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OK since I moved into my Grandparent's house back in 2000, I had to purchase new lawn equiptment. Being the frugal guy I am, I went to Wal-mart and bought the cheapest trimmer and leafblower they sold. $69 Poulan Weedeater Featherlite brands.

13 years later the weedwacker still starts on the 3rd or 4th pull. The starter mechanism on the leafblower is worn out (cord won't retract at times). After four times, I got tired of taking it apart reloading the spring (PITA) I decided to just buy a new Poulan leafblower but the engine is still good on the old one. Maybe I can transplant it to the weedwacker if it ever blows or sell it on Ebay for parts? I also bought one of their hedge trimmers which I really like although might I suggest do not get it anywhere near barbed wire!!

Let's say I have at least 150 to 200 each hours, maybe as high as 300 hours on the weedwacker and the leafblower. Just a guess.

From almost day one I've been using the Pro-Mix synthetic from Lowes. It's the 2.6 oz per gallon that covers all ratios from 16:1 to 50:1. I've used it in everything from my weedwacker, leaf blower, chainsaw, hedgetrimmer, Tomos mini bike and my Trabant 601.

Then there are some oils that require more oil the stronger the ratio such as Lucas semi-synthetic. So 2.6 oz per 1 gallon for a 50:1 ratio and 3.2 oz for a 40:1 ratio and so on.

And of course Opti-2 which is a 100:1 ratio that covers all ratios. There does seem to be a difference between the Opti-2 and these other oils. The Opti-2 is sticky and is thicker.

I have put about 1500 miles on my Trabant 601 using the Opti-2 because I've used half a gallon of that stuff. I don't know how many hours that would be on a car. That car uses a 50:1 ratio.

Trabant Photos by turbofiat | Photobucket

I've read a lot of opinions on 2 cycle oils. One opinion is that ethanol is main killer of 2 strokes because the oil doesn't bind with the alcohol and the type of oil is not as important as the fuel.

What I'd like to know is how can some mixes cover all ratios where others you have to use more oil? And how can the Opti-2 say to use a 100:1 ratio for all ratios?

I'm not so concerned about my Poulan weedwacker and leafblower as I am my Trabant engine. I had another engine shipped over with the car from Hungary since I knew shipping an engine from Germany would cost out the nose. One guy says there are no more NOS crankshafts left although you can still build rebuild kits for them.

I go through A LOT of 2 cycle oil in my Trabant. Probably more oil since I got my car last September than I have used in my lawn equptment in the past 13 years. I'd like to find the best oil to use in it so I don't wreck my engine. But because I use a lot of it, would like to find a good oil but something in bulk. Such as Stihl 2 cycle oil in 5 gallon buckets. I have yet to contact the local dealer to see how much it sells for.

That is so cool that you have a Trabant. Did you have any trouble importing it from Hungary?

I might not have even remembered about that brand except that some of the villain characters from the movie "Cars 2" were Trabants (called Trunkovs in the movie). I loved those characters. Here is a LMF thread about one of the leaders of the villain cars (a very cool and rare Zundapp Janus 750).

I don't know the answer to your question, unfortunately. You may want to try this website:
Bob Is the Oil Guy -- great site even if you can't find the answer to this.

Thanks for the link to your photos.

Two-Stroke said:

That is so cool that you have a Trabant. Did you have any trouble importing it from Hungary?

I might not have even remembered about that brand except that some of the villain characters from the movie "Cars 2" were Trabants (called Trunkovs in the movie). I loved those characters. Here is a LMF thread about one of the leaders of the villain cars (a very cool and rare Zundapp Janus 750).

I don't know the answer to your question, unfortunately. You may want to try this website:
Bob Is the Oil Guy -- great site even if you can't find the answer to this.

Thanks for the link to your photos.

Click to expand...

Trunkov is actually a Russian built ZAZ:

Toward the end of this page:

Car Photos: Cars from the Movie Cars 2

One day while at my local Stihl dealer, and parts supplier that keeps my old junk running, we got on the discussion of 2 cycle oils. He told me everything that comes into his shop gets the gas dumped out, then refilled with fresh 50:1 mix using the Stihl brand oil. I asked him about the items requiring a 16:1 mix. His response was that everything that left his shop had 50:1 in it, and the only reason why something used a 16:1 ratio was the oil wasn't good enough to be used at a higher ratio. He's always been very honest and upfront with me over the years so I decided to buy a six pack of the Stihl oil. That was several years ago and I have not had one issue with using the 50:1 ratio in equipment marked 40:1, 32:1 and even 16:1. I must admit it is a lot easier to have one fuel can, rather than the three or four I used to have.

turbofiat124 said:

Trunkov is actually a Russian built ZAZ:

Toward the end of this page:

Car Photos: Cars from the Movie Cars 2

Click to expand...

I think you're right about the Trunkov being a ZAZ. The ZAZ appears to be rear-engined and that makes sense since the Trunkov has no grille on the front.

However, I don't buy everything on that page that you cited -- I loved going through the pictures -- I just saw some pairings that are obviously wrong. For example, Finn McMissile is no Aston Martin. The grille isn't even close to their distinctive grille and I'm pretty sure they never made a car with fins like that.

Back to your original question -- I've heard about the two-cycle oils that claim to work at 100:1 and I don't trust that. I routinely use Poulan two-cycle oil mixed at 50:1 on both my collection of vintage Lawn-Boy mowers and on my (fairly expensive) Stihl chainsaws. No problems... I've been doing that for years.

I'm pretty sure that Stihl and Echo oil is available in gallon jugs and I'll bet that a marine shop might have larger containers.

Thanks for getting me thinking again about "Cars 2". :laughing: