Lawn-Boy Duraforce requires TC-W3?

[GT Mike]

I found this somewhat odd. The new "Generation II" Lawn-Boy branded oil is TC-W3 rated, and upon verifying its use in my DuraForce's manual, it specifically states that no oils except those rated TC-W3 should be used in this engine.
Doesn't that go against what we all have been saying about using oil designed for water cooled engines in air cooled applications?

I say heck with it, and run my M1 Racing 2T in it, regardless. No complaints thus far, and the plug still looks great after 4 seasons.

Just curious why they would spec this oil for the DuraForce, as well as saying it's superior to the old version for all other Lawn-Boy mowers.

I do admit one thing I did like about it...It's dyed pitch black. It looks like drain oil, but dyes the gas nice and dark so you can see at a glance that it's mixed, even thru a red plastic can.

 

[Steve128]

Many pathological two stoke fanatics agree with your decision to run 2T! On many forums your choice seems very popular.

Hopefully, someone can chime in and let us know why Lawn-boy recommended as they did.

 

[cousincletus]

FWIW the old L-B oil was ashless too.

 

[04SpecV]

Has anyone noticed a lot of smoke while using mobil1 racing2t in their lawn boy?

 

[Steve128]

Surprising, mtgrs737 opened up the jets on my Dura-Force and it not only runs stronger and smoother but cleaner as well. As he recommended, I am using 32:1 (2T) with smoke on start up; after a warm up minute or two, burns clean.

 

[mtgrs737]

I think that the reason fo the ashless oil additive package was to reduce the carbon build up in the combustion chamber and the exhaust port. Even though the Duraforce is an air cooled engine, it runs more like an water cooled outboard engine at a constant rpm and with the fan cooling a constant temp. The air cooled high rpm engines of chainsaws and string trimmers are run at varying rpms and can use the low ash detergents that would not work well on the outboard engines. Having said that I still run the low ash Mobil One Racing 2T oil in all my Lawn Boy engines and have not had a single oil related problem. So far I have not replaced a plug or cleaned an exhaust port on my Duraforce in two seasons and about 24 gallons of fuel mix, as the Mobil oil seems to be very clean running.

 

[dwendt44]

A lot of 2 cycle oil is not rated by anyone, unknown quality.
Lawnboy maybe doing a CYA so that you use a known minimum quality(TC-W3), and avoid warrantee work caused by crappy oil.

 

[JavaMan]

Pathological two stroke fanatic here. Love my Lawnboy.

 

[cousincletus]

FWIW the Lawn-Boys will run for years just using the L-B oil. My oldest one is on its 17th mowing season w/o any engine work.

 

[Ron Jeremy]

Love my '02 DuraForce! It loves Amsoil Sabre Pro at 80:1. Runs strong and clean. Just added a Gator blade and the mulching performance is unbelievable.

 

[Steve S]

Are the lawn boys still available? "2 strokes"

 

[mtgrs737]

Steve, the last year of LB two strokes was 2004, however some dealers still may have a few. If you want a new one don't wait any longer, search out a dealer and get one as they are going fast. You can still find them on ebay, both used and new but they are sometimes a bit high. The ones with the duraforce engines were the latest design and the most powerful, I like them best. If you are experiancing smoking after a good warm up period with Mobil One 2T then most likely your mixture is too rich or your carb is flooding because of a heavy float or a leaking carb inlet valve or both, also check that your air filter is clean and your choke is not partially on. I've had two with bad inlet valves this season, I use 32 to 1 ratio (4 oz. oil to the gallon of regular gas) You should have very little to no smoke after warm-up with the Mobil oil.

 

[mtgrs737]

Ron Jeremy, A friend of mine flys ultralights and he told me about his buddies that tried Amsoil 100 to 1 in their ultralight. He said that they did not seize the engine as I would of thought, but instead they lost the main bearings. So no more high ratios for them. I used to use Saber but switched to Mobil One 2T after seeing the increase in idle rpms and the faster throttle response and power increase with just a change to M1 2T. I highly recomend this oil, and I also recomend against high ratios. It's your engine, so if you want to use Saber then use it at a lower raito say no leaner than 50 to 1.

 

[04SpecV]

My mower is practically new. I used about 2gallons of lawn boy oil mix, then switched to 2t @ 32:1. I've used about 1.5 gallons of that.
Maybe I had the throttle up too far and the choke was partly on. I will check the air filter too.
It seems to smoke more on start up, than with the lb oil. Sometimes it would randomly puff smoke after using it for a while. Not sure havent used it that much.
People are trying to sell these things on ebay for rediculous prices! 800$!? They are nice, but not that nice.

 

[dwendt44]

"He said that they did not seize the engine as I would of thought, but instead they lost the main bearings."

Did Amsoil pay for the repair work??

 

[mtgrs737]

dwendt44, I don't know, he didn't say. The engine was a Rotax twin.

 

[mtgrs737]

04specv, If you look at the top of the carb when you work the throttle you can see were the choke starts to engage, then make a mental note of the possition of the throttle lever just before the choke starts to move. If you have a tachometer you might want to check the RPMS the engine is turnning at full throttle, I set mine at 3100 rpms. The engine if over reved may smoke more as the carb is designed around this rpm. Make sure the air cleaner is good and clean also. I had two Duraforces that had slight flooding problems with the carbs this year, it caused the engine to very (surge) it's rpms and it smoked a lot as too much fuel mix was entering the engine. I pulled the carbs and cleaned them and replaced the float and inlet needle and seat and all was fine. You have to be careful when re-installing the carb because it is real easy to over tighten the two mounting screws and cause the carb to warp and bind up the air vane (throttle/governor vane), always check for free movement of the air vane. I also always install a good inline fuel filter and 90 degree inline fuel shut-off on my duraforces as this will insure no dirt/dust gets into the inlet valve/float bowl and the fuel shut off will stop a sticking inlet valve from leaking all the fuel in the tank into the engine overnight (a real mess!). I recomend the Briggs and Stratton filter number 5065 and the shutoff valve with inlet and outlet 90 degrees apart. Mount the filter next to the carb and the shutoff valve between the filter and tank outlet spud, works like a champ.

 

[GT Mike]

quote:

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Originally posted by Steve128:
Surprising, mtgrs737 opened up the jets on my Dura-Force and it not only runs stronger and smoother but cleaner as well. As he recommended, I am using 32:1 (2T) with smoke on start up; after a warm up minute or two, burns clean.

---

The lean running DuraForce engines seem to be the later production ones. Both my '98 #10525s run nice and happy on their factory jets. I too get warm-up smoke, but that goes away within 5 minutes or less of running at full governed speed. I clicked my governors up 3 clicks (~150 RPM) from the factory setting, and both machines tach at 2900 +/- 50 RPM, and seem to be very happy there.

I'll be on my death bed before I mow with a 4-stroke walk-behind mower. I love my Lawn-Boys, especially the DuraForce. My second favorite are the old "brick top" D-400 series from the 1960s. Amazing power from such a small engine, but you can definitely tell what 40 years of 2-stroke technology can accomplish when comparing these to the DuraForce engines.
Regardless, there's still a soft spot in my heart for the old OMC Lawn-Boys.

 

[mtgrs737]

GT, I sold my 4 stroker lawn mowers after I got my first duraforce Lawn-Boy. I now have six duraforce mowers and I wouldn't take a truck load of 4 strokes for them. I set mine RPM's at 3100 but that is just to help them throw the clippings a bit better and to mow a bit faster as mine are all Self-propelled units.

 

[GT Mike]

My two DuraForces are self-propelled. They have the 3-speed transmission, and I found that 2nd gear is perfect for average mowing, 1st if you're really lettin' 'er chew, and 3rd if you want to go jogging while you mow.

I always use the mulch plate, so discharging clippings is a moot point for me. These mowers mulch nicer than any other I've ever used, and have more than enough power to get the job done.

My buddy has a '77 #8235AE that's in mint condition. I mowed with it yesterday, and now I remember why I liked the D-600 engines. They're so quiet you can have a conversation right next to them. Power is a little lackluster compared to the DuraForce, or even a V or F series, but I just like how smooth, even, and quiet they ran. They sound like an outboard motor more than a lawm mower, IMHO.