synthetic oil

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DarioMO

DarioMO

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I don't think that is wise or even cost effective for occasional users like me. Out of curiosity, how much will that cost / gallon?
 
SIRCHOPALOT

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normally around 3.85 a gallon. but since I have good freinds in the fuel business we buy it for $2.60. funny thing is the price for gas at the pump has gone way up in recent years, but the price for race gas has gone down. figure that one out.
 
My2cents

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How come no one uses or talks about OPTI 2? I have been using this Oil with good results so far. 1 gas can mixed at 75:1 for: Ice Auger, Husky 165BT blower, Husky 346 and anything else that used 2 cycle. The Ice auger runs seems to run better with the leaner oil mixture.
 

Lobo

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I have used opti-2 in the past, found it to be excellent, not that expensive either. Mixed it at 100:1 as per instruction. It comes with fuel stabilizer in it and is guaranteed compatible with gasohol which is good for areas where such mixes are mostly available.

I really like the one mix for all 2 cycle engines you get with products such as Opti-2 or Amsoil synthetic oil premix.
 
Chopwood

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SIRCHOPALOT said:
funny thing is the price for gas at the pump has gone way up in recent years, but the price for race gas has gone down. figure that one out.
I would have to agree. I have a dirt track in my town(luckily), and the station at the corner sells Sunoco 110. I moved here eight years ago and I thought to myself "why is race gas $4.10 a gallon?" well, it's still $4.10 a gallon eight years later, and I'm quite happy about that. And my saws like it too.
 
mrniceguy

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Sirchopalot....I took a visit to the AMSOIL websit. Their 2 cycle synthetic runs a mix of 100-1, less smoke and cleaner running, so they say. How does it compare to your 32-1 mix. Thanks in advance..
 
jack-the-ripper
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I tried the MX2T Mobil synthetic 2 stroke oil, from the advice of BWALKER. It is as cheap, price wise, as regular oil but burns much cleaner. The ol' Husky 372XP just loves it! As far as bar oil goes, I use Husky oil. The heavier stuff for summer use and the red, lighter stuff in the winter. Never any problems.
 
SIRCHOPALOT

SIRCHOPALOT

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mrniceguy said:
Sirchopalot....I took a visit to the AMSOIL websit. Their 2 cycle synthetic runs a mix of 100-1, less smoke and cleaner running, so they say. How does it compare to your 32-1 mix. Thanks in advance..

it seems to be a good quality oil at a fair price, I had a buddy that used it with good results. I wouldn't recommend mixing at 100-1 though. I would go at least 40-1. they also have one grade higher, the premium synthetic race stuff that works very well. it is twice the price though. another good quality oil I have found is the citgo sea and snow. it has performed well for me and you can get it at meijer for $10.00 a gallon. go 32-1 with this and it will work quite well.
 
bwalker
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Your getting ripped off, Sirchopalot...I gEt sea and snow from Meijers for $7 per gallon. Sea and snow is identical to Yamaha 2S, echo powerblend and Citgo aircooled. I have put about 2500 miles on my snowmobile with it this year. I originaly started to run it because I needed a cheaper alternative to MX2T as this new sled of mine even though it has injection runs at a 20:1 ratio. At that rate $35 a gallon Ski Doo oil would have killed me.
 
VTMechEng

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Just to clear something up about engine brake-in... There was a time when synthetic oils could not be used for brake-in but this is not true today. When machining engine parts, it was and still is impossible to machine things perfectly. Pistons, piston rings, and cyclinders are manufactured within a tolerance as governed by the quality of the mills or lathes. At one time this tolerance was large enough that engine break-in was extensive but now that precision engineering costs have decreased this is no longer true. As a result, using synthetic oils for break in on SOME engines will not cause problems but the word "some" must be used. If you will notice that the car engines coming with synthetic from factory are usualy high end engines, ones that are more then likely machined with more precision. End result, just do what the owners manual tells you to, the engineers working for Stihl and Husqvarna are much more knowladgable about their engines then you or I.

PS. I hate and I mean hate AMSOIL due to their misleading and dishonest marketing. I don't know much about their two cycle oil but for automotive oil they post incorrect competitor performance data, often times making their oil seem much better then it is.
 
DarioMO

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bwalker said:
Yes, amsoil uses very misleading advertising choked full of BS to sell their mostly medicore products.

Thanks, I kinda thought so...I am skeptical but almost took the bait after reading their claims in their site still. It sounds very convincing.
 
SIRCHOPALOT

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End result, just do what the owners manual tells you to, the engineers working for Stihl and Husqvarna are much more knowladgable about their engines then you or I.

no offense, but there isn't an engineer on this planet that knows more about an engine than the guys who actually build it. :)
 
glens

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You flatter yourself too much.&nbsp; The engineering team which designed any given engine knows <i>way</i> more about it than anyone else.&nbsp; They may not have experimented as fully as some johnny-come-lately in terms of what it's ultimately capable of, but that person is not privvy to quite a lot of stuff the engineers know.

Take and give credit where it's due.

Glen
 
jimbo1490

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If the Idea was to cause friction why not break it in with no oil? think about it- doesn't really make sense does it?

Running the engine with NO oil will simply cause disastrous galling and welding of the metals, not a shorter break-in.

An engine or any other precision running assembly MAY undergo a 'break-in' period where friction is a bit higher than it will be later after a certain amount of running time has elapsed. Microscopically there are a lot of high spots on the metal surfaces which get polished off during this time. Then the parts are said to be 'run-in' together and are 'mated' having corresponding high and low spots on mating surfaces. Note that the increased friction observed during break-in is an effect of the part's condition, NOT a goal, per se.

Another way to speed up break-in is to introduce controlled amounts of fine abrasive material. This polishes down the high spots more quickly than waiting for it to happen naturally by friction. I have seen this done on model two-strokes and on an automotive engine. I have heard of it being done with outboard motors, but I have not personally witnessed it. In the case of the auto engine, they did not actually run the engine, but spun it up with a large electric motor while a fine abrasive/oil mix was in the sump. Abrasive cutting does not work by increasing friction. It is more like micromachining. Rougher abrasives tend to cut cooler, indicating lower frictional heating. Finer abrasives cut consistently hotter indicating higher friction.

Friction tends to be a bit misunderstood. For instance friction decreases as mating surfaces get smoother, up to a point. Then as the surfaces become more smooth and perfected, friction actually increases again. That's why precision gauge blocks can be stuck or wrung together even when dry. Their surfaces are so smooth and perfect that they stick together by friction if forced together.

Friction is thought to be the result of sub atomic attraction forces. When atoms are brought close together (so the theory goes) they attract each other, sort of like magnetism, but much weaker. Usually atoms of different discrete parts are not really very close together, atomically speaking, even when the parts are touching. This is beacause the surfaces of even seemingly smooth surfaces are still mostly valleys with only a few peaks. These peaks are what we observe with our eyes and measuring tools. This is why when you get the surfaces really super smooth, friction increases.

Pressure (force/area) increses friction in a fairly linear way. If you introduce a lubricant, friction goes way down unless and until there is enough pressure to squeeze the lubricant out of the mating point, whereupon the friction will increase exponentially, beacause now you are essentially back to dry friction. This is what happens at those little microscopic high spots during the break-in. The little high spots are high pressure points due to their small area so they get rubbed off.

Jimbo

Think about it!
 
glens

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That was a nice overview.

I had an instructor in a machine design class once who'd stated that if two surfaces could be made perfectly flat then stuck together, you'd not be able to get them apart again; that no fasteners would be necessary.

I was amazed at the article I referred to earlier where these professional mechanics were wiping down the cylinders with acetone before final assembly.&nbsp; You'd think they and the rings would gall all to hell, but apparently not; at least it wasn't detrimental to the race-bike engines, which don't really need great longevity.&nbsp; I'm certain the various journals were indeed pre-lubed though.
 
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