Ethanol-Free Gas: Will it Help?

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Paul Bunions

ArboristSite Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2018
Messages
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Location
FL
My Echo 20" saw had carb problems after I let it sit for a couple of months, and now I'm stuck waiting for a backed-up repair place to adjust it. I took out my Echo pole saw to do a little work, and it was gummed up, too. I ran my Chinese generator so I could do some welding. It wouldn't run at full throttle, and it will only start when I shoot carb cleaner into it.

The generator amazed me, because I ran it dry the last time I used it. I was instructed to do this to prevent carb problems. The pole saw had Sta-bil in it.

I've had it with crap gas. It amazes me that America is stupid enough to pay fat cats to grow corn so we can ruin engines with it. We ought to bomb Iowa and start making real gas again.

Today I bought a 5-gallon can, and I filled it with ethanol-free gas. I'm going to put Sta-bil and 2-stroke oil in it, and I'll save it for my 2-stroke equipment. I was amazed to see that 90-octane gas with no crap in it only cost 14 cents per gallon more than 87-octane corn squeezin's. Apparently, the corn idiocy doesn't even save us money.

Is there a chance in hell this will work? Is there no way to prevent these machines from choking?

Also, do I sound frustrated at all?
 
E -free is always better, but expensive to use on a Normal basis. I use it to store equipment. Trimmers and the like I keep e-free in the tank and carb to store them. Snow blowers and bigger 4stroke stuff I run out or drain reg gas and add e-free then run for a while (then shut gas off if available and let it die)


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E -free is always better, but expensive to use on a Normal basis. I use it to store equipment. Trimmers and the like I keep e-free in the tank and carb to store them. Snow blowers and bigger 4stroke stuff I run out or drain reg gas and add e-free then run for a while (then shut gas off if available and let it die)


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Not really we pay about 3.20 a gallon for 89 efree.

Probably fairly cheap in Fl too.

.
 
My Echo 20" saw had carb problems after I let it sit for a couple of months, and now I'm stuck waiting for a backed-up repair place to adjust it. I took out my Echo pole saw to do a little work, and it was gummed up, too. I ran my Chinese generator so I could do some welding. It wouldn't run at full throttle, and it will only start when I shoot carb cleaner into it.

The generator amazed me, because I ran it dry the last time I used it. I was instructed to do this to prevent carb problems. The pole saw had Sta-bil in it.

I've had it with crap gas. It amazes me that America is stupid enough to pay fat cats to grow corn so we can ruin engines with it. We ought to bomb Iowa and start making real gas again.

Today I bought a 5-gallon can, and I filled it with ethanol-free gas. I'm going to put Sta-bil and 2-stroke oil in it, and I'll save it for my 2-stroke equipment. I was amazed to see that 90-octane gas with no crap in it only cost 14 cents per gallon more than 87-octane corn squeezin's. Apparently, the corn idiocy doesn't even save us money.

Is there a chance in hell this will work? Is there no way to prevent these machines from choking?

Also, do I sound frustrated at all?

How fast are you going to go thru 5 gallons?

You might want to mix up less.

.
 
Not really we pay about 3.20 a gallon for 89.

Probably fairly cheap in Fl too.

.

My bad, we have to buy 5gal pails of e-free here at 25-30$ and the only Sunoco that sold it just burned down. So now it’s tru-fuel at $25gal. $2.80 for 89


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I went through the same ordeal with my outdoor power equipment that gets seasonal use. All the carbs were gummed up. Stabilizer did not help with the ethonol fuel. I started using non ethonol 2 years ago and have not had any problems. I also use a little Seafoam in my 2 stroke mix and stabil in my mower gas because I have to drive a ways to get the gas and I fill all my cans up so it lasts at least a month. Non ethonol is the way to go for small engines

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I purchased a new Husqvarna 575 & 385 I noticed the 575 was sluggish, maybe I don’t run them enough lately. I changed over to husky 50:1 can mix. Once I got rid of the corn fed gas they are animals plus giving them break in time.

Don’t forget two stroke mix lasts one month if we mix it ourselves.

What should I do? Either plan on mixing seafoam, husky two stroke oil to the can of 50:1 mix run the saws often? Or run them dry what u say? There going to sit now.
 
Here in Wisconsin premium gas is 93 octane, regular is 87 octane, premium costs about 75 cents a gallon more than regular.
I always used regular gas in small engines until about 4 years ago without any trouble but I bought a brandnew 572XP chainsaw and the dealer told me I was supposed to use premium so I’ve been using premium in all my small engine stuff ever since.
 
How fast are you going to go thru 5 gallons?

You might want to mix up less.

.

That depends on whether I can get the saws to run!

I still have trees down from Hurricane Irma. If I can ever get going again, I would guess I could do half a gallon or more per day. The Sunoco where I bought it is half an hour away, so I would rather have too much than too little.

I don't know why everyone has to lie about corn gas. You never see a manual that says, "Do not use this crap!" Instead, we are told to run engines dry and use additives that apparently don't work. If I had known there was no way to make it work, I would have gone ahead and bought real gas from the start. I spent a hundred bucks on a new carb because I believed lies.

I also wonder why the deluded greenies who support this mess never talk about the fact that ethanol production requires the creation of immense amounts of CO2. Where does it go? Are they putting it in rockets and sending it to the moon? How do they keep it out of the atmosphere? Ethanol comes from yeast, and yeast make CO2, which is supposedly worse than plutonium.
 
My local husky dealer when I purchased two new saws told me to run nothing but high test gas and use only husky two stroke oil. The new saws have tighter tolarences.

I mixed 2.5 gallons of mix. The 2100 holds a quart of fuel.

When my ring gaps lined up in my 8hp b&s engine I killed every flying insect for many acres. One big blue cloud. I replaced the worn cast iron rings with chrome rings. This cheap 8hp b&s engine ran for 25 years. I put two stroke mix in it often. I sold the splitter and it’s running today. I changed the oil often.
 
E free and amsoil saber at 45:1. And if I'm not going to use equipment for a bit I run it empty and put a splash of true fuel or motomix in and get the carb filled with it. My stihl dealer told me to do that because the diaphragms can dry out with nothing in it. Haven't had issues since I started doing it. Its probably bull crap. My stuff doesn't sit too long though and the one saw I had with issues I originally ran with ethanol as non wasn't available in my AO.
 
Never had a problem with ethonal fuel in any saw from are 011avt to my modern saws. I mix a gallon at a time rarely last a month and if it does I feed it to the cars. I have a 2 gallon mix can but would only fill it if I had to feed the ported 590 and 7910 all day. Also cut year round so my saws dont sit for long periods of time. Only difference I've noticed with e free is the need to lean the tune out for the extra gas.
 
I’ll catch flack for my mix but I use Sunoco e free 91 oct it’s about 1.20 more than 87 reg here in Indiana. I use amsoil saber at 80:1. It has a stabilizer in it, honestly I do nothing in the winter to my trimmers and have had no issue the last three years with start up come spring. I may mix a little carb cleaner in the first tank in the spring but just a few oz in my two gallon jug. I take the muffler off my most heavy used wood cutting Saw every spring and no scoring what so ever and the exhaust port has no carbon build up.
 
I was cutting starting around september till mud season in the spring. My saws were topped off with fresh husky oil mix from April till September they sat. Every fall they started right up no problems. Life before corn gas. Can’t do that without adding seafoam.
 
Had the same problem after running a tank dry on a 4-stroke snow blower engine, there is always just enough gas left over to gum up the jets when it drys out. Now I store the 4 strokes with some Coleman fuel, it evaporates clean. Put in just enough so there will be a bit left over in 6 months to dilute with a fresh tank of gas. As for saws, run them once a month if you can, running the carbs dry will usually harden the rubber diaphragms over time.
 
on my 4 stroke equipment I have been lucky running it dry for winter storage with my 2 stroke I dumped my mix and put about a half a tank of tru fuel in each and ran them all for a few minutes.
hard to find ethanol free gas in my area im pretty sure even the premium has the minimum 5% ethanol. trying to see if I can get some 100ll or worse case I may buy some VP racing gas their C9 looks about right
 
I found some info that may be useful. I can summarize it, and if you believe it, try it.

1. Fake corn gas lasts roughly half as long as real gas in storage.

2. Boating Magazine tried a bunch of additives and found that Biobor EB did a great job and cost very little.

3. An "expert" article says Sta-bil is worthless because it works by forming a film on top of the fuel. Move the tank, and the fuel breaks. It says Sea Foam mixes with the fuel, so it doesn't care if you move your chainsaw. As people sometimes do.

I also read that some additives can cause damage if you leave them in the system too long. That is disturbing.
 
The only e-free gas in Oregon I can find is 91 octane at about $4.50 a gallon and I mix it 40:1 with Sabre.
Come the end of Fall all get run dry and put away for the Winter, except for the hunting camp saws.
I do find it interesting that one of my low end loaner saws, an old Mac3818 doesn't seem to care what fuel you leave in it and for how long.
It still starts in about 4 pulls with crap in the tank. I wish my Stihl and Husqvarna saws were so forgiving.
 
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