Originally Posted By: andyd
I'm old fashioned and lazy to boot. I mix an oily 32;1 and run it in all my 2 strokes. I do get smoke but I've never had any carbon troubles. Currently working on a qt of Valvoline universal dino mix oil. Previously, it was True Value store brand. I add a teaspoon of MMO to the tanks when I fill them. The specs for oil are better than ever. But engines still need lubrication. I'm quite willing to sacrifice some performance for reliability and longevity.
You, my friend, are on the right track.
Mixing any half decent conventional oil at 32:1 will be better for the engine than "Ultra Duty, Secret Formula, Super Synthetic Semi Royal Darkish Blue almost Purple oil" mixed at ratios that the engine will not appreciate.
Can't believe how many times this subject comes up and the number of claims that a particular brand/blend has provided superior protection. No science, no extended trials/comparisons. Just eating what the advertisers of excessively expensive lubricants say and following the crowd.
Two stroke engines are marvels of engineering. However, they aren't so discriminating in their taste of oil to demand a lubricant that costs ridiculous amounts of money.
I've owned many, many two cycle engines for close to forty years. I've got Lawn Boy mowers probably older than most of the participants on this forum still running strong. Never seen a drop of synthetic oil in them. My secret? No secret. Mix any decent off the shelf conventional two cycle oil anywhere between 32:1 to 40:1. Go to work and don't put anymore thought into it. It's that simple.
Regarding sacrificing performance by mixing at 32:1. Believe it or not, years ago, the preferred ratio for two stroke racing motorcycles was 32:1. It was the best mix for reliability and power and a great deal of the oil used for many decades was conventional oil.
If an air cooled two stroke engine could take being mercilessly flogged at 10000 plus rpms for an entire race using conventional oil at 32:1 and not blow up, I'm fairly confident that my trimmer, chainsaw, whatever, will be more than well lubricated using the same formula.