Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I FINALLY decided. LOLOL! I bought the Toro 221Q. :) Now for it to snow so I can try it out!!
What 2 stroke oil is best? It came with Toro's oil mix. I try to use a synthetic blend in my other 2 cycle OPE.
I am sure there will be a learning curve on how to use it.
Thanks for all the advice.

Kelly

Now for some snow so you can try out your new toy! I like to use any of the higher end 2 stroke synthetic oils from Echo, Stihl, Toro, etc... as they have fuel stabilizer and conditioners built into them.

I can't wait for the snow now. Next up reading the manual. I won't put any gas mix in until the day off the snow.

Did you buy it from big box store or dealer ?

kellyinkc wrote:

I would run it up and make sure everything works properly. Any high end 2 stroke synthetic or dino oil will have fuel stabilizer (if that's your concern) built into it. You could also add Stabile, Seafoam or other fuel stabilizer just as an added measure of fuel life.

aa335 wrote:
I bought it at a dealer. The price was the same and I can get it serviced there and get better care.

FrankMA wrote:
Seconded - do not wait to fill it with oil+gas and try it out. I also recently got a 221Q and had trouble starting it up initially - you can read about it here:
http://www.abbysguide.com/ope/discussions/48798-0-1.html

I would not have been happy if I'd had that experience with a foot of snow waiting for me on the driveway.

Personally, I used the Amsoil Saber Outboard synthetic oil which was recommended as a good, low-smoke TCW3 oil. Now that I have the 221Q starting up properly, it seems to run just fine with that oil at a roughly 1:66 oil-gas ratio.

FrankMA wrote:
I do run StaBil in all my OPE it really helps. After reading the manual it recommends NMMA TCW III certified oil whatever that means.....

That may be a good idea put a splash of gas in and fire it up.
It came with a Briggs manual as well it gives me bore and stroke but what is the horespower?

The neighbors will be jealous come snow storms.

I'm jealous. Might have to pick one up myself.

aa335 wrote:
Go get one before they are gone. I have been playing with it, that Quick Shoot is just cool! I'll use the Toro oil mix that came with it first then decide what to use later. I may just use the Toro brand while it is under warranty just to be safe. One interesting thing is there is no throttle control. I presume it runs WOT?

The throttle is preset and but there are no user controls. Even my lawn mower is the same. I don't miss it.

Probably will make my purchase soon.

Congrats on the new toy. I had one similar a few years ago, loved it. Take a few minutes to verify all the nuts and screws are tight, and everything is well lubed. You'll be amazed at how well that throws slush when most two stage units are dropping ice logs. Also the rubber blades are great for clearing decks and wooden walkways. One hint: if you have drifts or a big EOD pile, instead of killing yourself trying to push into them, it's often faster to just clear up to them. Then take a shovel and knock them down into the cleared area. It seems like more work but it often takes less time and is a lot easier than trying to push through the deep stuff.

billin wrote:

+1 on the Amsoil. I use it in everything.

Bill_H wrote:
Thats a great idea. I''l do that later this week. One thing that made me laugh what I read in the manual. " Do not use on roof". LOLOLOL

kellyinkc wrote:
Actually, a lot of places get so much snow they have to clear their roof off before it collapses.

kellyinkc wrote:
Just normal corporate America CYA disclaimers and warnings, it's going to continue as long as people continue to hold others accountable for their stupidity.

I'm with Shryp on this one. I've seen people on roofs with a shovel. Very old and newer homes have steeper pitches but a lot of 60's and 70's era houses seem to have flatter roofs. I've not seen blowers on any residences, but I have seen them used on some commercial flat roofs. I did see a Toro Power Shovel being used on a house once, so a single stage would be the logical next step up.

There are lots of youtube videos of snowblowers on roofs.  One of them actually has the fire department doing it.  I think all the videos I saw were sngle stage units, but then you have to be careful not to tear the roof off :)

Shryp wrote:

Many houses in my area have switched over to aluminum roofs. sadly we didn't but the cost was really high. But on my house we get icicles that are the thickness of my thigh and run all the way to the ground. The aluminum roofs avoid that. They do have other drawbacks tho. We had such a bad year 3 years back that we had to have people come over and shovel off the roof. Big $$$$ but so is falling off the roof.

I'd probably buy a Toro Power shovel for the roof if I had to do it again and find a way to tie myself to the house. A single stage would be a bear to fit through the window and a ladder is right out.

Steve_Cebu wrote:
Steve,

If you have icicles like that, you need to take a serious look at two things, 1. your attic insulation, and 2, your attic ventilation. You're probably having ice-dam formations as well, and that could cause serious problems down the road.

drifter wrote:

They put on a new roof and I got to see exactly what was under the old one. We have no attic at all, no crawl space, nothing. The roof ends at the sheetrock on the other side. We were having some ice dams but supposedly that's been fixed. It's all on one side of teh house the back side with no sun gets almost nothing. They redirected drainage around the door and we shall see since every year the ice has ripped off the water drain. They used a different method this time. Hopefully it will work this time.

Wow, that sucks Steve. Ice-dam formations can allow the backwater to get quite deep,,, well over a foot in some cases. This allows water to seep under the shingles, and down into your walls, rotting out studs, and causing mildew problems. Not good. I certainly hope your roofing contractor applied a membrane along the edge of that roof.

One cheap solution would be to use heater-cables along the edge of the roof. These heater cables should be zig-zagged from the edge of the roof,,, and back to a point behind the wall below that part of the roof. The heater cables provide just enough warmth so that any ice forming around the cable melts, allowing drainage. Unfortunately, this will not eliminate your heat-loss.

http://www.heatersplus.com/roofs.htm

Well everything looks tight. Now to fire the bad boy up. I have decided on staying with Toro brand 2 cycle oil until after warranty. This way I can show I did exactly what laid out in the manual. Keeping the receipts as well.
It does say use a TCW-III oil but I can't find any in the 2.6oz bottles.

drifter wrote:

Yeah it did suck but supposedly they have it all fixed now so we shall see in another month or so. No way to run cables we used to have them but the ice tore them down. The roof is insulated but that is where the sun really beats down. So hopefully we will not have any more huge ice.

I hate to say this Steve, but unless you eventually get some sort of ventilation, between the top of the insulation and the underside of the roof, you're going to have the same ice situation. It's unavoidable. Snow lands on the warm roof,,,,melts from the bottom,,,water flows down towards eaves, and once that water reaches the eaves, it refreezes because there's no heat-loss to warm those over-hanging eaves from underneath. Water keeps coming,, , freezes,,,builds up the ice dam until the back of that dam reaches the warm part of the roof, and everywhere behind that dam is standing water. Sunshine really has very little to do with it.

Without proper ventilation, the only ice-prevention "fix", is to shovel the roof frequently, and not let the snow build up..

The next time you're up on the snow-covered roof, have a look at the granular ice-layer at the bottom of the snow-pack. That's where the snow has melted from contact with the warm roof. Snow "reflects" sunlight on top, while the blanket of snow traps heat underneath, melting from the bottom.

kellyinkc wrote:

You can buy them at Ace Hardware or your Toro dealer. If not, buy the bulk size and those kits with the measure tables. Squeeze and dump into gas tank. No mess.

drifter wrote:

The roof itself is vented with holes under teh eaves, it was built that way. This is why we wanted a metal roof but way too expensive about twice as much. The thing is there is very little heat in that part of the house and it's almost impossible to get to it in the winter but yes if I had designed teh house it would not have been built like this. However after 20+ years from the last roof repair there was virtually no damage underneath the roof and no inside leaks. At least not until the 2 trees landed on it during the ice storm. Then we had a ton of leaks.

aa335 wrote:
All he has was Stihl Ultra and the one in the orange bottle. I will order a 6 pak online.
Ace had none on the shelf, they carried Lawn Boy, their brand and Echo Syn Blend.

With a 141 CC engine versus 205 to 305 CC engines I hope you got it for use on a side walk and not a driveway. Remember to wear an old coat as with the 2 stroke oil/gas mixture your clothes are going to smell gas/oil and some people get very sick from the fumes. The 4 stroke engines do not mix gas and oil and the better ones met the EPA emmissions guidelines. Just another point to make that people don't consider when they look mostly at price and not quality and getting 10-15 years out of a snow blower instead of a few.

To prevent straining  that little motor, when you get to the street where the plow packs the snow and often the salted snow turns to ice, use a garden hoe to break up and pull down that high banking. The snow blower will then be able to handle it quite easily. I know because I helped an elderly man the other day do exactly that because he couldn't get his toy blower to do anything against that hardened wall.

If you go to a chainsaw dealer you can get the small can of oil if you don't own a measuring cup or measuring spoons used in cooking. I buy the smokeless oil for my chainsaws. You may want to try that. 

Remember to buy only 89 octain for snow blowers and chainsaws. The manufacturers warned everyone that now they put methanol in the gas you have to up to 89 octain. Be sure to drain out the gas at the end of winter because the new gas is corrosive and will cause the carburator to fail.

To save money you can usually find good deals in the off season on nearly new snow blowers as people move, You can also save at the dealership as they have preseason -sales and places like Lowes and Home Depot have year end clearance  sales. What they do is move the surplus to a designated store which may not be the store nearest you, so you'll have to inqure. Stay safe.

drifter wrote:

Hi Drifter, I don't know if you're still here but wow do we have mega icicles on the roof. I'll try and get some pics. The guy that put of the roof says there is nothing he can do and that we have proper insulation. But in a few weeks we will have greek columns by our from door. No idea how to fix it if the roof guy is clueless.