Oil mix ratio.

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Yes, chainsaws, even ported ones have low BMEP and are essentially cheap, disposable devices. It's really pointless to obsess about oil to the degree we do.
With that said I still like to run a oil that's at least partially mineral oil and at 32:1. For a variety of reasons.
Disposable devices? Have you seen the prices lately?
 
I run husky two stroke oil in everything. At 38:1 for many decades since ‘80’s.
If the saw manufacturer recommends it that’s what I run.
 
NZ Army changed over to Auto-tune when it was first released & A LOT of saws toasted top ends with very low hrs. Husky originally blamed our fuel/oil mixture which was at the time Castrol 2T (due to contracted suppliers) at 33:1 as per the manual. They first recommend we run at 25:1 if we continued to use the castrol... No improvement. We then changed to LS+ but as the largest saws we run are 576XP's (74cc) it was run at 50:1... Still had lots of failures.
After a fair bit of backwards and forwards with Husky they refused to officially accept Auto-tune was responsible for the issues BUT provided replacement cylinders/piston kits for all the affected saws.
They also formally recommend we run their oil at 33:1 in all chainsaws over 60cc.
IMG_20210723_202439~2.jpgIMG_20210723_202024~2.jpg
IMG_20210723_202006.jpg
 
NZ Army changed over to Auto-tune when it was first released & A LOT of saws toasted top ends with very low hrs. Husky originally blamed our fuel/oil mixture which was at the time Castrol 2T (due to contracted suppliers) at 33:1 as per the manual. They first recommend we run at 25:1 if we continued to use the castrol... No improvement. We then changed to LS+ but as the largest saws we run are 576XP's (74cc) it was run at 50:1... Still had lots of failures.
After a fair bit of backwards and forwards with Husky they refused to officially accept Auto-tune was responsible for the issues BUT provided replacement cylinders/piston kits for all the affected saws.
They also formally recommend we run their oil at 33:1 in all chainsaws over 60cc.
View attachment 920032View attachment 920033
View attachment 920031

Very interesting. Thanks for posting that info.

I wonder how 'New Zealand conditions' differ from the rest of the World?
 
Very interesting. Thanks for posting that info.

I wonder how 'New Zealand conditions' differ from the rest of the World?
Well they aren't that harsh... Pretty similar to England really.
Personally I think it was mostly early Auto-tune issues (the saw that got new top ends would have had any software updates done at the same time) & possibly a bit of leaning on blunt chains.
The oil recommendations are interesting non the less & we have had significantly less issues since those changes were made
 
Husky oil must be superior to all other oils ever produced.
And to Sean, I think, if it's the same as my 365 X torq, it says 50:1 on husky XP, their better oil, 33:1 on the rest. When I got my 365 I already had a small Stihl and a litre of their better oil (the green one, super?). I didn't want to have several bottles of mix, either different oils or ratios so did a bit is research. Stihl publish the spec for their red and green oils and the green passes both the basic tests and higher ones (I can't quote, I can't recall!). Husky only quote the basic tests in their published spec even for XP. I can't guarantee xp isn't 'better' for their saws in some way, but on paper stihl green is a better oil in a tested way.

I ended up getting a litre of XP and run all my saws at 40:1 with a half/half XP/Stihl green mix. I take from the husqvarna manual that that ratio is fine, with a quality oil it's more than you need, and it hasn't caused any trouble with either saw. Although, I had the plug and muffler off the little stihl for the first time in ages last weekend and it is a little black,. Runs fine though and although black, there's no thickness to the build-up. I like the idea of a little more oil then necessary more than the thought of a little less, so 40:1 seems good to me.
 
NZ Army changed over to Auto-tune when it was first released & A LOT of saws toasted top ends with very low hrs. Husky originally blamed our fuel/oil mixture which was at the time Castrol 2T (due to contracted suppliers) at 33:1 as per the manual. They first recommend we run at 25:1 if we continued to use the castrol... No improvement. We then changed to LS+ but as the largest saws we run are 576XP's (74cc) it was run at 50:1... Still had lots of failures.
After a fair bit of backwards and forwards with Husky they refused to officially accept Auto-tune was responsible for the issues BUT provided replacement cylinders/piston kits for all the affected saws.
They also formally recommend we run their oil at 33:1 in all chainsaws over 60cc.
View attachment 920032View attachment 920033
View attachment 920031
Makes sense to run more oil in the NZ heat. What saws do the army run now, did they stick with the AT MT config, or manual carbs.
 
Makes sense to run more oil in the NZ heat. What saws do the army run now, did they stick with the AT MT config, or manual carbs.
It doesn't get that hot, mid 30’s at most (deg C).
Stuck with the Auto-tune... Mostly run the 576XP's. Now that they've ironed out most of the kinks I think it's a better system (at least for the average soldier anyways)
 
Back
Top