Castrol 2T Snowmobile oil in saws?

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joecool85

joecool85

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Anybody ever run Castrol 2T Snowmobile oil in their saws? It says on it that it's good for air or liquid cooled engines that are premix or injected. About 5-6 years ago this was all I ran in my saws because I already had it kicking around and it's a good sled oil so I figured - why not? I never had any issues at the time. Now I run whatever I can get my hands on at the general store, normally Coastal or similar. But I do have some more 2T on hand now and was wondering what you guys thought about running it.

I won't even bother asking about the ratio lol
 

CJ1

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I probably should not say this but the guy I cut with for 2 years would buy whatever was on sale. He never had any issues and ran his saws HARD, sometimes up to 7+ tanks a day. So take this for what it is worth. CJ
 
Rustynutz

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This is a perennial question here!
my view is:... horses for courses, there all horses and putting a nag in the grand national theoretically ticks all the right boxes but never going to be a winner! and the other question is why do oil companies and saw manufacturers spend millions developing oil's for specific applications ???

anyhooo I expect any 2t oil will work in any 2t engine (well for a wile)

think I'll be sticking with CS oils for CS's
 
Steveo_supremo

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There are many many people in the world that run the "wrong" 2 stroke oil in their equipment. Whether it's sled oil in their boat or boat oil in their chainsaw. 99% of them get away with it. Do I recommend it? NO
 
eyolf

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I just looked up Castrol (BP oil) 2T snow oil MSDS.

25-30% solvent process hydrocracked oil (group III synthetic)
5-10% light oil (probably as a pour point depressant)
the rest is refined dinosaur bones.

Makes the product a semi-synthetic, about on a par with Husky's "low smoke" oil and Stihl's super synthetic blend oils. On the assumption that the particular lot you have actually has the full10% light oil as a pour point depressant, and that part of the product isn't a particularly good 2-stroke oil, be comforted by the math: if you mix 50:1, 55:1 is still the "good" oil. OR, since you're measuring from a pint or quart container just move up to 3 oz/gallon for 43:1 and feel safe.
 
joecool85

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I just looked up Castrol (BP oil) 2T snow oil MSDS.

25-30% solvent process hydrocracked oil (group III synthetic)
5-10% light oil (probably as a pour point depressant)
the rest is refined dinosaur bones.

Makes the product a semi-synthetic, about on a par with Husky's "low smoke" oil and Stihl's super synthetic blend oils. On the assumption that the particular lot you have actually has the full10% light oil as a pour point depressant, and that part of the product isn't a particularly good 2-stroke oil, be comforted by the math: if you mix 50:1, 55:1 is still the "good" oil. OR, since you're measuring from a pint or quart container just move up to 3 oz/gallon for 43:1 and feel safe.

Sounds like I'd be fine running it. Heck, sounds like it'd be pretty good if it's comparing with Husky and Stihl's synthetic oil blends everyone seems to gas on about so much.
 
joecool85

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Interesting. I called Castrol, Husqvarna and Poulan.

Castrol said that according to their books, I need to use a Husqvarna brand oil and they couldn't recommend anything else.

Husqvarna said that any 2 stroke mix run at 50:1 is fine.

Poulan said that any 2 stroke mix run at 40:1 is fine.

So...I guess it's fine? I'll probably use up what I have for Castrol 2T then when I need more mix I'll get some "chainsaw mix" oil - whatever brand is available at the time.
 
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