Old Gas

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Fod01

Feeling the Heat
Nov 4, 2008
470
Long Island
Happy New Year everyone!

I've got a shy half-gallon of saw/ trimmer mix left over. I won't be using either tool until next spring.
I added some Stabil to the mix since its used infrequently, but I know it will degrade over the winter.

How is this disposed of in Suburbia? Everyone accepts waste oil, but I suppose I would need to bring old gas to the dump?

Thanks
Gabe
 
Put it in your car/truck when you fill it up the next time. A half gallon in a 20 gallon tank is pretty insignificant or take it to a recycling place.
 
x2 pour it in your car
 
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Thanks all....to the car it is
 
How do you know it's bad? Most good 2 stroke oils have additives/preservatives to prolong the useful life, plus you put Stabil in. I'd feel naked with no mixed gas on hand.
 
Hey - not saying its bad now, but it was mixed in August I think. March would be 6 or 7 months. I think that's a bit too long. This is the first year I've had any leftovers
 
Feed it to the car and be done with it. Get a fresh gallon when you need it.
Generally speaking, my fuel cans get rotated in a fairly short duration because of all the engine driven stuff I have around, but I wouldn't intentionally leave fuel (especially fuel for very small engines) around for 8 months.
 
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If you know you are not going to use your saws for a while, run the tank till almost out. Dump in 4-5 oz of the pre mixed canned fuel. It has a much longer shelf life. Start up and run till the gas has run through the carb and put away.

On the last 3 5xx series I bought, if you purchased 3 qts. of canned fuel, the warranty was extended 2 more years for a total of 4. BTW, cut the insert out of the old cans and you can put a funnel in and refuel. Great for packing small amounts of fuel into the woods.
 
Makes a great fire starter <> (Sorry, couldn't resist)
 
New and Improved! Ronco's Firestart and Eyelash Remover

LOL, I'll admit to singeing my eyebrows and some arm hair years ago when starting a fire with gasoline. Did I know better? Yep, but that never stopped young and stupid.

I prefer to use to use something less explosive, but I've been using gasoline to light farm bonfires for the past year. I have about three more gallons of old "mystery" gasoline that came in a couple old fuel cans I bought at a yard sale, and it's going on the bonfire, too.
 
LOL, I'll admit to singeing my eyebrows and some arm hair years ago when starting a fire with gasoline. Did I know better? Yep, but that never stopped young and stupid.

I prefer to use to use something less explosive, but I've been using gasoline to light farm bonfires for the past year. I have about three more gallons of old "mystery" gasoline that came in a couple old fuel cans I bought at a yard sale, and it's going on the bonfire, too.

Not a big fan of folks using gasoline on brush piles . . . about every year we either end up with someone badly burning themselves or starting a wildland fire.

Personally . . . I've never really had an issue with old gas. Maybe it's just because I don't keep much around so it doesn't go bad on me. I suppose if I thought I had an issue I would put it into one of my vehicles.
 
+ 11ty on running through your car. I had five gallons of 2 cycle mix for my boat that was going to be older than I wanted to take into the field next season one year. I added one gallon of it at a time to my truck with 15+ gallon fillups, no problems.
 
Save some for rinsing out the crankcase of your next saw rebuild. I cut mine with drain oil if need to start a fire. The old farm tractors run fine on it.
 
lawnmower... The only thing that goes in my car is fresh gas with no mix. Try draining the gas from your car its a pain in the a$$...
 
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Ya should have kept the sales receipt,,,you could take it back to the gas station for a refund.;lol


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I put mine in the old lawn tractor with a full tank. No issues.
 
LOL, I'll admit to singeing my eyebrows and some arm hair years ago when starting a fire with gasoline. Did I know better? Yep, but that never stopped young and stupid.

I prefer to use to use something less explosive, but I've been using gasoline to light farm bonfires for the past year. I have about three more gallons of old "mystery" gasoline that came in a couple old fuel cans I bought at a yard sale, and it's going on the bonfire, too.


 
I dunno :eek:.....maybe with one of Rambo's flaming arrows from 100 yards
 
Surprised how many of you are willing to risk an expensive repair bill for your vehicles for the sake of a couple of bucks of old gas... FYI catalytic converters don't like processing 2 stoke oil.
 
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Yeah, those are morons. Second one was really scary.

Don't get me wrong--I DON'T ADVISE ANYONE TO USE GASOLINE. There are too many things that can go wrong. I've even seen one in which the fire was lit as intended; however, the person igniting it didn't realize that he had also spilled some gas on his pants. :eek:

We are all adults here (most of us), so I will say that using a little gasoline in a small area on a dry brush pile gets the job done. What I usually do is spill some on a cardboard sheet (box panel, pizza box, etc.). The gas spreads over the surface and soaks into the cardboard, so that the fumes available to mix with atmospheric oxygen are dramatically reduced. When this is done, it's possible (not advisable) to ignite the fire with grill lighter without a strong explosion. Do I want to use gasoline? No. But I have some really crappy gas that I need to dispose of and we light a bonfire just about every Saturday on our farm.

If the brush pile/bonfire isn't completely dry and needs a lot more help to get going, I'll use kerosene or diesel. Even with these accelerants, I'll ignite them from a distance by throwing a lit torch at them.

IGNITING ANY FIRE IS A DANGEROUS TASK AND NOT WITHOUT RISK. Remember to place your fuel can far away from the fire. Also ignite the fire from a different path you traveled with your fuel can to and from the brush pile--preferably 180 degrees from your original path.
 
Surprised how many of you are willing to risk an expensive repair bill for your vehicles for the sake of a couple of bucks of old gas... FYI catalytic converters don't like processing 2 stoke oil.

I agree with you. Initially I went with the crowd, but the part of me that is still making payments won't let me dump it into the cars. Plus, I have one of those Skyactiv Mazda's. They're already pushing the envelope. Call me chicken, but I'll save it for the mower.
 
I agree with you. Initially I went with the crowd, but the part of me that is still making payments won't let me dump it into the cars. Plus, I have one of those Skyactiv Mazda's. They're already pushing the envelope. Call me chicken, but I'll save it for the mower.

Sure most people do it just fine in a old truck but anything new I just wouldn't take the chance!
 
How do you know it's bad? Most good 2 stroke oils have additives/preservatives to prolong the useful life, plus you put Stabil in. I'd feel naked with no mixed gas on hand.
+1 Your gas is probably fine. I'm still running gas that I mixed in October 2013 through my saws and OPE (string trimmer etc). I haven't had a bit of a problem yet...

BTW, anybody that lights a fire with gas is a few cells short... if you must use accelerants diesel fuel, kerosene or similar compounds are what you should be using...
 
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