Running engines at half throttle??

[blkcloud]

I hate hi jacking threads.. but.. talking about running air cooled engines at half throttle.. I have always been told by small engine mechanics that, the faster one runs, the cooler it is.. on guy was replacing a garden tiller engine a elderly lady had because it overheated.. he said she would never run it full throttle and it burned its self up..

 

[Woos31]

I was taught for saws anyway to run WFO, as they were engineered to run full throttle. My ole man used to and still does to this day through sh*t at me if he thinks I'm holding back on a saw lol

 

[Stihlbillie]

Also half throttle causes massive carbon buildup

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I have a DR chipper I found last year on Craigslist. 18 hp Briggs that is fifteen years old. No throttle, never had one, and runs wide open. I like to throttle stuff down before shutting it off. Can't with this. There is a manual choke, that's it. The one thing I do not run wide open is the SuperSplit. Rack and pinion seems to mesh better at three quarter plus throttle. I have a Ford that's becoming air cooled from rust holes, but no, not wide open.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I have always been told by small engine mechanics that, the faster one runs, the cooler it is.. on guy was replacing a garden tiller engine a elderly lady had because it overheated.. he said she would never run it full throttle and it burned its self up..

I'd only way I'd believe "that" was the cause, is IF the engine was over loaded (read too small for the job) in the first place.

They make less hp at half throttle and that probably put that motor in "over load" condition...

SR

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Also half throttle causes massive carbon buildup

Not in a small 4-stroke though...

SR

 

[rarefish383]

Run all of my small engines wide open, Joe.

 

[Stihlbillie]

Not in a small 4-stroke though...

SR

Not true, any engine that uses gasoline has carbon in the exhaust gases, this is why you need to "get on it" every once in a while.

 

[NSMaple1]

I vary mine with the load. The more load, the more throttle. Splitting small wood = part throttle. Big or gnarly wood = give 'er.

The build up would come down to how good (or bad) the carb jetting is. If you have to open it up to clean it out, it's jetted too fat in the low to mid. Which you may or may not be able to do anything about, depending on the carb.

 

[greenskeeper]

I vary mine with the load. The more load, the more throttle. Splitting small wood = part throttle. Big or gnarly wood = give 'er.

Exactly my strategy as well. Normal splitting is about 3/10ths throttle until something gnarly needs that extra power....push it to "eleven"

 

[homemade]

I vary mine with the load. The more load, the more throttle. Splitting small wood = part throttle. Big or gnarly wood = give 'er.

I am not a fan of this method. I run the saw at full throttle and only put half of the push in the saw. I feel I can control the cutting speed better and not bounce off the ground or off my limbs. Granted if the branch is small, it might only take an one second blip with the throttle to get threw it, but never half throttle.

 

[JeffHK454]

My splitter took a bad tumble years back and ever since then the 9hp Tecumseh has had no governor , choke or any type of throttle linkage ..it gets started then ran at one RPM till I'm done or it runs out of gas. Once I get it running I jamb some splitter scraps under what's left of the throttle shaft and off I go, I even have to use ether every time I start it!

I traded some firewood for a nice electric start comercial Lp Honda motor because I figured the abuse I was heaping on the origional would be the death of it ...ten years later I've split 80+ cord running WFO!

 

[cantoo]

I run mine wide open or very close to it. I have a Walker mower and run synthetic in it to keep it a bot cooler. We also run Bobcats and they run wide open too. We replace engine but I doubt that it's from running wide open.
I would think it would be pretty easy to do a test on your engine using a temp gauge at different throttle settings.

 

[NSMaple1]

I am not a fan of this method. I run the saw at full throttle and only put half of the push in the saw. I feel I can control the cutting speed better and not bounce off the ground or off my limbs. Granted if the branch is small, it might only take an one second blip with the throttle to get threw it, but never half throttle.

Yes, with a saw. Me too. Chain speed counts there.

 

[logeeland]

Idle or half throttle on a 2 stroke does more harm then good. Does not let the fuel get hot enough to burn correctly. On a 4 stroke air cooled I have seen no difference. My tractors run at idle and mid throttle a lot.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Not true, any engine that uses gasoline has carbon in the exhaust gases, this is why you need to "get on it" every once in a while.

In a small 4-stroke that is running "properly", it would take nearly forever for it to happen!

SR

 

[bikemike]

I hate hi jacking threads.. but.. talking about running air cooled engines at half throttle.. I have always been told by small engine mechanics that, the faster one runs, the cooler it is.. on guy was replacing a garden tiller engine a elderly lady had because it overheated.. he said she would never run it full throttle and it burned its self up..

That more depends on tuning and how hard they are working.

 

[c5rulz]

Since it is almost always cold when running the spitter, 20 - 40 degrees it will not run hot, far from it. I always split by myself and it is not doing anything while I stack the splits so I run it at about 80% and a tank of fuel lasts over 3 hours. If anything hydro oil gets hot the fast it is circulated as outside temps go up.

 

[bikemike]

My daddy said " if the valves aren't floating run it harder.

Life is like a log splitter.when it's dead so are you

 

[ckr74]

If the engine is not under a constant heavy load it's ok to throttle them back. Less fuel and less noise.