Have you found yourself in the position where you decided to fire up the weed eater only to find you don’t have oil?
Yes, you can use motorcycle oil in your weed eater if it’s a four-stroke. Four Stroke motorcycle engines and small engines use the same oil with one exception. If your weed eater is two-stroke, you will need to use a 40:1 fuel and oil ratio to prevent the motor from seizing.
What kind of oil do you use for a Weed Eater?
Most modern weed eaters are two-stroke or two-cycle engines that are air-cooled and lubricated by adding oil to the fuel at a 40:1 ratio for optimal lubrication.
It would be best to follow the manufacturer’s oil recommendations. Although it will be more expensive, they should not be able to quibble if you have a warranty claim.
However, living in the real world, we use our weed eaters when there is a break in the weather, and we have some time on our hands to fix the garden; hence we are never prepared!
If you find yourself without the manufacturer’s specified oil, don’t panic, you can use a good quality motorcycle oil to do the same job.
The mix will be precisely the same ratio for oil and fuel to achieve lubrication of the internals.
What kind of oil does a Ryobi Weed Eater take?
Ryobi has become very popular over the past decade, and they make some excellent garden equipment.
Ryobi uses a four-stroke or four-cycle engine. The recommended oil is 20W-50 oil for the best lubrication.
However, 20W50 oil is quite viscous and is perfect for warmer climates, but you could consider using a less viscous oil for those of you who live in cooler climates.
A 10W40 or even 5W40 would provide excellent lubrication and make the Ryobi engine sing in colder climates.
There is no need to be concerned about viscosity; modern-day 10W40 can be used in performance engines, so it’s suitable for your Ryobi weed eater.
Does Weed Eater need oil?
If your weed eater is electric, you will only need to lubricate the spinning component with either light oil or light grease.
If you have an engine attached to the weed wacker, you will need to provide lubrication to the internals, so, yes, you will need oil.
If you have a two-stroke or two-cycle weed wacker, your oil is mixed in with the fuel. There is a specific fuel ratio to oil, and it’s generally 40 parts fuel to 1 part oil 40:1.
A 40:1 ratio supplies enough lubrication to prevent the engine from seizing while using the weed wacker at high revs.
Four-stroke and four-cycle engines work slightly differently, and you will have a separate fuel tank and place your oil more conventionally through an oil filler cap.
It’s important not to overfill your weed wacker with oil or let the engine run low on oil.