50:1 or 32:1 mixture

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I lived in California for the last seven years. I relocated to the midwest 10 months ago. The loss of freedoms, the increase in the cost of living and all the tree hugging (no offense fellow arborist), non-driving, gun hating, latte drinking, volvo driving, Clinton loving, touffoo eating, two stroke protesting, sue happy, riot making, pain in my ever lovin rear people are NOT worth the weather, which I might add is hot, dry and miserable unless you within 10 miles of the coast or north of San Jose. I don't want to go overboard so I'll keep my opinion to my self.
 
All in one Mix

I've read through this whole thread and have not seen that "all mix in one" oil discussed. I think it's called "pro Mix" and it's about all you can find at Lowes unless you look real hard. I have machines that use 16:1, 32:1, 40:1 and 50:1I decided to use that one mix works in all oil for all my old stuff, but still use the recommended Husqvarna oil in my chainsaw, which is still in "Chainsaw Hell".
 
OK, I haven't read all 6 pages of this thread, but since no one responded to my question about this on another thread, I've pasted it here:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Four Paws
32:1 = more oil, less gas per unit volume. If your saw/carb is adjusted for 40:1 and then runs 32:1, it is now running the saw leaner. Oil lubricates, the incoming/fresh charge of fuel "cools" the saw, and the rings transfer the heat to the cylinder walls for removal. Less fuel makes the saw hot (lean), the hot saw then eventually flashes the oil that lubricates the rings, the hot rings become hotter due to increased friction as there is no oil, the rings and piston expand due to increased heat, piston melts, saw stops.
End of quote by Four Paws

OK, I'm not a saw mechanic, and I won't pretend to know anywhere near what ya'll know about saws and saw motors, but I've been hearing this and it's just really hard for me to believe.

Look at the numbers:

The percentage of gasoline (by volume) in a given charge of 32:1 premix is about 97%.

(32/33 = 97%)

The percentage of gasoline (by volume) in a given charge of 50:1 premix is about 98%.

(50/51 = 98%)

That means that if a hypothetical single charge of premix has a volume of 10 cc, then:

in 32:1 premix there will be 9.7 cc of gasoline, and
in 50:1 premix there will be 9.8 cc of gasoline.

That means the 32:1 premix contains about 1% less gasoline per charge than the 50:1 premix.

Given the fact that an awful lot of the gasoline in a 2-stroke motor goes through the motor unburned anyway, I find it hard to believe that the motor will sense a 1% difference in the richness/leanness of a charge.

I'm not a mechanic, but it just don't make sense to me. Can someone help me understand?
 
25:1/30:1

Can I run my lawn mower that is listed as 25:1 on 32:1 as well. I have been running my chain saw at 50:1 (supposed to be 40:1) and brush cutter at 50:1 (the correct ratio).

Can I run them all on 32:1 including the lawn mower.

thanks

Mingara
 
That is kind of why I am dredging up these old threads, because they contain some good info, which are applicable to all of these new posts. The quality
of the newer posts is directly related to the fact that most of the older
members have already talked about these questions, and do not waste time
going into them again, let alone read about them. Most do not even bother logging on any more.
Reread the posts made by Dagger, he has some interesting posts.
 
Cool! A thread discussing oil. I thought only hot rod forums got into oil debates. :sword:

Anyway, I have this old McCulloch PowerMac 340 saw I picked up for $50. With a few more bucks invested for a fresh chain and new clutch, it's running nicely now. I think this saw had low use. It was probably put away when the bad clutch left the chain spinning. The nice thing is the carb has adjustment screws. :rockn:

I don't have any documentation for this saw, so I don't know what ratio oil mix to use. I tried some 50:1 for my Shindawa weed trimmer and it worked okay. I was thumbing through the book for an old Craftsman saw of the same age and that called for 16:1. That got me wondering if this saw should also be 16:1 mix since they are similar dates. Can anyone tell me what mix is correct for this old saw?
 
Thanks very much Ray. I read somewhere a different McCulloch took 40:1 but when I read this old Craftsman book, I lost my nerve. The saw runs really nicely with 40:1. This saw smoked really badly when I got it from sitting with coagulated mix in the tank. I got nervous when I didn't get enough smoke. :hmm3grin2orange: Better to ask questions than to make big mistakes.
 
fuel mix ratios

I talked to a so-called mechanic about my Poulan 225 automatics, of which I still had a dozen nearly new. He said run 50:1, it would be fine. I told him I didn't believe that and he got uppety. I'm running husky 50:1 oil because I cant find 16:1 as spec'ed for these saws (an old time fine climbing saw) So far I''m not fouling plugs at 24:1 mix and the saws seem not to get hot and run fine
 
The mechanic is right... so long as you use the right oil (not motor oil). Thicker mix isn't necessarily better.. We put 50:1 in all Stihl saws now, not matter what the age, and any other brand we get in now and then. If you want to run 40:1, fine , but 16 or 24:1 isn't needed.
 
Last edited:
Better

It's always better to run a little rich. At worst you'll foul a plug. But that cheaper than overhauling your engine eh???
 
ciscoguy01 said:
It's always better to run a little rich. At worst you'll foul a plug. But that cheaper than overhauling your engine eh???

running rich and running on heavy mix are totally different things... and to subject, with MODERN oils there is absolutely no reason to run with mix above 2,5% , thou, it was different decades ago when there werent any good oils, instead you had to mix engine oil with gasoline. Now thats a reason to use lets say, 3-4% mix.... But as i said, no reason to go above 2,5%...
 
Thanks

blis said:
running rich and running on heavy mix are totally different things... and to subject, with MODERN oils there is absolutely no reason to run with mix above 2,5% , thou, it was different decades ago when there werent any good oils, instead you had to mix engine oil with gasoline. Now thats a reason to use lets say, 3-4% mix.... But as i said, no reason to go above 2,5%...

I did not know that...
 
running rich and running on heavy mix are totally different things... and to subject, with MODERN oils
Tell that to the thousands of moto-x, road race, snowmobile, outboard, and Kart racers to name just a few.
Kart racers frequantly run 16:1!
My Ski Doo snowmobile came from the factory set at 20:1 and I have ran it that way since new. Havent had any issues with running that way, which is more than I can say for some others running the same model who had their dealers adjust their oil pumps to the factory specified 40:1 setting. I would rather have a little insurance.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top