I was adding gas to a 1 to 2 gallon can with the high octane ethanol free fuel - but I was still running ethanol in my saws! How? It works like this: most people buy 85 octane ethanol fuel. So that is what is in the fuel hose when you pump the high octane fuel. So you get about a 1/2 a gallon of E85 fuel before the high octane fuel starts going through the hose - so 1/2 of the one gallon can is E85. I'm going to start putting the first 1/2 gallon into the truck first. I never knew.
No ethanol - I thought
- Thread starter qwee
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Doublebogey
Burning Hunk
I drive a diesel truck but I always bring a five gallon regular gas can that needs at least a couple gallons and fill that first before I fuel up the two cycle can. The bigger 4 stroke equipment seems to tolerate that stuff just fine.
Isaac Carlson
Minister of Fire
All my Stihl saw manuals say to use 89 or better. I used 87 for years with no problem but now I use 89 or 91 just to be sure. You can't hear two stroke detonation like with many four strokes and it damages the engine much quicker.
The only E0 in my area is an hours drive one way and it's expensive. E10 has worked fine for me. But it does not get cold enough here for phase separation to be much of a problem.
The only E0 in my area is an hours drive one way and it's expensive. E10 has worked fine for me. But it does not get cold enough here for phase separation to be much of a problem.
Isaac Carlson
Minister of Fire
I'd run 87 if I could use a can fast enough. I measured my fuel usage/cord in my 350 and I can cut 8 cord on one gallon of gas, and I use about 4 gallons of gas for every gallon of bar oil. I cut a lot of wood, but not on a regular basis, and the fuel and saws can sit for a month or several. Some of my saws sit for long periods of time, so ethanol is not allowed.
I mix a gallon at a time of premix. The 5 gallon can I filled at the station gets fuel stabilizer. When it is three month old, I put what's left into the log splitter or lawn mower or a truck and get more. I use the same premix for saws and backpack blower and brush cutters and cut a lot of brush with the saws. Sometimes I use 3 or 4 gallons in that three months. This works for me.
There are several gas stations in my NE Ohio area that have ethanol free gas in dedicated nozzles so you don't have to worry about any ethanol gas residue in the hose. Only started seeing it in the area a few years ago, so the demand has definitely picked up. There's a website out there that lists where you can buy ethanol free gas but it doesn't specify if it comes out of the same hose as the ethanol contaminated stuff. It's anywhere from an extra dime to 75 cents more per gallon than 87.
I have the same problem of using the saw to cut 5 cords in one or two days and then that big saw hibernates for a year until the next log load comes. I drain the fuel tank and run the fuel system dry. Seems to eliminate any potential issues of fuel sitting in the carb.
Ethanol free around here is very common but its normally 75-80 cents higher than E-10. Only a few of the newest stations have a dedicated hose so at the ones that don't I always run a few gallons in the pickup before I fill my cans up. I run E-10 in my daily driver's but none ethanol in everything else.
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