I couldn't sleep so I was googling around about oil, lol.
I just recently mixed Opti2 at 50:1 with 87 ethanol free gas in a Stihl saw (have only used Stihl Ultra before - doh!). Apparently my dad's saw wouldn't start with my mixed gas (and yes he said he shook the container).
I have never had issues with the Opti2 gas mix for the blower (Shindaiwa EB810RT
https://www.shindaiwa-usa.com/Products/newproducts/EB810-RT.aspx), or trimmer (Echo SRM225
https://www.echo-usa.com/trimmers-brushcutters/srm-225)
My dad apparently drained the gas mix and put in some of his 93 octane 10% ethanol (must be like 6+ months old gas) mixed with his Stihl ultra and apparently it started. I have no idea why this would happen, but it got me to buy the RedMax oil Yota linked on Amazon.
I can get 89 octane ethanol free by driving about an hour and 15 mins (one way), but can get 93 octane ethanol free by driving maybe an hour and 40 mins (one way). I am in Northern Virginia and use the pure gas site (
https://www.pure-gas.org/VA).
Stihl says to use a minimum of 89 octane in the owner's manual so I feel iffy about using the bare minimum octane.
I think over time (lets say longer than three months) I have read that octane actually drops? I don't know what exactly happens, maybe something just starts to break down and make the gas "less stable?"
Do you guys add fuel stabilizer to your ethanol free gas tanks?
I currently use the concentrated StarTron (
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0068ENYTG) AND the red storage Stabil (
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000B68V6I) which feels like overkill, but idk. I would rather be safe then sorry.
I did use to use the orange 360 Stabil (
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0081ZVB7W) in the past, but figured the red storage is meant for storage so went back to it.
I don't go through even 5 gallons of ethanol free gas in a season, but the bigger issue for me is the long drive. Am I stuck just making the long drive for 93 octane ethanol free every two or three months?