2 stroke query & leaf blower advice

They’re probably both from the same Chinese factory with different coloured plastic/decals to suit who’ll be selling it.

Make sure you use 95 E5 or straight 95 octane fuel in it. Small 2 stroke engines don’t like ethanol.

Don’t block the air intake louvres nor modify the blower nozzle as doing either will change the airflow into the engine and lean out the mixture, possibly seizing it.

Let the engine warm up on idle for a minute or two and then use it wide open. Don’t blip the throttle all the time as some people do as you’ll just foul the spark plug.

Always leave room in the jerry can you store the mixed fuel in so you can give it a really good shake before refuelling the blower.
 
Terminal_Boy said:
They’re probably both from the same Chinese factory with different coloured plastic/decals to suit who’ll be selling it.

Make sure you use 95 E5 or straight 95 octane fuel in it. Small 2 stroke engines don’t like ethanol.

Don’t block the air intake louvres nor modify the blower nozzle as doing either will change the airflow into the engine and lean out the mixture, possibly seizing it.

Let the engine warm up on idle for a minute or two and then use it wide open. Don’t blip the throttle all the time as some people do as you’ll just foul the spark plug.

Always leave room in the jerry can you store the mixed fuel in so you can give it a really good shake before refuelling the blower.
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Great, thanks for all that info. RE the fuel, it's pretty hard to come past 95 E5 now so I guess 97/99 E5 will be just as good?
 
I would highly highly recommend you stay away from 2 stroke blowers, they are a major PITA. I have a 2 stroke garden multi-tool (hedge trimmer/chainsaw/strimmer) and it's a real pain - mixing the fuel in stupidly small quantities, it's messy, dirty, it stinks both the fuel and the exhaust and the noise irritating as well. You won't want to use it much.

If your budget can stretch to it get a 4 stroke engined blower, so much better. My 4 stroke blower (Makita EB5300TH) is awesome - just fill it with petrol and off you blow.

If it's a small blow job ;) then get a battery powered leaf blower, although they lack the power and stamina of a petrol powered blower.
 
Probably the easiest way to mix the fuel is to get one of the little mixing bottles (they're a couple of quid from memory), make up a litre of it at a time.
Any that you don't use after a while can usually be poured into your nearly full car petrol tank to finish it off.
 
Werewolf said:
Probably the easiest way to mix the fuel is to get one of the little mixing bottles (they're a couple of quid from memory), make up a litre of it at a time.
Any that you don't use after a while can usually be poured into your nearly full car petrol tank to finish it off.
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Sounds easy but imagine this - clamp the measuring bottle down in a vice (in my case it's 500ml) as it's so light and flimsy it'll fall over if you so much as breathe on it. Then decant petrol from a 20,000ml jerry can to the precise level mark (don't forget to use a funnel!). Then top it up with say 12ml of oil from a 5,000ml bottle. Then put the lid on and shake. Do this every time you need to top up the blower. 2 Stroke sucks.

There are combi fuel tanks you can buy that makes it a bit easier, it's what folk that use petrol chainsaws for a living use.

Not sure about putting petrol with oil mixed in to the car though, your mileage may vary with that ;). I wouldn't.
 
chroniclard said:
I have a 2 stroke STIHL shredder and blower and just bought a 5 litre tub of pre mixed fuel. Expensive mind......

"MotoMix Two-Stroke Fuel 5 Litre"
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That’s what I use in my various Stihl tools. It isn’t cheap, but it’s ethanol free and won‘t gum anything up due to the stabilisers/additive.

I probably use around 7 litres in a year cutting up firewood, strimming and blowing leaves around. Have one of the Stihl bidons with the chain oil compartment and the no-spill fillers.
 
I'd avoid a 2 stroke leaf blower myself purely for environmental reasons, there was a study which said using one for half an hour is equivalent to driving a petrol pickup truck almost 4000 miles. It's insane that they're still allowed to be sold.
 
There are a few options for mixing 2 stoke.

As mentioned above, you can buy a 2 stroke mixing bottle and pour in the petrol and oil to the correct levels https://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-hp-120sf-2-stroke-engine-oil-mixing-bottle-1ltr/46908#_=p

Use a 5L petrol can and add a 100ml bottle of Stihl 2 stroke oil https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stihl-100m...1f-8af9-b7fb638e6487&pd_rd_i=B01NCDTVP9&psc=1

Cheaper way is to use a 5L petrol can and measure out 100ml of oil and mix (i use an old babies bottle)
Or buy just 2L of petrol and add 40ml oil
1L add 20ml oil

Oh and if buying a bottle of 2 stroke oil, go for a good brand and not a cheap one.
 
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sovietspybob said:
I'd avoid a 2 stroke leaf blower myself purely for environmental reasons, there was a study which said using one for half an hour is equivalent to driving a petrol pickup truck almost 4000 miles. It's insane that they're still allowed to be sold.
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You’re going to have to show your working on that assumption.

My Stihl leaf blower runs for around 30 minutes on 500ml of MotoMix (95 RON Unleaded + additives + 2 stroke oil) and the internet tells me the median fuel economy for US pickup trucks is 20.6 miles per US gallon.

4,000 miles at 20.6 US mpg would use 194.17 US gallons of petrol. That’s 735 litres.

So you’re telling me that 500ml worth of 2 stroke emissions is worse than 735 litres worth of 4 stroke truck emissions?
 
I think it's the fact that the truck has a catalytic convertor that will catch most if not all the nasties whereas the 2-stroke engine has none, all the **** goes out to the air around you. 4 stroke is the same lol. It's a bit hard to believe that there's the same amount of nasties for the engines weight for weight of the fuel of both engines.
 
I could buy a small two stroke engine creating more pollution per litre of fuel than a four stroke of similar capacity equipped with a catalytic converter.

I‘m not buying that my leaf blower is more polluting in a half hour than a pickup truck travelling 4,000 miles (72 hours driving at 55mph). That would make my little leaf blower 1,470 times more polluting per litre of fuel than an American pickup truck.
 
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