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Hi Steve, With one exception, it is the oil being used, and not the engine, that determines the mixing ratio. If you have an oil that can be mixed as lean as 30:1, that’s the limit for that oil. If the max is 60:1, then that’s the limit. The penalty for using a "richer"(more) oil mix than the oil manufacturer specifies is slightly less power, shorter plug life, and faster accumulation of carbon deposits. Using a "leaner"(less) oil mixture than the oil manufacturer recommends can, if the engine is configured to benefit from it, make more power. But that leaner than recommended oil ratio will also shorten the engine’s life. I mentioned an exception. If your saw has one or more plain bearings(bushings) rather than all ball, roller, or needle bearings, you must use the traditional 16:1 type 2-cycle oil, mixed at the 16:1 ratio. Unless you have a very old saw, it will not have any plain bearings. Rory, I apologize for disagreeing with you, but those super lean(I don’t like mixtures less that about 60:1) and/or synthetic 2-cycle oils have some drawbacks. Although they are easier on plugs, can allow a little more power to me made, and produce minimal deposits, they also shorten engine life. At this point the better synthetic 4-cycle oils pretty much equal or better traditional mineral oil. But two-cycle lubrication is a completely different matter. Although they understandably don’t advertise this fact, the manufacturers of synthetic 2-cycle oils know your engine won’t last as long as it would using a good “conventional” 2-cycle oil. A rep. from one of the biggest synthetic 2-cycle oil manufacturers admitted to me that their testing shows engine life using their oil was about 60% of what it would be using a conventional oil. Beyond that, some of them don’t prevent corrosion. I have repaired several two-cycle engines that have spent a winter in an unheated garage and had their piston(s) rusted into their bores as a result of using synthetic oil. One of these engines still had a noticeable oil(synthetic) film on them. Based on both my own experience, and what I have heard from others, I would not use synthetic 2-cycle oil unless I had a definite reason for doing it. Good luck...Al English
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