How NOT TO straight gas your Saws

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I live in hurricane and tornado country so I have about 30 5 gallon gas cans that I keep in a sealed aluminum storage ben. The trucking company that we kept our equipment parked at had someone that was storing a telephone satellite dish and they didn't pay there bill for over a year and they wanted it gone. They asked me to haul it to the scrap yard and it had an aluminum box that was made out of 1/4'' aluminum that housed some electronics and the center mast for the dish. The box is about 3 foot by 3 foot by 25 foot long. It's supper heavy and solid with a lid that has rubber seals that keeps out the water and humidity. It makes a perfect storage box for all my fuel cans. If we get a storm I'll fill up as many cans as I think I'll need to keep the generators running for about 2 weeks. We were out of power for 18 days when a storm came through and gas was hard to find because stations were also out of power and the pumps didn't work. I also have a 100 gallon aluminum fuel tank so I can store several hundred gallons if I need to. I only keep about 20 gallons on hand at any given time but it's nice to be able to store more if a storm threatens power. I'm not sitting in the heat or dark if I can help it. I can always put the fuel in my truck and burn it off if I have any left over or I don't use it for the generators.
 
I do that, silver paint on both sides of plastic can, plus i've used sharpie to write down the fuel to oil ratio as well as date mixed.

You guys are smart. Whatever works is good, even if it's a different approach.
No two of us need to think alike.
I believe any system beats no system because trying to remember and trusting someone else to remember and relay information to me is chancy.
I've painted fuel cans in the past but helpers can't remove paint to alert you that THEY altered the contents.
Flags can be removed easy and that easy system appeals to me.
I guess the flagging could also accidentally fall off. That too may cause some confusion.
There is no perfect plan.
I did learn today that my brother also uses colored tape on his job for marking things he wants to remember.
Have a great day.
 
Obviously your not using the No Spill brand.
Nope, got the kind you have to twist the green lock at the bottom and then push the spout. I've tried the kind with the yellow spout you push the black button to unlock then push to pour. Got smart on that one and removed the spring, made it work a lot easier.

Steve Sidwell
 
Ribbons or any other tie on junk can get torn off, put a pour spout on the dam can and its dedicated as a two stroke mix jug, just make sure only mixed fuel is all that ever goes in these jugs, problem solved...LOL


That is why flagging is Fail-Safe, if there is NO Flagging it either goes into a 4 stroke, or gets oil added AND Flagged.

As has already been mentioned most 4 strokes will happily drink Mix, and if you run a 2 stroke at 20:1 or 25:1 ( Mixing for 40:1 or 50:1 twice) it will smoke a bit more, or maybe foul a plug, but not Smoke the ENGINE


Doug :cheers:
 
You’d think after all these years, someone would produce a can that’s another color to define mix easily.

I’ve been using a yellow diesel can for mix. At least if some A-hole puts diesel in a saw by mistake, it’s gonna not run vs get destroyed.
Well, they kind of do, it just might not be legal. My buddy is a printer and they get these great clear/white 5 gallon plastic jugs. He can get as many as he wants free. He used them for old motor oil. I got a couple for the same thing. Then I forgot a jug one time and had one of his free ones on the truck. Made my mix in that, not really planning on keeping it. But, now it's 10 years old and I still use it. At a quick glance you can see if it's mix or not. My wife has a one gallon jug for her weed eater and blower. Since I only mix in 5 gallon batches, she knows if her mix can has gas in it, it came from the big jug, so it's good to go. The last time a question came up about fuel containers I looked on ebay and they actually had the same clear/white 5 gallon jugs for sale as "fuel containers". They maybe legal, IDK, they do not say "not for use of fuels" on them.
 
I just looked at ebay again and didn't see them, but at the bottom of the page it had a picture of them for sale at Uline. Went there and they did not say they were safe for fuel, but at the bottom of that page it said "often sold with" and had a picture of an oil drain pan and an oil wrench. When I did a specific search for 5 gallon plastic fuel jugs several sites came up with the same jug, didn't bother to read them all. I've used this same jug for a good ten years and have no problems with it. No one has ever said anything while filling it. I know that doesn't mean it's OK. I'll keep using mine till I'm told I can't. Only draw back is there is no spout so I have to use a big funnel to fill my smaller jugs
 
This type of spout only on the two stroke mix can, only mix in this can, only filled by me, only used by me. You touch my fuel can at severe risk to limbs, ask and permission will be granted, never grab that can without asking first.

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I have the exact same spout on my 2in1 gas/oil can. Do you know if this would work with bar oil also ? Im wondering if bar oil is too thick for this spout
 
It seems like we are way over-complicating something that should be very simple. I have one of those small 2.5 gallon gas cans that is a different size and shape than my regular gas can. Its marked "2 cycle only" in Sharpie on all 4 sides. I have drawn a line on the can that indicates where the 2 gallon line is. When the can is empty, I put in 6 ounces of oil and head down to the station that sells Ethanol free gas. Once the fuel is in the can, its good to go since the oil was already in there just waiting for the gas. 6 ounces of oil to 2 gallons of fuel gives me right around a 43:1 ratio. Been doing this for years and I've never straight-gassed any of my 2 cycle equipment. Also, I never loan out my stuff. Too many people think the bar oil tank is for the engines oil injection system.:angry:
 
I have the exact same spout on my 2in1 gas/oil can. Do you know if this would work with bar oil also ? Im wondering if bar oil is too thick for this spout
Have never used it on the oil side but if it fits the outlet of the can I would run oil through it, may be a bit slow during very cold weather but that could be overcome by keeping the jug of oil warmed.
 
It seems like we are way over-complicating something that should be very simple. I have one of those small 2.5 gallon gas cans that is a different size and shape than my regular gas can. Its marked "2 cycle only" in Sharpie on all 4 sides. I have drawn a line on the can that indicates where the 2 gallon line is. When the can is empty, I put in 6 ounces of oil and head down to the station that sells Ethanol free gas. Once the fuel is in the can, its good to go since the oil was already in there just waiting for the gas. 6 ounces of oil to 2 gallons of fuel gives me right around a 43:1 ratio. Been doing this for years and I've never straight-gassed any of my 2 cycle equipment. Also, I never loan out my stuff. Too many people think the bar oil tank is for the engines oil injection system.:angry:
Might be over complicating things if you only have one bitty itty can and one or two saws. What about others that go through more fuel a day than most home owners go through in a month or even a year. When several people are gassing equipment. When you tell the new guys that the cans marked "MIX" are for the saws, and they still straight gas them. Honestly, it's pretty seldom that the pros here talk about a saw getting straight gassed. Way more home owners do it. Pros know at a glance if the gas is clear or has oil in, so if they did start to straight gas a saw they are more likely to see it, dump it, and start over. Home owner just fills it up, then comes here trying to figure out why his saw stopped. One of the best suggestions was, as soon as the can is empty, put the appropriate amount of oil in the can. Then, no matter who fills the can it is mixed. If they put the gas in a 4 stroke, so what, it won't kill it. I put left over mix in my JD all the time.
 
You’d think after all these years, someone would produce a can that’s another color to define mix easily.

I’ve been using a yellow diesel can for mix. At least if some A-hole puts diesel in a saw by mistake, it’s gonna not run vs get destroyed.
You’d think after all these years, someone would produce a can that’s another color to define mix easily.

I’ve been using a yellow diesel can for mix. At least if some A-hole puts diesel in a saw by mistake, it’s gonna not run vs get destroyed.
 

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I have this and its awsome! I am a Stihl man myself but for some reason here in New Zealand we cant get the Stihl fuel can...
 

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My 2-stroke gas ALWAYS comes from 1 of 2 fuel cans. I never use any other cans for 2-stroke mix. I add the oil to the can before I add the gas to the can. ALWAYS.
QUOTE]

Just the opposite: story of mixed gas when straight gas needed.

A mid 30 year old college grad (new neighbor) borrowed my 5 hp Briggs roto tiller few years ago and when he brought it back he said it quit running and started smoking. I checked it few days later and the crankcase oil was ok. Could not get it started. Checked spark plug and oil fouled, new plug and severe oil smoke after a start. Checked gas and oil in the gas.
When I told him I found oil in the gas he indicated he had mixed it 32:1 like his helper used in their company chainsaw.
He DID NOT KNOW the difference in a 2 cycle engine and a 4 cycle engine, he said he used some gas from a can in the shop that was labeled chainsaw gas.

He was from Brooklyn, New York.
He also indicated he had caught some kind of a rash after he moved to the Oklahoma hills. He said he had all the hide off his ankles and crotch area from scratching and his wife and small kids had it also. When I told him it was chiggers,he had never heard of Oklahoma chiggers. He said they don't have chiggers in Brooklyn, New York and he wanted to know what they looked like. This City guy was quite amusing.
 
Might be over complicating things if you only have one bitty itty can and one or two saws. What about others that go through more fuel a day than most home owners go through in a month or even a year. When several people are gassing equipment. When you tell the new guys that the cans marked "MIX" are for the saws, and they still straight gas them. Honestly, it's pretty seldom that the pros here talk about a saw getting straight gassed. Way more home owners do it. Pros know at a glance if the gas is clear or has oil in, so if they did start to straight gas a saw they are more likely to see it, dump it, and start over. Home owner just fills it up, then comes here trying to figure out why his saw stopped. One of the best suggestions was, as soon as the can is empty, put the appropriate amount of oil in the can. Then, no matter who fills the can it is mixed. If they put the gas in a 4 stroke, so what, it won't kill it. I put left over mix in my JD all the time.

I'd say your training program for new hires sucks then.
 

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