How important is finding no ethanol fuel ??

[Okie]

I wish I'd taken a picture of my Cub Cadet that sat all winter with ethanol gas in it, come spring it looked like a tank full of jello. Never had that happen before but I take precautions now so hopefully it won't happen again..My chainsaws never see any ethanol..

I have heard a rumor that some fuel stabilizers when added to ethanol gas will form a jello. I've also seen that messr jello in small engine carbs bowls.

I blessed enough that I can buy non-ethanol gas at a reasonable price at local gas stations pumps.

I think Al Gore should have his rectum flushed out with ethanol type gas quite often if he thinks it's so great.

 

[cuinrearview]

I live next to an airport. Two miles from a station with a rec pump. Why should I buy the AV gas?

 

[pianotinker]

100LL is my preference. My 30 year old trimmer hangs on the wall all winter with gas in it. Starts 2-3 pulls in the spring. AV gas is the cleanest, least additives, I can purchase near me. The quality of AV gas has to be able to run in many older engines. You don't want an airplane to cough and sputter 500 feet into take off. I does contain lead and "should not" be used in anything with a catalytic converter, the lead will plug it. Also 5 gallons of fuel will cost $6 more than premium, with no 2-cycle headaches. Worth $6 to me.

 

[cuinrearview]

100LL is my preference. My 30 year old trimmer hangs on the wall all winter with gas in it. Starts 2-3 pulls in the spring. AV gas is the cleanest, least additives, I can purchase near me. The quality of AV gas has to be able to run in many older engines. You don't want an airplane to cough and sputter 500 feet into take off. I does contain lead and "should not" be used in anything with a catalytic converter, the lead will plug it. Also 5 gallons of fuel will cost $6 more than premium, with no 2-cycle headaches. Worth $6 to me.

So it's just a headaches and trimmer thing? Or performance? I have some cat saws occasionally run through here what's the problem with them? It's sounding like the 93 rec may be the thing for everyone. I'm still looking for the chemical reason why I should tell the corn guys to duck off.

 

[pianotinker]

BTUs per gallon: ethanol - 76,100, Gasoline - 124000, Diesel Fuel - 139000. Headaches, trimmer, and performance.
Ethanol could be a OK fuel if the technology was available. Ethanol burns much slower than gasoline, most of it blows straight through and burns in the catalytic converter. Variable valve timing is necessary for vehicles or an engine designed for straight ethanol. Maybe when ceramic engines become common.
Better fuel is always a plus. I generally use 93, in my vehicles. The seasonal vehicles will get a little Sta-bil. Good fuel is the best place to start for longevity in small engines, second would be to keep it clean, and third would be change the oil(4-cycle).
The newer saws, trimmers, blowers, are all set as lean as possible and the least amount of oil, to pass EPA emission standards. Putting a cat on an air cooled motor is stupid. Engineers think that if it works on paper, it will work in real life.
All my equipment gets cleaned at the end of each day, blow the dirt out, chains sharpened, etc.
Years of small engines, motorcycles, snowmobiles, and autos, bad gas will cost money.
Several years ago my son put an add on CL, "Will pick up you dead snowblower". He picked up 30+ snowblowers and all but 2 of them, just needed fresh gas. He retailed them out at $100 - 150 each. Nice Christmas bonus.

 

[panolo]

Fuel work is what we made our most money on. New 2 stroke oil will help keep the fuel a bit longer. I run 92 non oxy with star-tron. IMO it is the best fuel treatment on the market. I don't drain a thing and haven't had to clean one of my own carbs in many years.

If you ever want to see what ethanol does just fill a baby food jar and let it sit on the shelf. Get a dozen and watch the difference with individual additives. Easy to tell which ones are good.

 

[ericm979]

I know 10 percent alcohol is better than higher amounts.. and no alcohol is better yet. With a good quality stihl pro saw how important is it to find only non alcohol fuel ?? I live in milwaukee and have no idea how far i would need to drive to try to find 100 percent gas..

It's important to not use more than 10% alcohol. Read the owner's manual, its in there.

I've run E10 in a lot of engines and I've yet to have a fuel system problem from it. Even in vintage motorcycles. The only problem I see is that the fuel goes stale faster. E0 goes stale too, it just takes longer. E0 does not automatically fix all fuel problems and ethanol does not cause all the fuel related problems.

If you can find E0 near by and it's not too expensive, sure, run it. If not then E10 is fine. Just don't run E10 that's older than 4-6 weeks. If you're not going to use a saw for a while, dump the tank and run the engine until the carb's out of fuel. That will keep the fuel from evaporating in the carb and leaving gum deposits. E0 does this too, so you should run unused saw dry even if you're using E0. With fuel stabilizer you can run E0 that's a little older than 6 weeks. 8? 12? It doesn't last forever though.

 

[BigbubdaddyGus]

I used to have a bunch of Polaris ATVs and I still have quite a few plus other equipment.
I used to have trouble and Stabil did not work.
Marine or otherwise. Non ethanol didn't seem to matter either. What does work and ended my carbs turning white and freezing up was Sea Foam. It seems to work the best. Startron seems to work good too but Seafoam ended my problems.

 

[Dave86]

100ll

Are you at all concerned with the lead you are inhaling when you run this in a saw?

 

[pianotinker]

AV 100LL contains .56 grams per gallon of Tetraethyllead causing brain damage. I'm confident Jack and Jose have deleted more brain cells. Every fuel company has their own additives. If you truly want to worry about inhalation, how about the other additives like:
Methanol ,Ethanol ,Isopropyl alcohol ,n-butanol, t-butanol, Methyl tert-butyl ether, Tertiary amyl methyl ether, Tertiary hexyl methyl ether, Ethyl tertiary butyl ether, Tertiary amyl ethyl ether, Diisopropyl ether, Butylated hydroxytoluene, 2,4-Dimethyl-6-tert-butylphenol, 2,6-Di-tert-butylphenol, p-Phenylenediamine, Ethylenediamine, Methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl, Ferrocene highly toxic, Dimethyl methylphosphonate, Toluene, Isooctane, Triptane.