Thread: which 50-60cc Stihl chainsaw

BBR conclusion was the stihl oil is the same as castorl stuff....look on back of your big brand oils and see who actually MAKES it.... I had bad run with the tt stuff..possibly double dosed the 261 and had to take it into shop to get sorted..the same fuel was simply drunk with out a burp by the 025 LOL. no flash harry filter in fuel system to get clogged up.saw would run but die as soon as tried to rev it.

the wee oil despenser bottles with 1 litre of oil and a smaller bottle linked by tube are gold....and the good ones already have your amount per litre on them....
Ive written it on the 5ltr 2stroke can with felt pen...... takes the remembering bit away LOL....I really prefer blue or green oil to red,purely so I cant double mix it again

This thread has gotten off track drop OP but getting fuelil mix right isn’t difficult. Have used this formula since 1976. Same formula as taught at trade school in ‘79.
Take number of litres of fuel, multiply by 1000, divide this figure by your mix ratio and this gives you the amount in mls ( millilitres ) to add. eg. 50:1 mix.
5 litres fuel x 1000 = 5000, divide this by 50 = 100 mls oil to add.
Works for any ratio, has done all these years and never had an engine issue due to fuel mix.
I work in the trade and in the case of suspected engine seizure the first thing we do is carry out a fuel burn comparison test: straight fuel: known fuel mix: fuel mix from engine in question. Quickly shows potential fuel mixing cockup. Move on to other engine checks after that if necessary.
We have forest crews using Stihl oil no problems, two operating 30 saws each plus others using up to 10 or more. Opposition has similar numbers running Husqvarna saws/oil. Haven’t heard of any problems from them. We both get customers who have dipshit moments and straight fuel their gear.

Originally Posted by woods223

This thread has gotten off track drop OP but getting fuelil mix right isn’t difficult. Have used this formula since 1976. Same formula as taught at trade school in ‘79.
Take number of litres of fuel, multiply by 1000, divide this figure by your mix ratio and this gives you the amount in mls ( millilitres ) to add. eg. 50:1 mix.
5 litres fuel x 1000 = 5000, divide this by 50 = 100 mls oil to add.
Works for any ratio, has done all these years and never had an engine issue due to fuel mix.
I work in the trade and in the case of suspected engine seizure the first thing we do is carry out a fuel burn comparison test: straight fuel: known fuel mix: fuel mix from engine in question. Quickly shows potential fuel mixing cockup. Move on to other engine checks after that if necessary.
We have forest crews using Stihl oil no problems, two operating 30 saws each plus others using up to 10 or more. Opposition has similar numbers running Husqvarna saws/oil. Haven’t heard of any problems from them. We both get customers who have dipshit moments and straight fuel their gear.

Ha, I've been using that formula for a while having sort of worked it out myself using the phone calculator when I'm out away from mixing charts or have to mix a weird amount for some reason.
Thought I was clever too, didn't realise they used to teach it haha.

Have you noticed the die breakdown in older mixed fuel? By that I mean fuel mixed with either red or blue oil that's left for a long period of time turning a golden shade with a smell of old fuel? I've struck that a couple of times recently with old fuel that's been stored in the back of sheds and then found in the can - what's this then? It leaves an oily stain on a evap test, flames like two stroke but has somewhere along the line dumped it's colour. Odd...

One thing with the burn test I've found is some of the newer synthetic oil types are quite a bit lower in density than the older mineral oils. The burn test can make it look like the mix is quite skinny but is actually mixed to spec. Will still tell you straight off if it's a dipshit moment and straight-gassed but not accurate to tell you the actual mix ratio. I've been sort of looking for a repeatable way to get an accurate volume of oil in a mix, but even in a lab it's not straightforward to get an actual ratio and they need to know what the actual brand and type of oil is for comparison checks (the oil density issue again).

Over here its rare that anyone mixes their own fuel any longer,its all store bought premix alkylate stuff. It is expensive but its awesome,easy on the machine and produced no smoke.Plus it never goes off,I had a backpack blower that had been out of service for 7 years.I primed the carb and it fired straight up .

Just dont use it in a primus.

Originally Posted by norsk

Over here its rare that anyone mixes their own fuel any longer,its all store bought premix alkylate stuff. It is expensive but its awesome,easy on the machine and produced no smoke.Plus it never goes off,I had a backpack blower that had been out of service for 7 years.I primed the carb and it fired straight up .

Just dont use it in a primus.

When using chainsaws there what would be your normal air temperature ?

Originally Posted by 7mmsaum

When using chainsaws there what would be your normal air temperature ?

Not sure over all, here is a graph that showes monthly averages.I dont tend to work dec to march if I can help it.

Those temps will keep your saws cooler

In direct sunlight and sawing close to the ground we are often in 30/35 to 40 degrees C here in Hawkes Bay NZ

It’s likely your premix oil ratio is higher (less oil) than what we would get away with

Originally Posted by 7mmsaum

Those temps will keep your saws cooler

In direct sunlight and sawing close to the ground we are often in 30/35 to 40 degrees C here in Hawkes Bay NZ

It’s likely your premix oil ratio is higher (less oil) than what we would get away with

Those temps would keep me cooler, I'm not blaming the saws at all. Brrrrrr... Not enjoying the cold at the moment - it's an official 'I'm getting old' moment. Only run into the premix fuel once, Stihl product in the plastic bottle. Went fine, smelt funny but if you aren't in the center of a town it's just a pain in the arse to get for us semi and fully rural dwelling types. Plus there's a heap of bottles to dispose of, they don't do refills by the 20L!

As far as the original question, which 50-60cc saw - I've been asked that twice in the last week by people looking to upgrade a little battery saw as they end up spending too much time on smoko break waiting for recharges! Battery saws are very good, but the downside is by the time you buy three batteries (one charging, one ready to go, one in the saw) the price is a little ouch.

Originally Posted by 7mmsaum

Those temps will keep your saws cooler

In direct sunlight and sawing close to the ground we are often in 30/35 to 40 degrees C here in Hawkes Bay NZ

It’s likely your premix oil ratio is higher (less oil) than what we would get away with

Could well be?

It does get into the high thirties further east, Sweden and Finland get pretty jot. I can remember working in the stinking heat on the Napier side of the Kaweka's breathing in two stoke smoke because it just hung in the air.

Originally Posted by norsk

Could well be?

It does get into the high thirties further east, Sweden and Finland get pretty jot. I can remember working in the stinking heat on the Napier side of the Kaweka's breathing in two stoke smoke because it just hung in the air.

Grew up near there, know exactly what you're talking about. That stinking stifling heat with no wind to provide a bit of relief!

Have noticed the dye colour fading in older fuel but it is usually very old fuel so petrol has gone of anyway. We don’t take any risk. Dump fuel, at a cost of $3+ per litre, and refill with fresh stuff. We have to be mindful that it doesn’t take too much w/shop time for repair cost to be worth more than saw is worth in some cases.
If the fuel has been mixed for a month use it in your lawn mower, safer that way especially for the bigger saws. I know people use older fuel but personally I replace after about a month on my 4x saws. I hate the prospect of working on my own gear unnecessarily.

Originally Posted by woods223

Have noticed the dye colour fading in older fuel but it is usually very old fuel so petrol has gone of anyway. We don’t take any risk. Dump fuel, at a cost of $3+ per litre, and refill with fresh stuff. We have to be mindful that it doesn’t take too much w/shop time for repair cost to be worth more than saw is worth in some cases.
If the fuel has been mixed for a month use it in your lawn mower, safer that way especially for the bigger saws. I know people use older fuel but personally I replace after about a month on my 4x saws. I hate the prospect of working on my own gear unnecessarily.

Yeah, I chuck it through the ride on mower blended out with straight fuel to get the oil amount down. The mower doesn't seem to mind even older fuel like that, worth noting though that most good two stroke oils contain a stabiliser component nowadays and if you are using 98 or 96 (non-ethanol) grades to start with the fuel should stay usable for a lot longer than a month before it goes pear shaped on you. I swap out the fire brigade stuff every 6 months or so and so far this has completely ended all of the stale fuel issues that we historically had.

Interesting to note that running your mix too oily can result in hotter internal temps too. This video uses a reasonably drastic example of 25:1 (compared to 50:1), so a much more exaggerated outcome than say 40 or 45 to 1, but still shows there definitely can be such a thing as too much oil, especially if running under heavy load over the longterm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ywMl30_JPI
(Skip to 13ish minutes if you just want the results)

Originally Posted by StrikerNZ

Interesting to note that running your mix too oily can result in hotter internal temps too. This video uses a reasonably drastic example of 25:1 (compared to 50:1), so a much more exaggerated outcome than say 40 or 45 to 1, but still shows there definitely can be such a thing as too much oil, especially if running under heavy load over the longterm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ywMl30_JPI
(Skip to 13ish minutes if you just want the results)

This came up in the staffroom at work- Another way to skin it perhaps is that an oilier mixture has less 'fuel' per ml and is therefore leaner. A leaner mix would run hotter. I fiddled around with ratios and jetting on my KX. Trying to decipher what people meant by a richer/leaner mix was near impossible as it seems to be used both ways - richer = more oil or richer = less oil resulting in richer fuel : oil ratio.

Original question- I have a 365 with a 16" and 20" bar. The 16" is handy and I can get around most things, but the 20" comes out every now and again and the saw keeps up. Originally the 20 chain was set up to cut and the 16 set up the rip rings.