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Ran my saw too lean for 2 seasons before a guy at the gas station tipped me off
So I'm filling up my cans at the pump in Bend about 3 weeks ago and this old guy in a beat up Silverado watches me mix my fuel and goes "you running that lean all summer?" I said yeah, 50 to 1 like the manual says. He just shakes his head and tells me he ran a saw crew for 20 years and in the heat you better believe they fattened it up a touch, cause a lean mix at 95 degrees cooks a top end way faster than most guys realize. Took my 261 home, dumped the mix, went a little richer, and I swear it idles smoother and my plug finally has that nice tan color instead of that chalky white I'd been ignoring for 2 seasons. I always figured the manual number was gospel and my white plug was just how it looked in dry country, but nope, I was slowly cooking the thing every hot day I ran it. Anyone else run richer in the heat or am I late to the party on this one? Curious what ratio you guys keep at 90 plus degrees.
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brooke_murray9h ago
Man, my dad blew a piston in his old Stihl running it lean one hot July and never let me forget it.
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the_john9h ago
Running it lean one hot July will do it every time, that heat just stacks the odds against you. I had a similar deal with an old Echo trimmer years back, and what finally worked for me was just mixing a hair rich on purpose during the summer months. Yeah you get a little more smoke and you foul a plug now and then, but plugs are cheap and pistons are not. Your old man was right to give you a hard time about it, @brooke_murray, lessons like that stick because they cost real money. Take this with a grain of salt since every saw runs a bit different, but I would rather clean a plug than rebuild a top end any day.
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