I am also saying that the air filter is more like the cause for the wear. To be honest most of the air filters I’ve seen on two stroke ope absolutely suck. They don’t filter anything besides maybe a small cat. Just my opinion
This 100%.
You guys can all run a richer oil to gas ratio if it makes you feel better, but I doubt the results will be measurable over what the manufacturer recommends. I have a bunch of customers running 2-stroke equipment commercially (most of it not even commercial grade equipment) on 50:1 without issues. In fact the machines always fall apart from some other issue like broken plastic or abuse before the engine has a hint of failure. Modern oils are lightyears ahead of the old "mix with sae 30" 2-stroke engines of years ago.
With that said, air filters on a lot of 2-stroke equipment are sub-par, especially the cheapie brands. Most are little foam filters that disintegrate after 2 years of use. Checking/replacing the filter is crucial especially when running in a dusty environment.