The dreaded chainsaws oil thread

[windthrown]

STA-BIL is good stuff, actually. On the bottle they say that if you double the treatment, it will last up to two years. Meaning that in real life, it can last longer.
Reasons being that your 2-strokes fired up were probably because:

1) that there was a separate oil injection reservoir, and the gas was not mixed with oil. Thus it did not separate.
2) you used STA-BIL. Yah, again and again, its good stuff. Any water in the gas would be bound up and there would be no separation of water and gas.
3) you probably stored it in a reasonably well conditioned indoor place out of the elements avoiding high heat and freezing temps and water did not get into the gas. I presume it was inside someplace. Savanah has a mild climate, although it can be really humid (I have been to HH Island near there, and I lived in FL when I was a kid). I presume thet the gas caps were tight and what humidity/water did get into the gas was bound up by the Sta-Bil.
4) you used 100% high octane gasoline.
5) the engines/carbs/gas tanks/lines were fairly new.

Now try that with regular ethanol blended E-10 gas, mix it with oil, do not add Sta-Bil, and test it with some older 5k mile bikes and leave them outside in the elements.

I have drained, oiled and stored 2-stroke engines for up to 10 years and unpacked them, filled them with premix, and they started right up.

[porsche965]

The above is all true except they were in Ohio in an outdoor storage building my friend owns. The rest is correct and throw in allot of luck and that's where I am with these.

Thanks for the feedback, sure wish fuel was as it used to be!

[windthrown]

Well, fuel is slated to get worse in the US, and nationally if the EPA follows through with its intention of using E-15, becaue E-85 has been a complete flop, and the corn/ethanol lobby is a pretty strong one. Even if they go with E-10 nationally, it is really crappy fuel. Noticably less power, less milage, and its just as expensive as 100% (E-0) gas. I tought that Ethanol/MTBE laced gas in California was bad, until they flipped to E-10 gas here in Oregon this year. What a load of ballacks this stuff is.

You are in Ohio, but your sig line is JawJaw?

[porsche965]

Windthrown,
I lived in Canton, Ohio until 3 years ago and moved to this Island in Savannah by the Ocean. Will say the amount of seasoned woodsman here are far and few between. I do have a Country Club that allows me to cut their downed trees and also I drop those that they don't feel comfortable in doing themselves. N/C for just having a place to exercise the saws.

There is allot of timbering for pulp paper here just north of me but I haven't ran across any of them.

This site is much more "kinder" than others...sure glad I found it! And the knowledge is abundant. Thanks for your sharing, I've learned allot.

John

[windthrown]

Oh, the Aussies and the Yanks are squaring off on some of the other threads here. Particularly over arborist certification. But in general it is less painful than AS and TH and others.

I would like to go to Savannah again. Maybe even move there. The economy really sucks here in the west. HH was too over the top for me. All private, and more like Pebble Beach. I love Atlantic and Gulf seafood. I learned to net shrimp at HH Island. Good kayaking there as well. And year long warm weather. No ski patrol of course, and I would sell my saws, but... warm winters have definate advantages.

[porsche965]

You wouldn't have to sell your saws. There is the pulp work here. Or within an hour of Savannah. Also the trees are huge Live Oaks here. Always something needing cut or dropped.

No snow, no ski patrol, but the Bikinis...WOW!! The town has about 7000 College kids that are just hitting the beach all the time. And the mil*s that come visit and strut are sharp too! Just like a newly filed Chisel Chain!! LOL!

If you get here let me know, I'll show you around for what you haven't seen yet.

J.

[windthrown]

I will have to plan a trip. I only drove to Savannah to go to dinner, and to and from the airport. We spent most of the time on HH Island, where the ex's family has a big beach house.

[Bruce Hopf]

Well I'm on my second mix of 91% Octane, with the synthetic oil. I mixed the gas/synthetic oil mix, at 40:1. Normally, I mixed the oil premix with 18 liters of gas. This mix, I used 19 liters of gas, with the synthetic oil.
Next mix, I'm going to see if I can find 100% Synthetic premix oil, and give it a try.
Thus far, I'm satisfied with the premix oil I found, and I just might stick it out with that. Thanks again, for all the help, and advice. Bruce.

[windthrown]

No problem. I got hooked on Mobil 1 in my 2-smokes becasue the guys on AS were raving about it. I still use dyno oil in my 4 strokes. Mainly because I do not have a 2 stage bypass oil filter system that is needed to get the high milage out of it.

Lakeside Andy got me into using Super gasoline after showing us what detonation and pre-ignition can do to a top end.

[dngjustsnakes]

I sure have loved reading this thread...just wanted to say that I have been using stihl HP super at 40:1 and have not had any problems at all...The one thing I do like is the fact it is biodegradable but now will be switching mostly because of cost and the JASO FB rating..my local shop sells the 2.5 gallon mix containers for $2.50 and the 5 gallon size for $6.something. So obviouly I have been buying the cheaper 2.5 gallon sizes. Now I am going to switch to the amsoil sabre pro. It is now rated JASO FD and I can get it any day for $10 a quart. I do plan to run it a little richer at 80:1 or maybe stay at the normal 50:1 but over all it is cheaper and in my opinion amsoil has proven itself over the years. This oil has been around since 1973. My stihl 361 loves the 91 octane gas and I have been using it since I bought the saw this last spring. In my area most of the gas is E10 but just depends on who I buy from. The current gas station I use is E10 except for the 91 octane and I run that in my car and everything else. On average my saw will be cutting anywhere from 30 to 120 cords of firewood a year so I need the best for my saw to last the longest as my backup saw, which still runs awesome, is a 1980 Poulan 3400 countervibe and is much smaller of a saw. And thanks Windthrown for your mod tips on the 361 from your other thread...loved them as well.

[R.Boreal]

Originally Posted by windthrown

OK, more here on gasoline, and more specifically, on how gas deteriorates and why you may need to use a gasoline stabilizer.

Wow, I love this site. Nice fuel chemistry info.

Okay, my $.02

1) I always use highest octane available for all my engines. This includes my vehicles, but YOUR car, truck or big machine is the only decision where you could make the argument that using lower octane saves real money. With small engines, c'mon! Unless you have a huge business, use highest avail. octane in all your small engines. It will keep them running trouble-free for a much longer time, make starting easier, give you the most power. And after reading all that evaporation/deterioration stuff, I feel even better about it.

2) 2 stroke oil advice is this - use a good one, major manufacturer like Stihl, Castrol, etc. but find the EASY WAY. I have a 2.5 gal gas can. Stihl makes 2-stroke oil in "single serving" bottles that yield 50:1 when mixed with... (hey, you're catching on) 2.5 gals of fuel. That's the easy way. Measuring takes longer, I need to get my reading glasses on.. wah wah wah.

[Keith Nixon]

Did you notice that fuel stabilizers contain alcohol?werent we advised
to stay away from that in our fuel mixtures? the pres

[KevinE]

I've been running 2 strokes since 1976 & I've never treated the mix ratio as a science. In all that time the only 2 banger that seized on me was the Suzuki TS125 I learned to ride on & that was because it has a separate oil tank that was supposed to mix the oil into the petrol at the carb & the oil pump failed. I've run countless trail bikes, saws, brush cutters, blowers, hedge trimmers, even a 2 stroke mower & never had ANY issues. Just run good oil at the recommended ratio & you'll be fine!

[WickedGoodOutdoors]

Im having an argument with ECHO Chainsaws about the oil.

I bought 2 of their CS-450 saws brand new a short while ago and both crapped out with less than 10 hours on them.

Im running another Echo cs-3000 on the exact same gas/oil mix and it has been running fine for years. also have 3 other brand saws and some outboard motors using the same mix tyhat work fine.

the snot knosed kid from Echos customer service told me that I had to use Echo brand oil.

My last email to them today demanded 2 Brand new CS-450 saws to replace the defecctive products they sold me.

I am using Mercury Quicksilver oil. its about $38 a jug.

says right on the Bottle that its good for Air Cooled chinsaws along with lots of other uses. Outboartds, Motorcycles, Ski Machines, Jetskis, etc.

Capt@WickedGoodOutdoors

[Eric Frei]

These days it could also be the fuel, you know, that E10 stuff etc.