Chainsaw fuel help please

[Mad Professor]

I've been using this for 45 years in all my air cooled two strokes, 50:1 or 40:1.  Never an oil issue in bikes, saws, trimmers, any air cooled 2-stroke.  I use premium non-ethanol gas or 100LL AV gas (mix lasts 2+ years)

golden spectro



 

[Al_Smith]

Okay I'll chime in .For years I used TSC branded mix oil and bar oil .Then out of the clear blue all I could find was Husqvarna brand at highway robbery prices .Humbug instead of that I just turned the other direction at the intersection and bought the stuff at a Stihl dealer at much reduced prices .Then one day I found out where TSC hid the less expensive oils .The stinkers put it someplace else so people would buy the higher priced stuff .I gave them a stiff reprimand for that trick ,rascals . >:(

[charles mann]

I have Stihl saws and use their oil.  It has a stabilizer in it.  It is good to keep fresh fuel and some advocate dumping fuel from a rarely used motor, back into a can to be used up in other things, and run the saw/motor dry to clear the carb.  I tried to buy aviation fuel for no ethanol and higher octane, but I am told it is no longer legal for private use prob. post 9/11.  

@doc henderson 
not sure who told you you can't buy av gas for private use. if its the airport/fbo manager, then so be it, you gotta abide by their rules. just find another airport to buy fuel from. i buy it at the local airport, and even jet-a for my forced air heater. i just drive on the airport, put in an N number of an acft i remember, and start pumping. even the fbo/emerg manager said to just drive on whenever i need a jug full, after i had asked for their sump waist fuel. 
now, as some have pointed out, av gas DOES have lead in it, so that is something to be cognizant of and realize the possible health affects of the fuel, but pilots and mech have been handling this stuff for MANY years, and at least the meat servos have to have a physical every yr, if they are flying commercially. so I'm sure with OSHA being involved in the avn industry, test are done to ensure that exposure to the burned fuel has minimal health risks. iv been exposed to 100LL for the past 5 yrs, and running it in the saws for the last 3, and according to the lab results, it has yet to cause any (at this time) health risks. 

[charles mann]

I /try/ to do that, but I don't have my rag with me half the time. I still try to brush it off with a glove if there's a lot of funk on it. After that, I don't worry about cleaning it. If I slop on the saw, I figure it'll come off with use. I'm not much on cleaning saws anyway. I clean it functionally. Just get rid of the crud that can affect operation, but I don't much care what it looks like.

I keep a 1.5" chip brush, some call it a paint brush, clipped on my fuel jug, just like Doc's fuel jug. when i go to fuel and oil, i simply take the brush and brush off the debris, then clip it back on the jug. a person could even just velcro it to the jug, or get them 1 of those retractable key ring reels and clip the brush to the reel. i will be using the velcro method, now that i procured some "expired" self adhesive hook/loop. 

[doc henderson]

yes Charles, I just got lady on the phone and she said fed. regs did not allow it.  I will have to find a buddy who works there.  With all the 911 regs, you have to careful who you ask to breach a reg.  Was curious if the octane would make a noticeable diff. in performance.  just like my profession, the insiders and known players can usually get around stuff,  thanks for the tag!

[charles mann]

@doc henderson ask her to show you the regs. if it was that much of a crime, or heck, even a crime at all, the local airports i utilize wouldn't allow guys with race cars to come in and get fuel, or offer up folks like me to just drive on "secured" airport and buy whatever i wanted. in whatever qty i wanted, or the racers too. there is to much at stake to loose, to sell a few gal of jet-a or 100LL. most public airports are federally funded, and if selling av gas was against the law, they could be closed by the feds. my thinking is, she didn't want joe snuffy trampling around her airport, using i need fuel as a ploy to gain access for alternative motives. granted its her show, she has the right to say who can enter. if there is such a reg, i and sure would like to see it. id hate to see my fuel depot closed down. 

if you truly want to give av gas a try, salina, wichita and newton have airports you could probably access, no questions asked. sometimes its better to drive on like you own the place and do your business and leave. 

as for noticeable difference, i can't say either way. i don't see any less fuel burn compared to pump gas, but i have noticed my spark plug stays cleaner and the non m-tronic saws i have that i run av gas in, i haven't seen an issue with carb failure, especially in my older saw. i did have to replace the carb on my jr 2166, but i ran pump gas in from the get go and after 2yrs, the carb let go. i did run av gas in it, but the damage had already been done, and when i ran out of 100ll, i bought 98 pump gas and that sealed the deal with the carb. had to replace it. need to replace the carb on my tiller too. 2 seasons of gardening and the carb, I'm assuming, bc i can crank it off either, and keep it running on gas being sprayed out of a normal spray bottle into the carb. either the fuel pump or carb crapped out, and I'm assuming the carb, since that is what usually fails nowadays. i go so far as to run av gas in my miler 225 bobcat welder, when i know i need fuel for i go to the airport, but if I'm running low, i usually send the wife to the gas station and get 98 pump gas. 

[doc henderson]

Thanks Charles.  Yeah I did not pursue it further since the bull to benefit ratio seemed too high.  

[charles mann]

Thanks Charles.  Yeah I did not pursue it further since the bull to benefit ratio seemed too high.  

i can understand that. i do that same with jobs. when bs outweighs the paycheck, i find employment elsewhere. i honestly think she was blowing smoke up the southbound factory. i use it bc there isn't a place within 45 min drive to get ethanol free gas, and the airport is 10 min. and i also talked to the stihl rep when i bought my 661 and asked about running it and warranty and after obtaining a permission slip, i run it 99% of the time. exception is when I'm not near an airport and need the fuel, i buy 98 pump gas. i used to run jet-a/jp8 in my old 06 cummins. didn't see any mpg improvement, but with 40 acft btln wide, i could obtain enough fuel sample per day to keep my tank full of fuel. i did add a qt of aft fluid to ea tank since jp8/jet is near 0 lubrication, which is why the military went to an oil based fuel filter, called a lubricity filter, to add some lubrication to the fuel.

[AZ_builder]

Is 98 common? Here in az our common gas is 91/92.

[John Mc]

Might already be in this thread somewhere, but for sources fo non-ethanol fuel in your area, check out: https://www.pure-gas.org/

[charles mann]

Is 98 common? Here in az our common gas is 91/92.

yes, 87, 92 and 98 octane, or it may be 96. I'm thinking 99%, its 98. 

Might already be in this thread somewhere, but for sources fo non-ethanol fuel in your area, check out: https://www.pure-gas.org/

not sure if this was meant for me, but thanks anyways. i hadn't checked this site in a while and it looks like the station just added ethanol free gas at the 2018, which just a few more min down the road past the airport. ill compare prices between it and av gas. if its relatively the same cost, ill stick with the av gas. not sure what it is, but just like them old 6.9 and 7.3 ih diesels and the 06 and older cummins, i love the smell of the diesel fumes, same for jet and av gas. i hate the smell of regular ole' gas fumes. makes my stomach churn smelling it, while its being pumped and def when its being burned in an auto.  

[John Mc]

Might already be in this thread somewhere, but for sources fo non-ethanol fuel in your area, check out: https://www.pure-gas.org/

not sure if this was meant for me, but thanks anyways. i hadn't checked this site in a while and it looks like the station just added ethanol free gas at the 2018, which just a few more min down the road past the airport. ill compare prices between it and av gas. if its relatively the same cost, ill stick with the av gas. not sure what it is, but just like them old 6.9 and 7.3 ih diesels and the 06 and older cummins, i love the smell of the diesel fumes, same for jet and av gas. i hate the smell of regular ole' gas fumes. makes my stomach churn smelling it, while its being pumped and def when its being burned in an auto.  

It was up there for whomever might need it. They do change from time to time.

AvGas (100LL) is usually significantly more expensive than any fuel sold for street vehicles. In my area of Vermont, AvGas ranges from $4.75 to just under $6 per gallon. Regular auto gas (87 Octane) is about $2.35, Non-ethanol premium (91 Octane) usually adds something like 20¢ per gallon. It's been a while since I've checked the non-ethanol prices, so that may be off a bit, but it's in the ballpark.
I see on my aviation gas price finder that prices are cheaper in your area, but I suspect auto gas prices are less expensive as well.