Oil in Gas

Have a 25HP, 2 cyl,  Engine, on a  L.M.
Last year,  (Little later than now), it was really acting up.
Back Firing, Smoke, No power, gas in the oil, etc, etc.
Thought it was a head gasket, and was prepared to, ’take it in’ and have a rebuild on that  Engine.  Over winter, when time was not a problem.

Bought a, ‘used’, Hustler Fast Track, 54” 25 hp.
and used that the rest of the season.

About a month, after, a ’shooting buddy’, came over,
 (Who is a  EXEMPLAR,  Small Engine specialist)
And he was getting into, molding bullets,
and I was expelling the %’s, of the various Lead mixes, with %’s of tin, anatomy, bismuth, temps, etc, to obtain a certain hardness, for certain applications.   I  P&M’ed, about the Lawn mower.

So he said, “Start it up, let me listen". I Did, and he said:
       “It is  Just the Carb".
I took the 2 bbl carb off, and gave it to him couples of days later.

Last Sunday, I was out of town, he called, and said he rebuilt it, told him, to go to my place and put it on.
He did, today I did all the rest of the things one does with a, ICE, after sitting for almost a year.
And, put on all the rest of the cowling pieces on.

And it started, and Ran BETTER than New.

Called him, and expressed my heartfelt thanks,
  (He did NOT  charge me)

And then said:
 “Because that Carb set up, has, NO Drain, you can’t get ALL, the gas out for winter storage, unless you take it out, You may want to think about a, ‘oil’ mix, in that 4 cycle ICE. At least in the last tank of the season.
 I Know of Several  Professional,  ‘Lawn Mowing Services”,  Who use a  100 to 1  mix, of the,  ‘Air Cooled Engine Oil’,
    (Like chain saws, weed trimmers), all the time.
And they have  LESS, Maintenance, Less Problems, Less wear.”

Something to think about.
Have always, taken old, Gas/Oil, mix, out of the things that use it.
Then put a couple of, ‘Glug/Glug’s’, in a 4 cycle ICE.
  Which is probably about  400-600 to 1  mix.

Do know of several people, racing go karts,
where the Limit was a 5 HP, Engine, and several used, as a crankcase oil,
TCW,  (The Water Cooled Outboard, mix oil, 100%, in the crankcase)
Theory, when it burnt, it was Designed to Burn,
Thus not robbing, Power, by a oil which was NOT  designed to burn.
And for those people,  every,  .25 MPH, was important.

Might be something to consider,
Adding a, ‘Air oil’, to the gas in the tank, at perhaps 100-1
(Don’t think TCW, would work in a wet clutch)

I still use 2 Lawn Boys from back in the 2 cycle eras.  What I do is during regular use, I use a good quality brand name 2-cycle oil to mix at an 18:1 to 20:1 mixture.  I also add a 400:1 ratio of Lucas fuel additive which keeps carbs totally clean.

For winterization, I simply add some of the marine version of sta-bil to keep the fuel from going bad during the off months.  When I come out for the spring, they both start up perfectly!

What I have found is that these engines (at least mine) are most likely to not run correctly when the exhaust ports begin to clog up due to the deposits left from the oil/gas mixture.  Every couple of years, I remove the muffler underneath, and a clean these ports carefully using a small screwdriver.  I also wash out the muffler.  I have also found that the Lucas actually helps keep these areas from clogging up.

I have used these mowers for over 40 years now and virtually no problem.  I also purchase new plugs about every two years.  About $1.50 per plug.

Great old mowers!