Man that is one sweet mower you have there. How many acres do you cut?

Troy-Bilt Mustang 50 zero turn mower

Stihl HT75 polesaw
Stihl FS131 brushcutter
Stihl FS70 trimmer
Stihl BG56 blower
Stihl MS311 chainsaw

Echo is Stihl's sister company. Kinda like Chevrolet and GMC. Stihl is the GMC.

Bought the chainsaw and blower new, the rest I got from CL and marketplace. Refurb some and some were ready to go.

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Nice lineup DMV.

I have an FS 70 as well. Use it on the gardens and around the house/buildings. It does a good job.

I went with the 111 over the 131 for a couple reasons. First, my neighbor has a 111; Tried it, loved it and realized that my Cub Cadet trimmer wasn't going to work here.

I knew I needed something powerful for this place. At the time I thought I only needed one trimmer, and that the 111 would fit the bill. Powerful enough to cut brush yet I could still trim with it.

And I can, but it's really too powerful for average trimming, and it's hard to feather the throttle on those 4 mix engines. What it can do is cut brush, and wide open areas like my ditch or creek bank.

I cleared 4 acres of land with my FS 111, my MS 271 chainsaw and a couple hand tools. I'm 6'4 and it cut through weeds taller than me. I run the .105 line on it and the .95 on my FS 70.

I've always wondered about that extra 1/2 HP on the 131, bc the 111 is powerful in its own right. Now that I got that 70, the 131, or even the 240, is a no brainer if I ever need to replace...

But in a non-commercial setting those 4 mix Stihls are known to last 10 to 15 yrs, if not a lifetime.

Drafter's Momma turned loose to graze

Is that enough power? How many acres?

Prior to living up here I had a 4 stroke Cub Cadet SC 300 self propelled mower and a Cub Cadet 4 stroke trimmer. Engine gave out on the push mower and gave the weedeater to my brother.



Okay, here's what I've acquired since we moved up here in 2021:

*2003 Cub Cadet 1515 riding mower, 38 inch mowing deck, 15 HP single cylinder Kohler engine

*2023 Cub Cadet XT1 LT50 riding mower, 50 inch mowing deck 24 HP Kohler twin cylinder engine.

*1999 Lawnboy Dura Force self propelled 6.5 HP 2 stroke engine (out of service) Needs a new rear wheel, new blade and new coil.

*1991 Lawnboy self propelled "F" engine 4 HP 2 stroke. Backup walk behind mower. Runs great. Bought it off of a FOG that fixes and flips em.

*2023 Cub Cadet SC500K self propelled 5 HP 4 stroke. Has a Kohler commercial grade engine. It's a beast-- engine has its own oil filter. Same oil filter that my LT 50 and 1515 takes. It's my main walk behind mower.

*2010 Cub Cadet 65R tiller 190cc Honda powered 4 stroke engine

*2021 Stihl FS 111 R trimmer/brushcutter 1.4 HP "4 Mix" engine

*2023 Stihl FS 70 R trimmer 1.2 HP 2 stroke engine. Use this for my gardens and around the house

*2021 Stihl MS 271 50cc chainsaw Got an 18 inch bar and a 16 inch bar for it. I prefer the 16. Run the yellow/pro chain

*2022 Stihl MS 180 32cc chainsaw. Run a 14 in bar on it. yellow/pro chain

* 2023/2024 Buffalo Corp "Sportsman" 1.3 HP 2 stroke water pump x 2 now. If these don't work out I'm going to get a commercial grade Honda water pump.

Lawnboy two strokes were amazing. A MF to start when the coil gets weak.

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@ Robert I used to do clearing. I’m not sure how many board feet I’ve cut but more than most. I do burn firewood in my shop and my other shop. I’ll likely have auxiliary wood heat at some point. Not there yet. Put up some irrigations on farmland and they need to make complete circles to be the most efficient. My favorite saws are a husqvarna 55 for small stuff and 272xp for largish stuff and falling. I keep 3 272xps with different length bars for different tasks. One I built myself for fun and the others stock 32” bar on one 24” on the main go to saw and 20” on my saw for when the tree hits the ground. A 288xp that’s getting tired was my main low cut stump saw. It needs new rings as she’s getting tired and doesn’t start well nowadays.



It’s a monster to start as it doesn’t have decomp. I can barely pull it over (Now the cord pulls easy as the rings are shot).

These days I don’t need them all but I just keep them to remember the work I used to do with em basically. I’m sure another big job will eventually come along but mainly just firewood stuff for myself at this point. But I do love the simplicity of the old 2 series husqvarna saws. And they will keep up with new technology. They still offer the 2 series in other countries as they’re bullet proof. They just can’t meet our epa requirements. Wicked mean and fast saws though

They would be close to papas 570. Which is a nice saw by the way

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Back to the ratios. If you get the same saw in a different country they will recommend 32:1 ratio. However to meet us epa regulations they are ram at 50:1. If you’re gonna stay with 50:1 use the red armor. It’s good enough to protect at that ratio which is why I use it. There’s plenty of good oil out there but I have experience with the red armor and even for the inflated cost I’ll continue using it

Had a husqvarna 346xp that I actually wore out running 40:1 with **** 2 cycle oil. (Lucas). Don’t use the Lucas. I could prove it but it would take a lot of typing and I do have the pictures of the actual failure. My crank rod bearing actually wore enough to let the piston hit the top of the cylinder. I pulled a couple more of my saws apart using the same gas from the same can. Dry inside. Just not enough lubrication. 2 strikes need good oil and enough of it. After tinkering with saws and miscellaneous 2 stroke stuff for work and play I learned some stuff. I’m not an expert and won’t claim to be one but red armor is good stuff I’m sure there isn’t much better out there. The protection and lubticstion is unreal

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^ lubrication

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What I’m explaining without over explaining is even if you’re tuned a little lean you’re still gonna be ok with the red armor at 50::1. Where as if you were using a lesser oil you may just seize He’ll 60:1 would probably be ok but with 2 strokes as y’all know the only thing keeping these things together is the oil mixed into the fuel. That said I’ll burn basically any oil (cept Lucas) but I’m running 32:1 to keep the internals lubed and protected.

I’m not sure why Lucas is so bad as I believe the rest of their products to be pretty respectable. I posted pictures on “ope forum.com” years ago with proof and disassembly photos. They’re still on that website under “what oil is best what ratio”. It’s a saw site where I’ve bought a couple saws and I’m still an active member. That thread is thousands of pages but it is there still. I’m not nearly on the level of many of those guys but I learned some stuff there and bought some really nice chain and parts there. Good folks for the most part.

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Heck I’d also say I dislike stihl ultra oil
However it may not be the absolute worst in a 4 mix engine but I’d run red armor instead. Ultra likes to leave a lot of deposits. Like “crud” atop your pistons. Which could in theory flake off and get snagged on your rings. Red armor actually cleans that stuff up so it’s gonna be the better choice no matter which 2 stroke style.

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I'm going to stick with Red Armor too. It's worth the peace of mind to pay a little extra for good oil. That's why I changed to Red Armor in the first place.

I read that the Stihl oil starts to degrade after 21 days. Could be BS. Stihl says it's bc gasoline starts to degrade, not their oil.

I checked out Outdoor Power Equipment forum. Seems like a cool place. I read the first 6 pages of a lengthy Lawnboy thread. I really like those old 2 stroke mowers. I'll definitely be doing some reading over at OPE.

Think I read on the Arborist forum what you mentioned on the 32:1 oil ratios, and that manufacturers changed to 50:1 to meet EPA regs. And in addition to the 50:1 recommendation, they set their carbs to run lean from the factory bc of the EPA. I never mess with the carbs, just don't know enough about it.

Even with all of the regs, those new strato charged 2 strokes still don't burn up all of the oil unless you're running wide open. The regs prolly make em worse. Exhaust emissions bad, unburned oil dripping out of your muffler, good. Lol

That FS 70 trimmer I have leaks unburned oil out of the exhaust if you spend any length of time feathering the throttle around the garden. I take the spark arrestors out of all my Stihl products so they dont clog up the exhaust, and I make sure to run that 70 wide open at least some of the time to burn off the carbon and excess oil.

EPA regs killed 2 stroke push mowers as well. Those old Lawnboy mowers are some of the best mowers you can get today and they have 20, 30, 40 yr old technology.

Can you imagine how good 2 stroke mowers would be today if they were allowed to build them?

I don't like having to keep up with how many hours is on my 4 stroke mower, and I like not having to change oil.

I don’t have a lawn boy but they’re pretty cool. One day if I stumble into one I’ll probably grab it. Two strokes in general are very simple and interesting as hell to me. The power they make for their size is way cool. Was gonna buy an e-tech boat motor when I needed a new one but found a nice used Honda four stroke. Problem is my boat was really made for old two stroke engines and the four is so heavy in comparison.

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Trying out the fancy shmancy Ego mower and trimmer at the new place. I liked gas better, and riding best, but trying to keep my 3rd garage bay free for motivational purposes

Good luck with that. We dumped a ton of stuff before moving. We have a yuge kitchen with damn near 3 times the space we used to have and my wife already has this sheit full.

That's the Shelby bay. Nothing else goes there..... at least not once the wife figures out what to do with the dining set chairs

I just put a new "long life" replacement spool on my Stihl FS 111. From what I understand it's a new product. It's got a steel insert in the part of the spool that makes contact with the ground. Looks sturdy. The spool does not come with a spring though. You have to use the spring out of your old spool.

I got it from "Forester Shop" out of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. They have a B & M Stihl dealership and they are one of the only stores that you can get Stihl parts from, online. The guy at my "local" Stihl dealership told me about Forester Shop a couple years ago and I've purchased a considerable amount of chainsaw stuff from them. Anyway, might be something you Stihl guys would want to try when your spool gives out.

https://forestershop.com/stihl-autocut-25-2-27-2-long-life-replacement-spool/ 

I have a lawn boy who has a lot of yard schit............I just don't need nor want any more equipment to maintain.I'm busy with my 22' center console ,Yamaha 150,Minn Kota TM ,3 Lowrance head units with 2 3-1 transducers and an Active Target transducer for forward facing sonar.Somebody has to keep the fish busy.Truly a labor of love...........mowing grass gives me allergies not enjoyment


BTW best two stroke oil evah..............Yamalube

Right now, I am real happy with my RYOBI 40V Trimmer and my 40V 10" chain saw.
Also . . . my neighbor lends me his RYOBI 18V 160 MPH Blower, which kicks azz.

jes