298 Husky Gas octane?

[rooftrussman]

I'm new to milling and trying to get set up to give it a try. I figure a big saw is best but I won't do enough for a while to spend money on a newer saw. This one has good compression but detonates or backfires on idle. Less on higher speeds. I have 87 octane in it. I'll try higher octane but thought there might be some thing else to look at. I'll be milling poplar 24" or so to start.

 

[Bill G]

The 298 will be tough on your arm. They are notorious for hard pulling and kickback when starting. I have a real nice one but rarely run it.

Bill

 

[Urbicide]

Welcome to ArboristSite

Hi RTM. I would definitely use premium gas in your saw. Husky originally specified regular as OK. That was back when regular gas was a lot better quality and a higher octane number than the crap we have today. Try to stay away from the alcohol blended gas. A high quality 2-cycle oil also is important. Husky specified a 50 to 1 mix ratio. For milling, you would want to up the oil and mix it in at at minimum a 40 to 1 ratio. Some would even use more oil than that. A lot of the guys here swear by Mobil MX 2 synthetic oil. Make sure your air filter is clean and in good shape. Check it often. Hope this helps.

Here is a link for some basic info on your 298.

http://www.acresinternet.com/cscc.n...b77c0ec7f047c10b88256d09002017a0?OpenDocument

 

[rooftrussman]

thanks for the info. The link was helpful.

 

[SawTroll]

The 298 will be tough on your arm. They are notorious for hard pulling and kickback when starting. I have a real nice one but rarely run it.

Bill

They were on the market just a year or two because if these issues, I have read. I also believe that Husky used to substitute the starters for 2100/2101 ones on warrancy....

A 298 in original condition may evenyually become a sought after collectors item because of this.....

 

[NWCS]

premium grade gas should be run in ALL saws. small or big regular grade is just not acceptable unless you want to aid in murdering it.

my proof? i was on a job with a Husky 181, with my gas it ran great.. but on this job i ran out and used a friends fuel, 50:1 mix with cheap regular grade.. 181 vibrated so bad, sounded like hell and was pretty low on power.. i managed to finish the job and dumped the fuel and refilled with my own fuel at home and the saw ran just fine again. why risk your saw skimping on fuel?

if you look at it another way, if i was doing a removal on a large tree and my saw was acting that gutless on cheap fuel i am risking my life trying to baby the saw through a big cut, wondering when its going to stall as the tree goes the wrong way because i was not able to pay proper attention to the tree.. too busy keeping my saw running!

with prem gas my full power is available, and i could make a clean cut and get the tree down in the marks i set. when it comes to felling trees.. your life is in your saws hands.. now with that perspective is it really worth it?

 

[SawTroll]

The lowest octane number at most gas stations here is 95, a very few ones have 91 octane.......

 

[Bill G]

The lowest octane number at most gas stations here is 95, a very few ones have 91 octane.......

That sounds much better that what we have here in the USA. The regular here is 87 and the highest premium pump gas is 93. We can get a multitude or race fuesl at well over 100 but not at all pumps. Our local station sells "Turbo Blue" at about $0.20 above premium but that is just 1 station.

Bill

 

[blis]

when i bought my new husky (353) the dealer advised that i run it on 98octane gas (highest octane you can get from pump)... So running saw on 87 cant be too good for saw since the minimum octane number husky suggests is 91 or 92 if i remember right...

 

[Justsaws]

I can still get 85 octane, do not know for what though. Highest I can get is 96.

 

[SawTroll]

Premium here is 98 octane.

However, on my saws I don't use pump gas at all - I use Aspen Alkylate fuel, premixed with 2% synthetic oil....

No worries about the mix betting too old.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

There was a thread here not too long ago talking about octane numbers. It appears that there is 3 different ways to calculate octane and Europe is on a different system than the US. The gas is no better, just has different octane numbers reflecting a different formula for calculating them. Their 98 is the equivalent to our 93. I believe that the aussies are on the other system too.

Ian

 

[Haywire Haywood]

Had to look up that Aspen Alkylate on the web. Never heard of it before. Sounds interesting. Is it more expensive that pump gas? I wish we had it here, I wouldn't have to mix 1 gallon at a time if we did.

Ian

 

[SawTroll]

It is about 80% more than pump gas, but it is convenient, and good for both the saw and the environment (including user comfort).:rockn:

 

[SteveH]

I use 93 here, but we're high altitude and so that would be probably 95+ at lower, don't remember how to calculate it. But the saws run better for me with the higher octane. [87 here is the cheap stuff]

 

[Haywire Haywood]

When I was in Germany in the early 90s, the 2 stroke mopeds could pump their fuel already mixed at the gas station. I thought it was a neat idea. I don't know if it was mixed in the storage tank, or the oil was mixed as it was pumped.

Ian