My local small-engine-parts distributor has long sold me something similar.
I mix a small container of oil with one gallon of gas and run it in my 1958
Jacobsen edger, a 1970 Echo blower, a 1970 Lawn-Boy mower, a 1997 Homelite
string trimmer, and my wife's 2002 Mantis tiller. No problems so far. Mix
ratios run from 16:1 to 50:1 in that equipment - most of them 16:1.
I was suspicious, but Tom, the owner of the distributorship, has been around
these engines about 50 years - in fact my 1958 Jacobsen edger came from his
store when he was a kid working there for his father, and I was a kid
accompanying my dad to buy the edger. He is the major distributor for
essentially all popular brands of small-engine parts in the Chicago and
southern Wisconsin markets. He knows the machinery.
The stuff I have currently is "Endura Plus" by LDA Lubricants in Cincinnati.
I've also used many bottles of Briggs & Stratton 2-cycle oil, and a
Chicago-packaged oil that is packed in the same plant as the Briggs product.
All are mixed in the same way, although the Endura Plus seems to be a
smaller package (it's a plastic packet - like a fast-food restaurant ketchup
packet but much larger) as opposed to the little bottles the other brands
come in.
The products I've used are all oil with ashless additives - not synthetic
lubricants. They smoke and stink somewhat less than regular 2-cycle oils,
and I have never cleaned deposits from the exhaust systems of anything but
the Lawn-Boy, and that only after 20 years of use, when I was repairing it
after the lower bearing and seal fell loose from vibration. The rest of the
stuff has just run and run with essentially no service work at all.
YMMV - but I've had good luck with this type of product. Then again - the
castor oil idea sounds good too - I miss go-kart racing in the 1960's.
Karl
> I recently picked up a small bottle of two stroke oil at Lowes. What
> made it unique is that it claims that it can be used for 50:1, 40:1,
> 32:1, 16:1 mix ratios. Not by mixing in the various amounts, but by
> mixing the bottle with a gallon of gas.
>
> Basically, I can use the same fuel in my 16:1 chain saw and my 32:1 weed
> eater. It would be convenient to have one gas can pre-mixed and usable
> in all my two stroke power tools, but...
>
> Is it too good to be true, or is it some new synthetic oil that
> lubricates enough to provide the lube of a 16:1 and the non-fouling
> properties of a 50:1? Or should I just continue to use my collection of
> different gallon gas cans each with a different pre-mix???
>
> Anyone have any experience with this stuff, or any information?
>
> Tim Mullen
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