Two Cycle Motor Oil

Jeff Reardon

Jeff Reardon

Well-known member
A question for the motor gurus. Due to an Amazon mistake, I have a pile of marine 2 cycle oil. Thought I was buying 2 pints, and ended up with 2 10 packs.

My boat, my two chainsaws, and my weedwhacker all call for 50:1 gas/oil. Is there any reason not to just use up the 50:1 I have on hand in the saws and weedwhacker? Is the 2 cycle oil sold for saws and lawn tools any different than the marine grade stuff I'll mix it all up with ethanol free gas, which my local gas station finally has.
 
If it's TCW3, pretty much the industry gold standard now, it should work in your lawn tools just fine. Motors like etecs might be tuned for a specific synthetic blend, but pre-mix 2 strokes will be fine. I've been mixing all my 2 stroke fuel with marine 2 stroke oil for at least 30 years, never had a hiccup. The best thing you can do is the e-free gas. Every trip to Maine I bring back ten or twenty gallons of non-ethanol for the tools and toys.
 
Agreed, that oil will be fine. I do the same thing. When the duck boat comes home, the fuel mixture goes to the can for the weed whacker and the blower. You won't have any problems with that.
 
I've always understood the "W" in TCW to stand for "water cooled" and was meant for the lower temperatures seen in water cooled engines. Air cooled engines often run at higher temperatures and the oils are formulated accordingly. Having said that, I, like the others here, just buy the TCW3 for my outboards and use the same stuff in everything else. No problems.
 
I use my "marine" 2 stroke oil for my weedeater, its 15 years old and still works.
So I think you're fine!!
 
Great question Jeff, I was wondering the same thing. Now that I have a four stroke outboard motor and a lot of two cycle oil to use up. I just bought a new Husqvarna chain saw and they told me to use their oil because Husky's run hotter. I think they just want to sell their overpriced oil.

RVZ
 
More than likely being redundant here with what everyone else has said but...

Marine 2 cycle outboard oil far exceeds the specs for anything lawn equipment related. That said, it's more than good to use and quite good.
 
Gordon Bartlett said:
I've always understood the "W" in TCW to stand for "water cooled" and was meant for the lower temperatures seen in water cooled engines. Air cooled engines often run at higher temperatures and the oils are formulated accordingly. Having said that, I, like the others here, just buy the TCW3 for my outboards and use the same stuff in everything else. No problems.
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Actually the TWC3 certified oil means its ashless. Chainsaws, weed whackers and the like are not TWC certified motors. You can find some instances where the manufactures will state to NOT use this oil. With that said since I'll been using my left over boat gas for years before I was taught this in a class I've never had a failure that I can say was caused by this oil usage. So carry on.
 
one thing you didn't mention was how old your equipment is...if it is only 10 years or so old I'd read the owners manual (if you want it to last for years) to make sure the oil meets the equipment manufacturers recommendations (JASO M345 / ISO Etc.)

I've run SAE30 in my saws.. but then again their 1970's Homelite super wiz 66's & super XL's
Having been in the heavy construction industry all my life the one thing I've seen is it you want long life in a 2 stroke engine is consistently mixing the proper oil gas ratio is of importance if you don't have one a "ratio rite" oil mix measure is great to have. That and clean air filters.
 
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