2 stroke brushcutter engine issues

[Mick F]

Have you got your new machine Mick F?

Yep!
£200 paid.

Picked it up yesterday afternoon and immediately set it up and got some strimming done.
47cc of sheer power.

Main comment, is that the vibration levels are higher than my old one, but is only an issue at full chat.

[thirdcrank]

You have posted before about considering giving up cycling because of the effects of vehicle emissions. Don't two-stroke emissions affect you in a similar way? (I can see you aren't riding while you are strimming but there's a physical effort involved.)

[francovendee]

I'm having the same staring issues with a petrol chainsaw. I've tried all the usual things, fuel, spark. It still won't go!

It's done a lot of work and I'm thinking I'll just cut my losses and buy a new one.
All my log cutting is done at the house these days so may go electric.

[Mick F]

You have posted before about considering giving up cycling because of the effects of vehicle emissions. Don't two-stroke emissions affect you in a similar way? (I can see you aren't riding while you are strimming but there's a physical effort involved.)

I see what you're getting at, but emissions from 2strokes aren't smelly and acrid like diesel emissions.

My complaint about diesels are generally when climbing a hill and breathing heavily. Brushcutting isn't cardiovascular exercise.

Also, the issue of smelly diesels is becoming far less frequent now. Maybe the bad ones have been either fixed or taken off the road. Still have the odd one now, but in the recent past it could have been every other vehicle - usually cars, but rarely vans or lorries/busses.

I was in the village on Sunday and watching the traffic and trying to assess the smell and pollution. I reckon the village is cleaner now than only a year or so ago. No proof or figures, just IMHO.

[thirdcrank]

I understand that the new MOT is much tighter on diesel emissions - for anybody with a banger who bothers with the MOT - but I can't get away from the idea that a 2-stroke engine is burning lubricating oil and not necessarily completely. I appreciate from what others have said that efficiency has improved, but I have a vague idea you have asthma or something similar. Perhaps I'm thinking of somebody else.

[PDQ Mobile]

The 2t engine is less efficient than a 4 stroke and emits more benzene type products in the exhaust gas.
Add in the lubricating oil and you have a pretty toxic mix. 50:1 better than 25:1, I think, certainly less blue smoke.

Then there's the physical effort and the fact that with much garden machinery the head is in relative proximity to said exhaust.

So very useful, but for heavy professional users especially, a significant health risk.

I won't bother with links, Google will provide.

[reohn2]

I understand that the new MOT is much tighter on diesel emissions - for anybody with a banger who bothers with the MOT - but I can't get away from the idea that a 2-stroke engine is burning lubricating oil and not necessarily completely. I appreciate from what others have said that efficiency has improved, but I have a vague idea you have asthma or something similar. Perhaps I'm thinking of somebody else.

As an aside,when I took my car in for MOT earlier in the year the chap said it was one of the cleanest diesels he's tested recently and I wondered if it's because it's does 90% of it's life on the motorway.

[pwa]

I used to use 2 stroke brushcutters for about 8 hours a week in summer, as part of my job, and the fumes never bothered me. Just my subjective feelings at the time. I imagine (correctly?) that 4 stroke motors are heavier, and weight is a big consideration when your job has you using the machine for several hours a day, sometimes in hot weather. That is one reason the fuel tanks are so small. Weight and ergonomics are up there with reliability as considerations. And maybe a bit of smoke will keep the midges away.

[Paulatic]

I'm having the same staring issues with a petrol chainsaw. I've tried all the usual things, fuel, spark. It still won't go!

It's done a lot of work and I'm thinking I'll just cut my losses and buy a new one.
All my log cutting is done at the house these days so may go electric.

I haven’t used an electric chainsaw for 40 yrs. They’ve probably improved since then but I very much doubt enough to consider using for serious log cutting.

[Mick F]

...... have a vague idea you have asthma or something similar. Perhaps I'm thinking of somebody else.

That's me!

Tends not to be affected by pollution, but by cold, damp and wintry weather. We have to keep the windows closed overnight in the damp weather. Not much of an issue this time of year.

It first came on in the 1980s and seemed to be exercise induced as I would cough a lot after cycling to work. Looking back, I now know it was the cold and misty mornings as it didn't seem to happen cycling home in the late afternoons. Some years later, I found it came on with stress too.

[PDQ Mobile]

I used to use 2 stroke brushcutters for about 8 hours a week in summer, as part of my job, and the fumes never bothered me. Just my subjective feelings at the time. I imagine (correctly?) that 4 stroke motors are heavier, and weight is a big consideration when your job has you using the machine for several hours a day, sometimes in hot weather. That is one reason the fuel tanks are so small. Weight and ergonomics are up there with reliability as considerations. And maybe a bit of smoke will keep the midges away.

Quite correct!
The weight issue is the main reason for using 2t plus the engines ability to rev to speed fast.

As to the fumes. 25:1 can be pretty smoky in still conditions under trees. 50:1 better but you need a good quality oil. And the right machine.


The health issue is probably long term in terms of serious consequences.
Perhaps the midges are cleverer than we think?!

[pwa]

I used to use 2 stroke brushcutters for about 8 hours a week in summer, as part of my job, and the fumes never bothered me. Just my subjective feelings at the time. I imagine (correctly?) that 4 stroke motors are heavier, and weight is a big consideration when your job has you using the machine for several hours a day, sometimes in hot weather. That is one reason the fuel tanks are so small. Weight and ergonomics are up there with reliability as considerations. And maybe a bit of smoke will keep the midges away.

Quite correct!
The weight issue is the main reason for using 2t plus the engines ability to rev to speed fast.

As to the fumes. 25:1 can be pretty smoky in still conditions under trees. 50:1 better but you need a good quality oil. And the right machine.


The health issue is probably long term in terms of serious consequences.
Perhaps the midges are cleverer than we think?!

It's quite amusing how your priorities change when the midges come out to play. Carcinogenic insect repellent? Don't care! Splash it on, ASAP.

[PDQ Mobile]

It's quite amusing how your priorities change when the midges come out to play. Carcinogenic insect repellent? Don't care! Splash it on, ASAP.

Do you mean my priorities?
Or "one's" priorities?
Personally I don't like over exposure to 2t fumes ( which I have to live with to some extent) or midges which are pretty intolerable here at times.
Though I fear the 2t fumes have the more dangerous effects.
A long time ago I realized that after a few days camping round a smoky wood fire and general sweatiness that midges were far less troublesome than after emerging fresh from a shower.
This simple fact has far reaching consequences!!

[pwa]

It's quite amusing how your priorities change when the midges come out to play. Carcinogenic insect repellent? Don't care! Splash it on, ASAP.

Do you mean my priorities?
Or "one's" priorities?
Personally I don't like over exposure to 2t fumes ( which I have to live with to some extent) or midges which are pretty intolerable here at times.
Though I fear the 2t fumes have the more dangerous effects.
A long time ago I realized that after a few days camping round a smoky wood fire and general sweatiness that midges were far less troublesome than after emerging fresh from a shower.
This simple fact has far reaching consequences!!

A way of distancing both midges and friends perhaps.

[PDQ Mobile]

It's quite amusing how your priorities change when the midges come out to play. Carcinogenic insect repellent? Don't care! Splash it on, ASAP.

Do you mean my priorities?
Or "one's" priorities?
Personally I don't like over exposure to 2t fumes ( which I have to live with to some extent) or midges which are pretty intolerable here at times.
Though I fear the 2t fumes have the more dangerous effects.
A long time ago I realized that after a few days camping round a smoky wood fire and general sweatiness that midges were far less troublesome than after emerging fresh from a shower.
This simple fact has far reaching consequences!!

A way of distancing both midges and friends perhaps.

It keeps the midges off and I don't want my friends to bite me anyway, with a couple of notable exceptions!!!
One can always break the rule!!

Though " Smoked Countryman" fragrance is right in this year, I have been reliably informed.
The old 2t (per)fume is just so passé.