune, then put 40-1 in and you have to re tune. Alot of failures arn't due to the mix but the operator and all the factors I've listed and many more others have listed.

Stay away from ethonol in fuel.

Synthetics are fine, some say rings dont seat in as well as dino oil, but my guess would be its no big deal on a normal saw.

Agreed!! Fortunately we have 3 grades of fuel.. lowest octane is up to 10% ethanol, next level of octane is up to 5% and highest octane (97) is zero ethanol. Now they do have nitrogen enrichment in the highest octane levels, have not seen any issues with that on any of our equipment, but have not heard of any benefits yet either (other than on automobiles - valve cleaning, etc).

The only problem is in the US Ethanol is a reality or becoming one depending on where you live. It is no longer an option and it looks to be going up, I am not a deadset opponent of Ethanol but someone needs to find a solution to the small engine problem before they take this any further.JMO

 

[porsche965]

Amsoil @ 64:1. Opti2 many years ago @ 70:1. Never an engine failure. Ran Amsoil in a fleet of Mack Diesel trucks, never a failure. Start easier at sub-zero temps and better fuel mileage.

For me whatever anyone is or has been doing for years with success is hard to argue with. Even if it doesn't seem to make sense to others.

And yes, the most important part is carb tuning, both with an ear and a tach for any ratio or elevation change.

 

[gallegosmike]

I run 42 to 1 in all my ope. Pretty easy to remember @ 3.0 oz per gallon of gasoline. Runs pretty clean in all my saws and trimmer. Nuff said.....

 

[TreeClimber57]

The only problem is in the US Ethanol is a reality or becoming one depending on where you live. It is no longer an option and it looks to be going up, I am not a deadset opponent of Ethanol but someone needs to find a solution to the small engine problem before they take this any further.JMO

Really I see little benefit in using Ethanol in gasoline, other than perhaps to make politicians look good. Not sure long term it is a smart solution when you look at the cost to make it and the resources used.. there has to be a better solution.

 

[mowoodchopper]

Really I see little benefit in using Ethanol in gasoline, other than perhaps to make politicians look good. Not sure long term it is a smart solution when you look at the cost to make it and the resources used.. there has to be a better solution.

 

[edisto]

What? I don't mean to hijack this thread, but what do you mean about lots of oil but less fuel to cool?

Hijacking an oil thread qualifies as euthanasia.

 

[ShoerFast]

I'm not going to say much here as it's an oil thread.

From studying this issue over the years this is the conclusion that I've come to.

For normal use 50:1 is OK, however you're on a fine line. A bit of not so fresh fuel or improper carb tuning and you're done.

32:1 Has many advantages. More power, this has been proven. Better ring seal, and crank ring sealing, less carbon buildup, and of coarse better lubrication.

:agree2:

A little extra oil is real cheap insurance!

 

[Gologit]

Hijacking an oil thread qualifies as euthanasia.

LOL...Yup. Posting in an oil thread is kind of like eating broccoli...sometimes you just have to do it to be polite.

And just for the record...40 something to 1, Stihl synthetic when I can get it, dino when I can't. No big deal.

 

[porch monkey]

And then you here the claim of filling a fuel tank with old engine oil to get them home......not something id do in a modern diesel that delivers fuel at 20,000psi!

I never heard that 1 but if we ever ran out of fuel we could take a 5 gallon gas can to little stations that didn't sell diesel and put in 4 gallons of gas and 4 quarts of cheap 30wt oil and make 5 gallons of something that would get us on down the road. But you guys talking about the old Detroits are sure right...they used a lot of oil and leaked a lot of oil too. I pulled a 318 out of an old GMC cabover one time and it used 2 gallons a week just sitting in the shop floor. lol

I also used to use a bottle of cheap ATF in each tank at every fillup. Really worked good keeping injectors clean and at an overhaul they'd still have a spray pattern like they were new. Course...you'd go to the federal pen now if you put something red in your diesel.

I use a little bottle of mix oil with .9 gallons of gas. I think that makes it about 45:1 doesn't it? I figure that gives me a little margin for error. I hope that works with my new 361 but it might be more finicky than my old poulans...guess we'll find out

 

[eyolf]

RE: ATF in diesel fuel as a cleaner.

My wife's brothers own a construction business, digging in the dirt. They were approached by a fellow about using Biodiesel a few years ago.

Stuff runs fine for a while, but the stuff also dissolves and loosens up years of crud in older. less-used equipment. After several months, pretty much everything they had had had major fuel system service, and was clean as a whistle.

Fuel savings were eaten up with maintenance costs.

They did see a value in lessons learned: they use a bio blend now, as common wisdom seems to be that 10% bio works just like more expensive bottled cleaners. Can run more in summer, when temps are higher, but bio gels up in cold weather.

TommySaw: Yes, you're right. I believe the technology will arrive to safely allow us to use ethanol in our OPE. But I bet the OEM's are dragging their feet because of expense.

What would any of us pay for a kit to change fairly recent saws over to safely operate on E20? New gaskets and rubber parts, maybe open up a passage? Change our habits about mixing fuel a lot more often, maybe even come up with a kit that tests water content with a litmus-type strip.

TreeClimber: Of course politicians benefit, and in my area (upper midwest) a lot of agribusiness too. The ethanol cooperatives are pushing HARD to force us all up to E15 or E20; lots of folks invested in ethanol plants, but they're making too much, so prices are low. Makes Corn prices low...and on and on...

I heard about a farmer not too far away who had had contracts with a brewery for Barley, trying to buy out his agreement and grow corn. Price was too high, so He grew his barley. He was pretty glad: he fulfilled his contract and had extra to sell at market price, while neighbors barely broke even on their corn...or lost a little.

I guess when the economy goes south people stay home and drink beer!

 

[Little Al]

During my 2 stoke motor cycle racing days we found that within reason the more oil added to fuel the more power was developed Tested on the rolling road the best reading from my 125cc single cyl was 43.8 bhp at the rear wheel & 88.6 from the 250cc twin. This was obtained using CASTROL castor bean oil at a ratio of between 16/20:1 we never went leaner than 25:1 At that time in the mid 1990`s it made 1/4hp over synthetic oil. I run my saws at 32:1 but my most modern saw is 1986 as I like the vintage stuff .Only problem with castor oil is that it`s hydroscopic & in certain conditions can absorbe up to 6 times it`s own weight of water, So you have to use up the mix/tank full or drain it as it is also very corrosive to certain types of alloys if left sitting for any length of time

 

[rmihalek]

That settles it for me then. I'm sticking with 32:1. I like the math too, 4 ounces per gallon. If I ran 40:1, I might have to switch to metric...let's see that would 25mL per liter. Actually, that's not so bad either.

 

[056kid]

Just taking a swat at the hornet's nest here. I don't run 50:1 mix and get nervous with the small lube protection. Color me old fashioned, but I never have had a problem with 32:1.The performance change and higher rpm's in the European saws doesn't seem worth the thin mix. I know the factories say 50:1,but I also see alot of seized and scored engines on Ebay.Not all of those can be straight gas seizures. So I will stick with my Castrol 2cycle 32:1 and Premium gas. Any thoughts on syn. oils? Please go easy on me...Cheerio.

If you run 32:1 in a pro sence, you will end up with a carboned up scored up saw in lots less time which raises the chance of a chunk of carbon tearing hell off it's hinges inside the combustion chamber......

You arent old fashioned, you are ignorant, well not ignorant, maybe thats alittle harsh, but there are many more ways to fry a saw than just oil ratios.

Just listen to what the people that created the saw have to say, they know alittle. . . . .


All these pointless oil threads, what is the POINT. Like, are yall trying to reinvent the wheel here?

A stock saw, run what it tells you to run, if you run hot ported saws, maybe 40:1 is a better option, I run 32:1 on my hopped up 250r cause thats what it says to run, and I never have problems, im sure if i dropped from a 174 to a 160 jet ide have a fried trike in a matter of minutes, @ 8:1 20:1 32:1 50:1 75:1 or 100:1..

 

[husq2100]

If you run 32:1 in a pro sence, you will end up with a carboned up scored up saw in lots less time......

You arent old fashioned, you are ignorant, there are many more ways to fry a saw than just oil ratios.

Just listen to what the people that created the saw have to say, they know alittle. . . . .

Attention Kmart shoppers "Pot calling the kettle black" hahaha! where is your proof......and if so i wonder how it was tuned. Plenty are running their saws at 40-1 and 32-1.

Regarding what the manufactures are saying, there is a whole lot of perameters going into that ratio for us to use. They work on a bigger picture than you or I do. But I guess porting a saw will greatly reduce its life also :monkey: