Serious question, has anyone else seen a huge difference in cutterhead wear after changing your fuel mix?

I finally switched from running pump gas with cheap oil to a 50:1 synthetic mix on my 8-inch dredge. Before, I was replacing cutter teeth every 200 hours on the Klamath River. Now I'm at 400 hours and they still look barely worn. What's everyone else using for their mix ratios?

2 comments

2 Comments

kevin_bailey10d ago

Actually what I think people miss is that synthetic oil isn't just about lubrication. The carbon buildup from cheap oil changes the whole cutting geometry of the teeth. I ran the same setup on the Trinity River and noticed my teeth would get this hard baked crust on them after maybe 150 hours with regular oil. That crust makes the teeth act more like a dull wedge than a cutting edge. When I switched to synthetic at 40:1 the teeth stay clean and actually cut instead of just scraping. You end up running less throttle too because the material flows better through the header. So it's not just wear rates, it's how the whole cutting system performs differently.

nina18010d ago

Ngl you're dead on about that crust thing. I saw the exact same pattern running my saw on the Willamette, after about 200 hours with cheap 2-stroke there was this hard black gunk baked onto the teeth that just wouldn't come off with a wire brush. Switched to a full synthetic and now my chain stays clean enough I can actually see the cutting edges between sharpening. The difference in how the saw pulls through the cut is night and day, like the chain is actually working with the wood instead of fighting it.