How long do y'all idle your 2 cycle equipment before use?
How long do you warm up your 2 strokes?
- Thread starter Fordiesel69
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hardly since its basically lubricated by watery gasoline with a smidge of oil in it. been starting up and revving out my husqvarna for 13 years and she's still solid and has plenty of power. i do use a bit more oil than the 50:1 and id argue it'd be better than a warm up.
You need to be careful at least in a snowmobile application, running it hard from ice cold you can get cold seizing, the piston expands faster then the boar.
I always give 2 smokes a few minutes before WOT
I always give 2 smokes a few minutes before WOT
All I have in 2-stage is my Toro snowthrower and when I can turn off the choke, I start working it. Like JavierH19 I also am a bit more generous with the oil than the 50:1 specified and so far so good - this winter will be 20 years of running the thing.
in freezing temps yes absolutely but in 60f or higher not really necessary tbh.
Don't do this with a dirt bike or snowmobile. You can cold seize them. The piston can heat up and expand faster than the cylinder.
I let my chain saw or leaf blower idle a minute and run it lightly before applying full load.
I tested cylinder temp. It took 30 seconds of blipping the throttle before the cylinder was over 100C. Most small engines are tolerant of abuse, and have sufficient piston to bore clearance, (also the pistons are small and don't expand all that much) but it's good to know that piston expansion won't grab the cylinder after about 30 seconds.
because I run 32 to 1 oil, this makes some of my OPE a little lean to begin with. Most will not rev up well until idle 30 to 60 seconds. It is fine by me.. I start them at the shed when they live,by the time I walk to where they will be used, they are ready
My OPE, I usually give it a few mins of idle and blipping before I run it hard.
My snowmobiles I let idle until the thermostat ( 100ish degree F ) has opened and all the water is warmed. Usually about 10 mins at 0*F. And after that I ride it moderate for 5 mins or so, before any sustained WOT. I use forged pistons that expand much faster than cast and the piston-bore clearances are around .004. There is two 85mm pistons.
My snowmobiles I let idle until the thermostat ( 100ish degree F ) has opened and all the water is warmed. Usually about 10 mins at 0*F. And after that I ride it moderate for 5 mins or so, before any sustained WOT. I use forged pistons that expand much faster than cast and the piston-bore clearances are around .004. There is two 85mm pistons.
My ope get about a minute or less before use. My vintage sleds get a couple minutes to warm up and slowly drive off. No issues so far.
Long enough for it to take full throttle without dying 
no snow machines or dirt bikes here though. Just trimmers and chain saws.
no snow machines or dirt bikes here though. Just trimmers and chain saws.Trimmers and Backpack Blowers should probably be idles for 10 to 20 seconds, maybe longer in colder weather. I usually let my Chainsaw idle for about 30 seconds, since they do rev higher. The above video is very informative, this guy Steve is pretty sharp.
my Ryobi blower I usually let it idle a few seconds then let 'er rip. My Stihl chainsaw I start it in my garage and walk to the work area I am working on, so probably a couple minutes. Generally I ease into full throttle cutting after a few minutes. Once she's warm game on, but that said I seldom have to use WOT on my Stihl unless I'm in big wood.
Just my $0.02
Just my $0.02
I always let ALL of my 2-strokes warm up for at least a couple of minutes before going to full throttle operation. I'm retired, and not on any clock. And my time isn't that important. I believe that doing this allows everything to heat up equally to operating temperature.
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To prevent cold seizure of the exhaust side of the piston I usually let the engine idle 30-45 seconds on half choke. This is for my string trimmer and leaf blower. I feel that it's important to get a bit of heat into the piston and cylinder wall before jumping straight to 8,000 RPM.
In the lawn business I can’t really afford to spend 20 minutes a day warming up machines. On hot days I’ll give it a couple blips on half choke and then take it easy for the first 30 seconds or so. If it’s cooler I’ll leave it on half choke longer and take it easy a little longer. Liquid cooled, high output two strokes are a different story.
