Chainsaw Fuel

[Ox]

There's a product called ethanol shield or something like that my brother uses and now swears by.  Gets it at Walmart. He's around York, PA with a landscaping/lawn care business with many small engines that gave him problems every year from ethanol and storage over the winter.  After talking to other guys down there in the same business he started using this stuff and all his problems are over.  Says things start up in the spring like they used to with the old good gas.

Just sharing so maybe somebody can save some time and money by going this route...

[Awesomesince72]

Ox you could be on to something. Here in the Nw Washington I live only 10 miles from to large refineries. They bring shale oil from ND by rail and the trains are miles long. Also by tanker from Alaska. Non ethanol fuel is readily available at most places and is the same price as ethanol fuel.  The pump says it may contain up to 10% ethanol but I'd be willing to bet it doesn't at a lot of places. Most gas station owners I know are looking for the least expensive fuel from distributors because the mark up is so low. I would think bringing ethanol in from the Midwest and mixing here would cost more than refining crude. I don't know all the rules involved with ethanol mixing requirements but I do know that refineries are all about making money so it makes since that if it does cost more and they don't get subsidized for using it that they wouldn't. I'll ask my friend about it. He is the supervisor at the refinery

[plantman]

There's a product called ethanol shield or something like that my brother uses and now swears by.  Gets it at Walmart. He's around York, PA with a landscaping/lawn care business with many small engines that gave him problems every year from ethanol and storage over the winter.  After talking to other guys down there in the same business he started using this stuff and all his problems are over.  Says things start up in the spring like they used to with the old good gas.

Just sharing so maybe somebody can save some time and money by going this route...

The company that make Ethanol Shield also makes a product called Mechanic in a Bottle which I have had good success with. However, the problem with ethanol is that it attracts water and water causes corrosion. In addition, the ethanol will dry and disintegrate rubber such as fuel lines, diaphragms , O-rings, gaskets, etc . The first thing to do is replace rubber or plastic fuel lines and filters once a year. You can try these products mentioned but if you have a motor that has been sitting a long time it might be better to just bite the bullet and take the carb apart and clean it with carburetor cleaner or a ultra sonic cleaner. Fortunately there are many videos on youtube that help explain procedures for just about anything you own.

[gspren]

There's a product called ethanol shield or something like that my brother uses and now swears by.  Gets it at Walmart. He's around York, PA with a landscaping/lawn care business

Non-Ethanol is available in York at Al's Pure Gas on Rt 30, but it does cost more.

[Ox]

Maybe he's getting good gas there, then.  Haven't talked to him about this for several years.

[E fan]

I have two stihl saws, a stihl leave blower and weed eater that I strickly use, and have since I got each of them, the Husqvarna 50:1 they sell at our local lowes home improvement center here in town and haven't had any issues with any of them but I'm thinking of going with the VP fuels 50:1 that I can get from the local TSC store much cheaper by the gallon than the quart 

[ehp]

OK guys , built a ton of 2 stroke motors from gas to nitro methane and spent years on dynos , if you run a motor on 50-1 then switch to 20-1 and did not change the jetting on the engine the motor will run leaner on the 20-1 , reason is you now have more oil in lets say a pint of mixed gas so this means you have less gas in that pint so when your running that motor it has to run leaner because your not burning the same amount of gas as you would running the 50-1 . Now as far as what produces more power , that I have spent a lot of time on and without any question the richer the oil ratio is the more power the motor produced BUT you have to jet the motor properly to run the richer oil ratio .On the dyno I normally made 8% to 8.5% or horsepower at 16-1 over 50-1. Now not all oil will do this as some oils just will not mix at that heavy of a ratio . Where I live the autotune or Mtronic saws run a lot better on 10% ethanol high test gas compared to non ethanol gas , reason is if you jet a motor to run non ethanol gas then switch to even 10% ethanol the ethanol gas mix will be leaner as it takes lets says a average on 1 1/2 times of ethanol to gas so even just a 10% mixture of ethanol leans the gas down and sense your running a autotune or Mtronic it really cannot tell whats in it for gas . Here all autotune and Mtronic run to rich so the leaner type fuel helps them run better

[Al_Smith]

Well with due respect I'm not certain I agree with all that .However after hosting discussions of oil and fuel mixtures for so long I believe it's time for me to take a break from the discussion .

[Awesomesince72]

Good write up Ed. I was wondering what oil you were using in your test. Full synthetic or a mineral oil? I've always preferred the mineral oils and thought there was a power advantage when using them.

[ehp]

if you go to where REAL stocksaw races are held and not just a one time thing but like a lot of weekends in the winter time like we have up north you will find 99% of the guys are running Shell XTC-50 oil at 20-1 with high test pump gas , these classes are a big thing to win , open mod saws mean nothing to these guys and you can have over 50 saws per class in the stocksaw events and you are checked for porting and cc of motor . the xtc-50 oil is really not a great oil at 50-1 , seen lots of saws stick the rings from getting to hot but at 20-1 its a great oil and sure does make abit more power

[DaveP]

     I use non ethanol gas and Stihl oil but, I mix it 40-1.  Recently I had two saws that gave me trouble.  Both had jelly like slime in the carburetors.  From now on when I fill a 5 gallon can I am going to put a gallon or so in my truck first.  Never know  what is in that hose from the last person to use it.  Also, who knows what is really in that tank.

[ehp]

right now Im running 94 octane high test from Petro Canada and klotz techniplate oil at 40-1 , have ran it at 20-1 and it worked good. I find this fuel work real good in the hot summer time when its way about 90F , saws run cooler on this fuel than the other fuel I was running

[Kbeitz]

map of ethanol free gas stations

http://www.pure-gas.org/extensions/map.html

[thecfarm]

Never really thought what was in the hose before me. I just might put a couple gallons of high grade into the truck and than fill up the gas can. No seperate hoses at the gas station I go to.

[trapper]

Kwik Trip stations by me have 3 hoses 1 for each grade.  The pure gas map missed at least 4 stations by me that have ethanol free gas.  I also run a gallon in the truck before getting chainsaw gas.  Then fill the truck with regular to get all the high priced gas i payed for when at the stations with one hose.