FAQ
Here you can find some information and answers to questions I have been asked more than once.
What is OPE?
OPE stands for Outdoor Power Equipment. It is a segment of small engine equipment that encompasses lawn and garden, forestry, and light construction. This includes everything from chain saws to leaf blowers, from lawn mowers to turf care equipment, and from generators to pressure washers.
Comments
While I welcome your comments, for the benefit of the community-at-large I have had to develop a little bit of structure. Please refer to the Comment Policies page to make yourself more effectively heard. Otherwise you run the risk of making me not like you.
What is the difference between two-cycle and four-cycle engines?
At the risk of oversimplifying the engineering feat of creating these types of engines I will briefly explain the principles behind them. Two-stroke (is the correct term) engines have two cycles taking place simultaneously. That is, the intake and exhaust gases are moving in and out, respectively, in the same downward stroke of the piston without the aide of valves allowing the spark plug to fire immediately upon its return. The spark plug fires every time the piston compresses the cylinder gasses. Thus, only two strokes of the piston to repeat the cycle. The four-stroke engine, on the other hand, uses valves to mitigate gases and uses compression and exhaust strokes to move gases in and out of the combustion chamber so the spark plug only fires every other stroke. The piston moves down, up, down, and up again before the cycle repeats. Also, lubrication in a two-stroke engine is mixed with the fuel allowing it to operate in any orientation, that is, there isn’t an oil pan or sump that could feed large amounts of oil into places where it shouldn’t be if the engine were tipped or turned during use.
