"I have some brand new SAE 30 Castrol here that I have yet to open up. Would that be alright to use for now and then what to get next time?"
Well in the OLD days, 30 weight non detergent is what they typically used.
However, the 30 weight you have is probably detergent plus other additives. Many of those additives DO NOT lubricate!

Just get some GOOD quality 2 stroke oil designed for 2 stroke AIR COOLED engines. It's just the sensible thing to do!
Others can chime in about their favorite brands.

I'm not an LB guy, but it's my understanding that different era LB's used different ratios. Some of this was dictated by the type of bearings in the engine. Needle or sleeve.
If you aren't sure, wait till someone that knows LB's to chip in with the correct info. i don't know if you can download older owners manuals from the LB site or not.

As Bill said, most modern day good quality oil can safely run that engine on a 32:1 mix. 16:1 is not necessary and again, with today's oils and lubricating ability, it will be overkill which may end up with oily messy exhaust and possibly fouling of the plug. I know several fellas here use and swear by Mobil T2 racing motor cycle (2 stroke) oil. It can be harder to find, but I know my local AutoZone carries it as well as others around the country. I personally support Torco and there very wide range of oils for all automotive and racing applications. If it burns fuel, Torco makes an excellent oil to protect it. Check out their web site at torcousa.com or I can answer some questions you may have about it. I also have been using up some Echo Power Blend oil which is available at Home Depot and of course Echo dealers. It's a very good semi-synthetic oil made by Citgo-I'm running this and Torco @ 40:1 in all my LB's and newer saws, trimmers, blowers, etc with good results. Torco and Echo oils like many others have the added fuel stabilizer which is good peace of mind. I personally quit using Lawn Boy brand oil about 12 years ago @ 32:1 because I wasn't overly crazy about the smoke and stink especially in the warmer months of summer, but it did the job. Using a modern, good quality semi or fully synthetic oil is the only way to fly in my opinion running 2 stroke engines these days. One more thing, do that engine justice and DON'T use any 4 cycle engine oils like that SAE 30 weight you talked about. Only 2 stroke oil! 4 stroke engine oil when mixed and burned in a 2 stroke makes hard carbon ash deposits which will "chew" that engine up in short order.

What is wrong with just using Lawn Boy Oil? I have used Lawn Boys for about 40 years and never noticed objectionable smoke/smell from properly adjusted LB. People here must run terribly rich fuel mixtures.

"16:1 is not necessary "

I am not sure I agree with this and certainly not if using LB oil. Look in the exhaust ports, if you see 3 rings on the piston, use 16:1 LB oil. If you only see (check closely) 2 rings, use 32:1 LB Oil. Use other oils at you risk.

Walt Conner

I doubt that Lawnboy/Toro have their own refineries.
So who is bottling/canning up the oil that has the
Lawnboy name on it?

"I didn't say "LAWN BOY OIL COMPLETELY SUCKS" "Why do so many of you out there think that a Lawn Boy's ultimate protection"

Well why don't you just come down off your high pony. I have been on this list for several years and I have not seen anyone say Lawn Boy Oil was the "ultimate protection" so you might want to check YOUR posts.

In looking out the window at the neighbor mowing with his LB I see absolutely no smoke and I know he is using LB oil because I service the mower all time and resurrected it twice from the dead before I found out he was using a "miracle oil". I told him if he didn't use LB oil, I wasn't working on it anymore. No problem since. Same thing happened to a commercial service I was servicing/repairing their LBs and they were locking up engines right and left. At first I thought it was the high school kids they were using them found they were using a gee-whiz oil. I told them the same thing, LB oil or no more work. LB oil is a safe oil, perhaps not the only one.

Walt Conner

I enjoy the spirited discussion regarding LB fuel. I notice some others are advocating the addition of Seafoam or Marvel Mystery Oil. What is Seafoam, anyway?

So, can I use the same 32:1 mix in both my LB 5247 & 10550?

"So, can I use the same 32:1 mix in both my LB 5247 & 10550?"

Yes.

"What is Seafoam, anyway?"

Something along the line of Gumout, helps keep down/remove carbon build up, cleans deposits out of carb. also.

Walt Conner

Walt,

Thanks for the reply.

You have more LB exper than almost all of us. Do you use these additives in your machines?

Sorry to report Walt, but that pony ate some of my neighbor's Lawn Boy oily laden grass and died last week! Can you please tell me who infact makes that oil so I can sue them? It must have been because I sold him my terribly out of tune mower I owned. People ask for advice about quality oils. I give it based on experience as by the sounds of it, so have you. You happen to like LB oil, I do not. You think it's a great oil to use, I think and know there's better, MIXED AT ACCEPTIBLE RATIO'S! I know you have more experience than me, so based on that, I calculate more "opininated advice". How many other oils have you ever tried to base your claims on? Why do you suggest that "others must be mixing at terribly rich fuel mixtures"?

People, if you want to use LAWN BOY OIL because you own a Lawn Boy mower and want to use the best, then please do so mixed carefully using 4oz oil to 1 gallon of overpriced gas which makes a 32:1 mix. No other claims are made herein, unto, whereas, be it thow per the manufacturers's recommendations. HAPPY MOWING TO ALL MY FELLOW'S!!! Count toes and fingers before and after each mowing session!!

"Why do you suggest that "others must be mixing at terribly rich fuel mixtures"?"

I think you might want to at least read my posts before shutting off your mouth.

"Do you use these additives in your machines?"

No, I think the current LB oil incorporates at least some of these features.

Walt Conner

Walt, would you elaborate on the correlation between 3-ring motors for 16:1 and 32:1 for 2 ring pistons.

I'd like to hear more.
-br

It was your quote Walt, not mine about the "terribly rich fuel mixtures"! I'm not the one who asked you about adding Sea Foam or MMO. I know what they do and use them for it. Who's chuting, I mean shutting, or maybe that's shooting off at the mouth? Use what you like, I'll do the same. Was LB oil made by Marathon possibly?

echoman, there are many people on this forum who have switched from Lawn Boy oil to synthetic including me. Strangely I don't see many of them posting right now. I use either Amsoil or Mobil T2, I have not tried Torco, but I might at some point. Two cycle synthetic oils are clearly better for the reasons you stated. It's too bad they weren't readily available (if at all) back in the '60s and '70s when Lawn Boy had a bigger market share in Lawn equipment. I suspect Lawn Boy would have switched then.

echoman, I stand by every post I have made. You are trying to make a big splash by exaggerating anything counter to your belief and I have no time to bother with you.

"Walt, would you elaborate on the correlation between 3-ring motors for 16:1 and 32:1 for 2 ring pistons.

I'd like to hear more. "

The number of rings has nothing to do directly with the mix but is just probably the easiest indicator of the type of bushing/bearings at critical points, the wrist pin for example and the top crankshaft bushing in some cases.

Walt Conner

Good point mike72. The technology was mostly there to market the oils just not the demand or pressure fromt the EPA and other tree huggin' groups to do so. Walt, you've completely misinterpreted everything I've posted about folks asking about 2 stroke oil. I'm not making "waves" about anything. People ask. I GIVE MY PERSONAL OPINIONS ON WHAT HAS WORKED GOOD FOR ME AND WHAT HASN'T. You would rather turn this into a personal bash session by claiming my machines are out of tune or I'm incompetent of mixing a gallon of fuel with oil. You can run freakin turpentine in your engines for all I care if you can get them to last! As I also stated, I don't own or make a business off selling oils. I use what works and works well, just as you do. You push LB oil to all you know or at least recommend, I do not. So how am I "MAKING SPLASHES"? Maybe just maybe my personal opinions to great oils stems from racing high out put engines like in snowmobiles?!(Hence the Torco use), not just whirling around the ol' country pasture @ 3,000 rpm killing mosquitos! Unless proved otherwise, I'll continue to use the highest quality oil money can buy! I'd expect you'll continue to use and recommend what you claimed. I do respect your years and experience with servicing LB's and others. Good day to you, Sir.

Here's my $.02;
I use Mobil 1 2-T when I can find it. Mobil has good reviews on this site as well as "bobistheoilguy" and over there they appear to know their stuff. As a fall back I use Lawn-Boy or Pennsoil without hesitation. I think the differences in lubrication between oils are minor as long as you stick with a name brand quality. Lawn-Boy recommends a TC-W3 specification oil used in outboard motors and these additive packages are ashless. I don't have a problem using the low-ash oils for air cooled engines though. I follow the engine manufacturer's recommendation and mix at 32:1. The high ratio oils work fine for a lot of people but I'm not comfortable with that deviation from the manufacturer's recommendation.

I'd suggest you stay away from the 30wt automotive oils as they were used in the past when no alternative was avaliable.

As long as you stay in the ballpark and remember to use some brand of oil in the gas you'll be fine. I the cars I use whatever is on sale that meets the specs and change it quarterly.

"I doubt that Lawnboy/Toro have their own refineries.
So who is bottling/canning up the oil that has the
Lawnboy name on it?"

Lbpod, I use Valvoline TCW3 air cooled two stroke oil in the blue bottle and LB oil in the can and I swear they are identical in looks and smell. So maybe Valvoline is the producer of LB oil, I really don't know. No one probably does.

***P.S. to whom it may concern, please do not scare Walt away as he is a valuable part of our forum. I have learned so much from the posts from him in the past and I would hate to know he left because of a squabble about frickin oil.
I don't have anything against anyone but reading over these last few posts I'm thinking this just is'nt right.

Maybe its just me, but Walt has been a wealth of info over the last few years for me. Anyone else feel this way??

Neal

Lawn-Boy 2 cycle oil is made by Citgo. It is known as Citgo-Purple #93755. It is decent oil but smokes and forms some carbon over a period of time. A Lawn-Boy mower will run a long time on it but it will smoke some and may require carbon removal eventually. Keep in mind one thing. Lawn-Boy Toro offers this oil for one reason only....to make money. It is a recurring sale item and keeps the name of Lawn-Boy visible to customers. The market dictates that the oil is adequate and affordable but more importantly...profitable. Are synthetic oils better? I think so . They don't smoke, or form carbon, piston scuffing and siezure is eliminated from oil related problems, and wear is virtually eliminated. See link below for the Citgo MSDS on Lawn-Boy oil..

Here is a link that might be useful: Lawn-Boy Oil msds

Just mixed my first batch of Mobil 2t fuel. One last tank in the mower, then I'll have a comparison of how it runs.

BTW, after reading the MSDS about the LB oil, I am a little concerned that it doesn't contain any zinc (ZDDP) anti wear additive. This is the stuff that keeps flat tappet cams alive in older and race vehicle engines. Maybe all 2 stroke oil doesn't contain it.

"Maybe its just me, but Walt has been a wealth of info over the last few years for me. Anyone else feel this way??"

Couldn't agree with you more.

Totally agree! I enjoy and appreciate ALL questions and answers or suggestions given here. Lots of knowledge on many different topics. Thanks for the comment rdaystrom.

Using terms like "miracle oil" and "gee-whiz oil" to describe oils other than Lawn Boy oil is not helping anyone. For this forum to continue being helpful it must be open to new products and ideas.

I use Mobil 1 Racing 2T fully synthetic oil in all my Lawn-Boys and trimmers and chainsaws at 32 to 1 ratio. I get no smoke after warm up and no plug fouling or carbon build up, this is extermely clean burning oil. If I were not using the mobil oil I would use Lawn-Boy oil as it has a track record for long running engines. One thing to remember about oil is that it is very important that your engine is getting enough oil because in a two cycle engine oil is passing through the engine. High ratios mixes make me cringe! I would take walt's advice on identifing engine type and ratio's for that engine.

Thanks for the support but there are experts here. I just ask you read the posts and judge for yourselves who is stretching the posts. Note I said "Lawn Boy is a safe oil, perhaps not the only one."

mike 72 seems to be upset because I did not name the oils in the examples I gave. I may not be very smart but I am not dumb enough to put that out there on the Internet forever and risk events that might leave me a winner but bankrupt.

I can probably arrange for you to talk directly with the people involved in the two examples I used, I used these examples because one is a neighbor, the other because they were running several Lawn Boys. They can tell you what they used and just what happened. There were others.

Also note that the Lawn Boy Oil of today is not the Lawn Boy Oil of even the recent past.

Walt Conner

Interesting. If Lawn Boy oil is indeed made by Citgo today or always has been, that would explain why you fellas using it claim how clean it runs. I haven't mixed a can of LB oil @ 32:1 since 94' or 95', and was comparing that experience to the stuff I used over the last 6 years or so. If Echo oil(also made by Citgo) has most of the same compostion as the newer Lb oil, that would explain it's better performance, because Echo seems to be top notch with all the other high quality stuff. I appologize for my misinformation or "recent" lack of knowledge of this oil and wasn't trying to create friction with anyone here. I'm actually glad some here still use it. Originality is always a good thing!

I too use Amsoil Saber 100:1 fully synthetic oil at 50:1. Like wise, no smoke, clean plugs. I also use PRI-G gas stabilizer/carb cleaner all the time. It's hard to find in Canada, so as I'm running out of it I've just started using trying Seafoam, now available here too at NAPA.

I had some Stihl premix that came with the chain saw I bought last year, and mixed it at 32:1 with PRI-G. I'm using it in my 5277 LB. Love the smell! My other Stihl OPE call for 50:1, but I'll use up the 32:1 in the LB cutting my weed field.

"I too use Amsoil Saber 100:1 fully synthetic oil at 50:1."

Always puzzles me why people use 100:1 oil them mix it at 50:1. Seems like another case of second guessing the engineers.

I MAY try some of that Mobil T2 racing motor cycle (2 stroke) oil someday if I can find it. I am using Mobil 1 in our car with good results so far, mileage indicator reads higher if you can believe the thing. Buy lots of it, makes my stock go up.

Walt Conner

we should be boycotting citgo products and if this includes lawnboy oil -so be it

I am wondering what oil you would recommend for this, yes it runs, NO metal in it anywhere.

Walt Conner

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A good high quality "lemon oil" would work wonders Walt! I think Minwax and Old English makes it.

My messages speak for themselves without explaination, and I don't take the bait of innuendo. Sorry Walt.
Amsoil Lists 50:1, 80:1 and 100:1 on the bottle as the three recommended ratios depending on service. I have used it and found it is best not to go richer than 50:1. There are no solvents in Amsoil. Most 32:1 oils, Lawn Boy included, contain a fairly high precentage of solvents. And what you actually end up with is a ratio close to 40:1 of actual oil to fuel when it is mixed at 32:1

Walt, what on God's green earth is that thing?

As far as oil ratios, everybody should use what they feel is the best. I personally don't like the idea of running a high mix oil at 100:1 when the folks who built my orphaned 2-stroke recommend 32:1. Now I know some of you guys use these synthetics with good results. It's just not for me. Additive packages and whatever else, I prefer to follow engine manufacturer's recommendations and use LB oil. I actually run mine with a little extra oil to be on the safe side, just in case.

However, this is what I do because it works for me. I'll always suggest going with spec or richer, but if something else works for another person that's fine too.

When you ask people for their opinions on this forum, that's exactly what you will get. Silly thing to argue about really.

No innuendo here Mike, if you don't want the information, don't complain when it isn't there.

Walt Conner

Walt,Along with captious,add creating false perceptions.

I have a 1980 6259 commercial LB with aluminum deck, electronic ignition, F201 engine.

I'm using Tanaka "Perfect Mix" - has fuel stabilizer, synthetic additives, etc. I've used it for several years in the LB, my Stihl weedwhacker and my Husqvarna chain saw. Works great - excellent startup, no smoke, and great engine performance.

Well just what was your objective in your post criticizing me, Mike? I don't recall doing anything to you.

Walt Conner

Sure, if you read the posts in order, your terms of "miracle oil" and "Gee-Whiz oil" might be construed as a synthetic oil. And before I go any further I think I'll just stick with captious.

Well I guess you don't have much to do Mike. Too bad, I thought you had made some pretty good posts. I don't have anymore time to waste with your childishness.

Walt Conner

Walt, at least read the back of the Amsoil bottle before you post about synthetic oil ratios.Thank you.

Walt,
We all thank you for your experience. My LB's have and will continue to live long on their LB oil. I agree with you on the others Voodoo oil mixes. I know you, others, and my father have LB's that run that are older than the critics themselves. Keep up your excellent advice!!!!!!