aviation gas in chainsaw ok???

[JohnL]

If we are bringing it up..

A question you might ask yourself is, what octane rating do you actually need for the application? In cars you run the risk of detonation if the octane rating is too low. It's not normally an issue, unless you have a higher compression ratio, and aggressive spark advance curve. Computer managed cars typically have a "knock" or detonation sensor that gives feedback to the pcm, and retards the spark if it is sensed, allowing you to safey run sh*t gas but with less performance. If you are building a hot car engine without the computer controls you might do some experimenting and listening for the sound of detonation to see what you can get away with. But how does this translate into air cooled 2 stroke engines? Higher octane doesn't automatically mean higher performance. If the engine doesn't need it, you won't be gaining anything.

 

[bwalker]

Great way to ingest toxic lead. Likely will make your saw lose HP and it's octane is not needed in a stock or modified saw.
It does store for a long time.

 

[jellyroll]

Leaded fuel is good for storage and that is it. All i have ran for years is 87 EO or E10 with out problems just don't let ethanol gas set for long periods otherwise it does go bad quicker.

 

[dynodave]

I've had very bad results with E10. The ethanol eats plastics and rubber. Fresh carb kits and hoses deteriorate to quickly. The ethanol eventually absorbs water which then becomes corrosive to the metals. My first 3-4 years I used E10 and I paid the price dearly with short lived repairs and carb
re-rebuilds.
Poulan gas tank caps would swell with E10 and become seized. Put a new one in an all was well...for a while! The old cap sitting on the shelf would outgas the ethanol and be ready to swap for the new one that would then swell. DUH time to wake up.....
IMO avgas 100LL is for bragging rights only. I now use NOE exclusively (over 10 years) aviation "MOGAS" the 89-91 octane. 40-1 mix. I also get a few years of shelf life.

 

[lone wolf]

Great way to ingest toxic lead. Likely will make your saw lose HP and it's octane is not needed in a stock or modified saw.
It does store for a long time.

Yes, the Lead is a big dealbreaker for me. I have seen what that crap can do.

 

[Mad Professor]

Leaded fuel is good for storage and that is it. All i have ran for years is 87 EO or E10 with out problems just don't let ethanol gas set for long periods otherwise it does go bad quicker.

They could make non-leaded store well. I have 10-15 year old gallons of Coleman fuel that is good as they day it was canned. AV gas in the same cans mixed also stores for years.

If I ran saws 24/7 I'd run 93 corn free to avoid lots of lead, or if I'm doing a lot of cutting. Then I use all I have mixed, and run the saws dry.

E10 and it's water rots aluminum and magnesium (alkoxides) and rusts iron/steel. I have 80 year old tractors, that never had fuel problems before E10.

On a 52 Fergy TO30 the E10 absorbed so much moisture, it corroded the cast iron carb so bad the drain out was plugged with rust. Top/dry half of carb was fine (TSX 361A Marvel). Vinegar would not touch the rust, went to conc.HCl/muriatic acid to get the rust out.That tractor had sat a year before I got it, not my fault.



Aluminum/Magnesium carbs I've had to throw away, it forms alkoxides. It will rot cases in two strokes also, if the water/ethanol separates.

The 10% corn is a scam, it costs as much energy growing/processing the corn with little or no return. Most farm tractors and equipment run on diesel. Crunchy feely eco-nazis can go charge their Prius/Volt with electric from a coal plant, and have a latte.

Farmland should be used for food. America has a wealth of energy resources.

 

[ericm979]

Leaded gasoline lowered Americans IQs by 3 points and some people might have lost up to 8. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220307162011.htm

"Low lead" avgas has more lead in it than leaded road gas did. It's only low when compared to earlier avgas which was sky high. I'd be tempted to run it if it was free and clean, but I'm old and don't have any children around when I'm cutting or running equipment.

Stihl recommends 89 octane gas. Race gas does take longer to go stale but it's really expensive for what's really an industrial engine. I would not buy it for working saws. Same for the fancy canned premix.

I have had zero problems with ethanol in my gas. The lawn mower and generator are 25 years old and have their original fuel systems intact. Some guys seem to be constantly having carburetor problems but mine all work fine. I think I rebuilt one once in the last 25 years, and I'm running a lot of equipment for a homeowner since we have a good amount of land. If E0 was readily available and not significantly more expensive than E10 I'd run it, but that's not the case where I am.

 

[Mad Professor]

Leaded gasoline lowered Americans IQs by 3 points and some people might have lost up to 8. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220307162011.htm

"Low lead" avgas has more lead in it than leaded road gas did. It's only low when compared to earlier avgas which was sky high. I'd be tempted to run it if it was free and clean, but I'm old and don't have any children around when I'm cutting or running equipment.

Stihl recommends 89 octane gas. Race gas does take longer to go stale but it's really expensive for what's really an industrial engine. I would not buy it for working saws. Same for the fancy canned premix.

I have had zero problems with ethanol in my gas. The lawn mower and generator are 25 years old and have their original fuel systems intact. Some guys seem to be constantly having carburetor problems but mine all work fine. I think I rebuilt one once in the last 25 years, and I'm running a lot of equipment for a homeowner since we have a good amount of land. If E0 was readily available and not significantly more expensive than E10 I'd run it, but that's not the case where I am.

If you run E10 in a generator you are foolish. You need to count on that.

The "snotty white looking" stuff is from bacteria living on the E10 ethanol/water. As I mentioned ethanol forms alkoxides with metals, Al Mg, boilogical debris from bacteria. This effectively destroys those parts.

I'm lucky as much of my equipment is so old, the carbs are iron/steel/brass. Even the gas inlet valves/seats/floats are brass. They don't seem to wear out either. I keep inlet needles that are brass in good condition.

E10 rots plastics as well as fuel lines. The "new" fuel systems, you cannot fix/tune nor repair, although they might tolerate crappy fuels.

The 52 TO30 Fergy carb I just rebuilt just needed gaskets. The iron steel and brass were all fine, after getting the rusted iron out from float bowl due to E10.

A 1972 Ford LGT lawntractor my parents purchased new never had the carb apart until it ran E10. It was full of white snot derived from E10. The alkoxide corrosion was not so bad that the carb was junk. No E10 ever again.

I thank God none of my old cars/trucks/tractors ever ran that crap. My 1960's cars run 4150 Holleys

 

[bwalker]

They could make non-leaded store well. I have 10-15 year old gallons of Coleman fuel that is good as they day it was canned. AV gas in the same cans mixed also stores for years.

If I ran saws 24/7 I'd run 93 corn free to avoid lots of lead, or if I'm doing a lot of cutting. Then I use all I have mixed, and run the saws dry.

E10 and it's water rots aluminum and magnesium (alkoxides) and rusts iron/steel. I have 80 year old tractors, that never had fuel problems before E10.

On a 52 Fergy TO30 the E10 absorbed so much moisture, it corroded the cast iron carb so bad the drain out was plugged with rust. Top/dry half of carb was fine (TSX 361A Marvel). Vinegar would not touch the rust, went to conc.HCl/muriatic acid to get the rust out.That tractor had sat a year before I got it, not my fault.

View attachment 1077160

Aluminum/Magnesium carbs I've had to throw away, it forms alkoxides. It will rot cases in two strokes also, if the water/ethanol separates.

The 10% corn is a scam, it costs as much energy growing/processing the corn with little or no return. Most farm tractors and equipment run on diesel. Crunchy feely eco-nazis can go charge their Prius/Volt with electric from a coal plant, and have a latte.

Farmland should be used for food. America has a wealth of energy resources.

Canned fuel is essentially avgas minus the lead. Not exactly, but close.