Educate me on 2 cycle oil please

[sofasurfer]

McCulloch 130 instructions say to use McCulloch 2 cycle oil at 40:1 OR good 40 weight 2 cycle oil at 20:1.
I have been using CountyLine 3.2 oz 40:1 2-Stroke Engine Oil and it has been working out well for me. I now want to use STP Universal 2-Cycle Engine Oil 1 Quart from Autozone.com. Question...Do I use it as 40:1 or 20:1. Is there anything wrong with using a cheap oil? What designates a cheap oil from a good oil? I had a guy try yo sell me oil that costs $50 a gallon. Why would ANYONE pay that price?

 

[bertsmobile1]

40:1 with any modern 2 stroke oik will be fine.
The instructions were a con to get you to buy their oil

 

[sofasurfer]

Is there anything wrong with the cheap stuff?

 

[dcgrazier]

The important thing to look for is an oil that is manufactured or designed for 2 cycle air cooled engines. There is 2 cycle oil that is manufactured for 2 cycle boat motors that are water cooled. Do not use this oil. I use Ams Oil Saber that is designed for 2 cycle air cooled engines. It is also synthetic. I have used this oil with Non Ethanol gas for over 10 years in all of my 2 cycle equipment. I have had no engine issues. For me, the key item is Non Ethanol gas. Years ago I did have engine failure and the problem was ethanol gas. My local small engine equipment owner made that determination for me.

 

[ILENGINE]

Talking about paying $50 a gallon for 2 cycle oil and thinking that is too much and you are paying $66.60 a gallon for it now.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

I hope rhis doesn't devolve into a "what is the best oil thread" . I paid $70 for a gallon of Red Armor and thought it was a pretty good deal. A gallon, 128 oz if mixed at 50:1 it makes 64 gallons of fuel. That is a little more than a dollar a gallon. If you buy an oil in the small 6 pack of 1 gallon bottles the price can go up to 2 dollars a gallon for oil. Not sure how much fuel a homeowner goes through on 2 strike equipment in a season but the difference in cost between oils is negligible. As long as the oil is JASO FD rated it will be fine.
The cart below will tell you what classification the oil has if it has been tested. If oil is not on the list that measns it was not submitted for testing.

http://www.jalos.or.jp/onfile/pdf/2T_EV_LIST.pdf

 

[StarTech]

I haven't learned to read Japanese yet. Just trying just over tax my pop seed brain.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

McCulloch 130 instructions say to use McCulloch 2 cycle oil at 40:1 OR good 40 weight 2 cycle oil at 20:1.
I have been using CountyLine 3.2 oz 40:1 2-Stroke Engine Oil and it has been working out well for me. I now want to use STP Universal 2-Cycle Engine Oil 1 Quart from Autozone.com. Question...Do I use it as 40:1 or 20:1. Is there anything wrong with using a cheap oil? What designates a cheap oil from a good oil? I had a guy try yo sell me oil that costs $50 a gallon. Why would ANYONE pay that price?

The countyline product is API TC rated which is an obsolete rating method. It is considered a bottom tier oil.

 

[tom3]

For me I just use Lawn Boy oil in the LB mower, Stihl oil in everything else. (Stihl dealer is close to me) Ratio mix pretty much as they recommend.

 

[Mower King]

There is a difference in 2 stroke oil, just like all other oils!

Red Armor is the only way to fly in my book. It's designed to create LESS carbon build-up - has excellent LUBE properties and has a fuel stabilizer in it that Red Armor says keeps fuel good for an exxxxxxxxtended amount of time!