4 stroke trimmers

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Hi all. Finally joined the site after a long time of getting great info on it. So my question is about a 4 stroke trimmer. It's a Husqvarna 324l that I got a great deal on. It states I should run 10w40. What concerns me is it being such a small splash box and how often a trimmer is held out of position. Also they little 4 strokes turn some rpm that mowers never see. So looking for recommendations. I was thinking synthetic and high zinc. I'm assuming I should stay away from anything with detergent to keep it from foaming. I know Joe Gibbs oil fits that description but I came across another oil I've never heard of. It's power plus lubricants. Racing oil for splash boxes. I wouldn't buy it unless I hear some good reviews. And sorry for being anal about oil for my weed whacker but this piece cost some money and I'd like it to last longer than normal.
 
I'd just put in some rotella 5w40 or a 10w30 synthetic of any kind and it should be fine. The issues you will have with a 4 cycle trimmer will almost always be the carb. That and they weigh more than a 2 cycle. Thats why i gave away my 4 cycle and got a nice 2 cycle kawasaki.
 
Went back to 2 cycle as well due to the weight.

OP. I have never heard that detergent oils foam more. I would run any 10w 40 ( i might even do 15-40). A 5quart jug should last a while. If its is anything like the cub cadet i had, it did not hold much oil anyway.
 
Ya I considered T6. I run that in some air cooled Porsche race cars at work with good results. Didn't know how well it would do in just a splash box. If it's good to use I'll sure as [censored] us it. Love the price on a gallon of that stuff. And I didn't really notice the wieght. Maybe I'm just excited to have a new toy lol.
 
As far as I know a true race oil has no detergents. The reason I was told that it doesn't have any was to reduce foaming. Makes sense to me so I didn't argue
 
Originally Posted By: Fastcompany
Also they little 4 strokes turn some rpm that mowers never see. So looking for recommendations. I was thinking synthetic and high zinc.


I have 2 little Honda 4 strokes with a sump a GX25 and a GX35 that I use Mobil 1 10w30 in. The manual for it specifies an oil with a API rating of SJ or Equivalent. It specs either 30w for 60 degree or higher ambient temps or 10w30.

I don't blame you for being anal, I am as well. I like to take top notch care of all of my stuff, plus its costly to replace so I want it to last as long as possible.
 
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P.S. To my earlier post, you could get a bottle of Motorcycle oil. Plenty of zinc, and would do fine in a high rpm engine.
 
Use whatever the manual recommends- don't over think it, unless there are known problems with this piece of equipment. If Husky says a 10w40 with an API or SAE spec, then it'll run on that for countless hours.
 
Originally Posted By: spasm3
P.S. To my earlier post, you could get a bottle of Motorcycle oil. Plenty of zinc, and would do fine in a high rpm engine.


I was thinking that just don't know that much about them. I used to race a 2 stroke and as far as I concerned amsoil was king. We're clutch grabbed awesome and I could not blow a top end no matter how hard I tried. What brand do you guys like in Moto 4 stroke oil?
 
Originally Posted By: jhellwig
Don't overthink it. Use what the manual says. They engineered these things for what the manual says.


I'll settle down lol. I just figured someone would chime in and say "run this" as far as engineering some high end BMW's have to run 10w-60. A special order oil. Just so happens the bearing clearances are too tight and it wipes rod bearings out lol. Same goes with Audi saying you could go 10k on syn oil for their 1.8 turbo until all of them sludged up and now they rec. 5k changes. I often get angry at how things were "engineered". Sorry getting off topic. I work on some hot sh!t cars for a living and most of them are built and designed awful.
 
Ok got some oil. Got what the manual says with the recommendation of bike oil. Mobil 1 4T racing oil. Should have everything I need and 1 quart should do 3 oil changes lol.
 
Are you going to use "qualifying" oil, "racing" oil or "spec'd" oil ? ...
lol.gif
 
Lol. I happen to be a mechanic. I work on imports exotics and full race cars. I'm known at work to over analyze everything. We stock many different kinds of oil. I will use break in oil on all new motors. Qualifing oil scares me to death and the special blended 17.5w38 oil is total [censored]. And yes I know you were just joking. All in all if it doesnt have a cat on it I like to use the best oil I can.
 
Also the one i had, craftsmen i think, barely held any oil at all. I would often just dump whatever out and refill it instead of bothering to check the level.
 
I tried 5-30 royal purple in mine and it seemed to bog the engine down at higher RPMs. I dumped it out and put in some QSUD 5-20 for now. High rpms are steady now. I'll grab a B&S Sae30 next time when I'm at Walmart. Yeah, no need to overthink it.
 
Originally Posted By: dareo
Also the one i had, craftsmen i think, barely held any oil at all. I would often just dump whatever out and refill it instead of bothering to check the level.
I just bought a new one from Sears and took it back after the second time I used it. Nearly all of the oil had leaked out between the crankcase halves--seems to be a general complaint about them. I wanted to stay all four stroke with my OPE equipment so that I did not have to bother with oil/gasoline mix, but opted to buy a two stroke as a replacement.
 
those honda 4-strokes are great. We have a husq trimmer with the honda 4-stroke. It's about 4 years old now? I change the oil once a year with whatever synthetic is in the garage. It doesn't consume any. It can be operated at any angle due to a special donut-shaped holding area that collects and throws oil regardless of the position. Enjoy - it is an excellent piece of equipment.
 
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