wow, ok here is some truth. i have several saws over 20 years old and they are still very good saws. i have been a logger all my life and used 40-1 stihl oil only.
stihl, husky and any other 2 stroke engine will last longer with a slightly richer mix than factory spec. its a fact. exact ratio such as 38-1 or 42-1 is just silly and we all know it but 50-1 is a bit lean and we all know that to.......for any saw imo, not just modded.
now brush ape, i am trying to see the value in you but my god it seems like you only like to argue. if you like 50-1 so much then just run it and report back when you think you have 2000 hours on your stuff. and in the mean time let those that like to run richer do so in piece.
Decent post and by all means we are all welcome to run our OWN saws how we like, nobody's disputing that..are they?
I was somewhat sarcastically asking how operator came to this conclusion to run richer mix..I know a lot of guys do
but a think thats just a feeling they have (more must be safer)
than any kind of concrete study outside the manufacturers specs
I would be willing to bet that most all the people assume that or were mentored to believe that opposed to trending off there
past. Is there someone here that started there career with factory specs and now run richer AND has always used quality oil and found a difference in life time .
I Know Mike mentioned a saw that was blue in a month but again not enough info to build credibility to the 'argument'.
Missing info he was...did he even know the history of that saw
other than where the setting were when he got it and the oprox usage. What kind of oil? was it tweeked for some time?
multiple operators? Running tight chains?
Theese are all valid factors!
As far as 2000+ hours? I will just say lots of Falling companies are Castrol all the way on the coast and on heli we have 55 gallon drums on the camp barge or float camp and 50/1 seems to be good enough for that level of fallers(not to say the odd guy doesn't add a little more?) but if you use a 72 in big wood nobody gets the time out of the bottom end as would one with a 390. I mainly see 390 and 660 now some guys got away from the 372 for that reason. My buddy gets boxes of used 365 from Asplundh ...which have the same crank as the 372 but they are all f***ed and blue more often than not, but they aren't generating a wood load like us.
So the bigger factors is ignorance.
Bad oil, lean and tight chains.
also the other side of the coin pluging of screens dirty filters
causing build ups.
The argument of 40/1 been better doesn't hold merit with me
if I want more cooling I run a high idle and tune for more flow.
Imo..peace