super or regular gas

[gew98]

A local echo dealer to me swears one must use above 89 octane gas or you'll gum up chainsaw carbs. I'm fairly new to chainsaws , but this struck me odd. Is this an old wives tale ?.

 

[o8f150]

i run 93 octane from shell,, i know a lot of guys will chime in but a lot of them use higher octane then that

 

[chipherder]

I run premium in all my small engines, read somewhere it has additives in it that regular doesn't have. They seem to like it better.

 

[Chris J.]

From my understanding & experience, regualr 89 octane is fine in most stock saws as long it's fresh and the mix ratio is correct. As for higher octane gumming a carb, I haven't heard of that happening.

Some people say you need to use higher octane fuel in modded saws. I plan to ask Terry about it :msp_thumbsup:.

 

[lfnh]

93 octane.

 

[eMGunslinger]

Being that higher octane is only advantageous if you have high compression ie 190+psi maybe. I know at 190psi I run 91. Only thing that is higher octane that is worth it is AVGas just because of shelf life. But unless your saw has insane compression it makes no difference.
Brad did a post awhile back on it and found no benefits to it, and if memory serves me correct actually found drawbacks of 93

 

[wampum]

I run premium,I try to not use any gas that has ethanol in it. Ethanol tends to destroy fuel lines,and is not healthy for diaphragms. According to this article it can really muck up a saw:

http://www.forestnet.com/TWissues/August08/chainsaw.pdf

 

[Blowncrewcab]

I run 93 in all my saws whether stock or Modded, No reason really other than piece (Peace) of mind.

On a Non saw related topic, Back in 1982 I bought one of the First Water cooled dirt bikes, a YZ250, it was Yamahas first attempt at the "Power Valve". On the First Page of the Owners Manual it said (took up the whole page) "Do Not Run PreMix More Than 45 Minutes Old" and damnit it meant it. That thing would foul a plug even if it wasn't running. It was a great fast bike but I would never ride more than a mile from the truck cause theres a good chance I'd have to push it back. I have never seen any other 2 stroke with this kind of warning/problem before (or after). Heck I had Honda CR's that had gas 6 months old that ran like champs....

 

[Bob Wright]

I just run cheaper gas in my Echos. Tried the higher octane and i think my saw ran worse on it. Just my thought...Bob

 

[TJ-Bill]

They started mixing 10% ethanol in the gas here in the 89 octane gas so it's supreme for everything around here. Even my Mitsubishi is supposed to take supreme

 

[atvhead]

never have run anything besides 87 octane in anything i have owned. never use stabil either. never had any carb problems, fuel line problems etc..ever. This includes several saws, both new and old.

i can see the use of higher octane in high compression engines, since that was it is designed for.

 

[JayC]

A local echo dealer to me swears one must use above 89 octane gas or you'll gum up chainsaw carbs. I'm fairly new to chainsaws , but this struck me odd. Is this an old wives tale ?.

Old wives' tale. Firstly, lower octane will not "gum up" anything. All is can do is allow predetonation if the compression ratio is too high. 2-strokes are low-compression motors to start with, and saw motors are relatively low-performance as far as 2-strokes go, so I'd doubt that any conventional saw would require high-octane gas.

JayC

 

[Gologit]

And, as another option, there's AvGas. Some guys swear by it, some swear at it. Works good for me.

 

[MEATSAW]

I do what my owner's manual says. It states that you should use 87 octane (US and Canada) at a minimum. I don't like operating at the minimum so I use 89. Check your manual.

 

[jus2fat]

I have always used 93 octane...BUT...I have also wondered how 'fresh' it is.??
There's not really many cars/trucks that I see that are pumping premium gas.
Like...95% are pumping 87 regular.
Local BP station sells premium at 10 cents over regular on Friday.
That's when I see the most people buy premium. But BP is not a
"top-tier" gasoline.
Shell is...and if I were going to run regular...that would be my choice...
also the station sells alot of it = freshest ???

http://www.toptiergas.com/

http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html

J2F

 

[Sport Faller]

I usually run 91 octane no ethanol (the highest octane pump gas we can get here)

 

[ChipMonger]

93 Octane mixed 32:1 with Maxima K2. I only mix 2 gallons at a time and if it sits to long 6-8weeks...i'll mix a fresh batch (im weird like that lol).

 

[Bounty Hunter]

91 Octane, and all modded saws (except the 200Ts)

We mix fresh Stihl ultra the day we go out, and dump any unused fuel in the trucks at the end...no fuel mix over 2 weeks is fresh anymore. The splitter runs on straight gas, but no problems dumping extra 50:1 in it either. :msp_thumbsup:

 

[procarbine2k1]

93 and Stihl Ultra (just made the switch). I have a bottles of 40 Fuel for winterization/ storage. I will run dry, but a 1/4 of the 40 Fuel and run dry. A little hassle, but I dont have many fuel system problems either.

 

[roostersgt]

Doing same thing, but with 50fuel in my Stihl and 40fuel in my Mac. This fall will be telling.