Would it hurt anything to run a 40:1 mix in a saw that requires 50:1 or even mix the two together?

Tankie

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Would it hurt to run a 40:1 mix in a saw that requires a 50:1 mix or even possibly mix them together?
 

Tankie

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I didn’t see how it could hurt anything since I would actually be running a little bit more oil with the 40:1 giving my saw better lubrication and cooling.
 

Bob Hedgecutter

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I didn’t see how it could hurt anything since I would actually be running a little bit more oil with the 40:1 giving my saw better lubrication and cooling.

The potential hurt is in leaning out too much.
Fuel gasoline burns and provides the energy to move parts- oil lubricates the parts. The more oil you have the less gas you have.
40:1 in a saw tuned by modern factory methods for 50:1 can be borderline lean- hell most saws from the factory are tuned borderline lean.

Like said above, run the ratio you want, but tune the saw to that ratio.
Like above, I tend to run most 2 stroke equipment at 40:1 and I also tune just a tad on the rich side, because I use a lot of older saws that can be hard to find parts for, or parts (genuine ones) are expensive here.

In reality, if everything else is up to spec, saw has no air leaks, is clean around the engine fins and it tuned well- running 40:1 in place of 50:1 will do little short term, if it is on the tune edge- it might accelerate wear in the long term.
 

Tankie

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The saw I have in mind is an almost brand new Stihl. I have about 3/4 gallon of the 40:1 that I would like to use and then switch back to the 50:1.
 

jasent

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Take the time to learn to tune your saw. You’ll be money ahead in the long run. Like I said before. Tune it to 40:1 and you have no worries. Or ignore the advice you been giving and run it. Nobody here is going to tell ya what you want the hear. But you have been giving plenty of good advice here and the other thread. Best of luck to you
 
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