E85?

[hatchet13]

I'm putting this out ther as a thought . I belive that ethonal is evil and does bad things to fuel systems but, I have a few buddy's that are into the tuner scene and the new thing for big hp is e85. I am wondering Wht could be. Done or if it's even realistic to make a saw run on the corn. I am impressed on the gains in autos on the fuel . And it seems like in the next 10 years that all gas may become ethonal . Let's hear Wht people think

 

[hatchet13]

Nobody wants to talk but the corny fuel

 

[fordf150]

Gasoline is around 100000 to 114000 btu per gallon. Ethanol is somewhere around 50000 btu per gallon if memory is right.

 

[zogger]

Hmm..not sure on what is up with these tuner dudes, but chemically, gasoline has a lot more energy density than ethanol.

Guys who build "alky" saws I believe are using a different alcohol, which would be methanol, not corn liquor ethanol.

 

[fordf150]

http://www.hho4free.com/gasoline_vs_ethanol.htm.

Didn't double check this for accuracy but here is a list of btu content for different fuels

 

[TBrown]

Hmm..not sure on what is up with these tuner dudes, but chemically, gasoline has a lot more energy density than ethanol.

Guys who build "alky" saws I believe are using a different alcohol, which would be methanol, not corn liquor ethanol.

Guys are using it in cars for the high octane and it tends to run cooler. A friend runs it in his 07 charger. Runs 11.2 on "pump gas" should be in the tens but it was running rich last time he was at the track.

 

[zogger]

Guys are using it in cars for the high octane and it tends to run cooler. A friend runs it in his 07 charger. Runs 11.2 on "pump gas" should be in the tens but it was running rich last time he was at the track.

OK, I see now. You would need ridiculous high compression in a worksaw for the higher octane to make more power I would think. And some additional timing tweaks. And a carb that can flow enough volume. Plus lubrication, not sure on a two stroke for that for long sustained cutting. Few cuts in a cant racing isn't the same as hours of trigger time in various logs.

A pro hotsaw builder here will chime in I am sure.

 

[HuskStihl]

E85 is a great cheap race fuel. You can put much more timing into a motor than you can with 93 octane. You need to be able to pump ~35% more fuel to keep the same ~12:1 air fuel ratio as the density is less. To take advantage of this in a saw you'd need a lot of compression and very aggressive timing. You'd likely need to mount a significantly larger carb on most saws to run E85

 

[TBrown]

E85 is a great cheap race fuel. You can put much more timing into a motor than you can with 93 octane. You need to be able to pump ~35% more fuel to keep the same ~12:1 air fuel ratio as the density is less. To take advantage of this in a saw you'd need a lot of compression and very aggressive timing. You'd likely need to mount a significantly larger carb on most saws to run E85

I don't think the rod bearing on most saws will take that much compression.
That Hemi is over 12:1 and lots of timing. No detonation. Wasn't the case on the old motor and 93 octane. Computer was pulling timing all the time.

 

[HuskStihl]

I don't think the rod bearing on most saws will take that much compression.

The kind of saws that run this kind of stuff are pretty far from stock

 

[TBrown]

The kind of saws that run this kind of stuff are pretty far from stock

Someone needs to start building work saws with stong cranks and jugs with port timing like sled or bike engines. A lot of fairly mild ice sleds need close to 100 octane.

 

[hatchet13]

I knew about the high compression I didn't realize how much of a jump in volume of fuel it really was 35% is a big jump

 

[Modifiedmark]

One of the problems with E85 and carbed engines is not being able to get a consistent blend of E85 from your local pump. The computer controlled engines can compensate for that, and a carb cannot.

If you want to run alky, Methanol is the way to go, but like was said, you need to be able to deliver much more fuel and unless you have very high compression to take advantage of the higher octane, your wasting your time.