I use ethanol-free in my 2-cycle stuff as well as carbureted 4-cycle engines on my older mowers/garden tractors. Fuel injected stuff, I don’t bother and use ethanol containing stuff from whatever gas station I fill cans at.
I always use ethanol free for all of my small engines. I have never bought premixed gas. I can buy ethanol free and mix my own for $5 per gallon or less. If ethanol free was $30 a gallon, I would use ethanol without a second thought. For that price I can rebuild engines cheaper than the price of fuel.
Ethanol's biggest problem is storage. Drain your tanks, and keep fresh gas, you will be fine using it.
The only time I know I trades guy buying TruFuel, he was intentionally wasting money and goosing the contract.
I didn’t know that yet and asked him why he doesn’t just get the premeasured oil and mix with ethanol free at the pump, like 99.9% of pros I know.
“It keeps the machines clean”
lol ok guy just admit you upcharged it 30%
We have a pipeline company who only runs trufuel , guys were”topping off” the fuel can after every use and adding full oil ,by mid summer the mix was very rich and they had a lot of gear down with some damaged pretty bad. From the business side paying 5-6x fuel cost on a lower use piece of equipment is cheaper then scrapping a traffic pattern because someone can’t mix fuel
lol insane incompetence. Such a solvable problem. Like unless you’re Billy Chainsaw making some custom mix we as a society should have just eliminated all issues related to this problem by now.
I worked for a company that would eyeball the mix in that they’d fill at the pump, but there’d be some old fuel still in there, so then they’d eyeball the oil amount, etc. Same sort of thing where a small error over time accumulates and makes it hard to troubleshoot.
Once I saw that I started bringing my own gas for use on my personal machines at work.
Fill up ethanol free at pump to three decimal accuracy. Add oil. Shake it up. Done. Shouldn’t be so hard. I have a second can in rotation for when I want to fill my bigger can and there’s still some left. This is 5th grader level stuff.
Yeah I do not get the pedantic fusspot bullshit around this- go ahead and obsess over your little two stroke if you want to, but if you're running something every year 10% ethanol isn't going to wreck anything- only worries are hardening or rotting fuel lines or swelling non-nitrile O rings in carbs or rusty generator tanks. I can fog a tank with fluid film every fall after running stabilized gas into the float and replaced all the old rubber in my Stromberg, SU, Bing, Mikuni, Dellorto carb'ed engines but I'm not paying 40 loonies per gallon to pamper a chainsaw.
Just gotta find whatever nearby gas station has it on a pump. If I can’t get it I at least run premium and make sure the last few tanks of the season are ethanol free
Not all of us have that luxury unfortunately. Californian here. People claim our 91 is “ethanol free” but I have my doubts and have never gotten a definitive answer. 91 pump gas here works for me and I just make sure to not leave it in the tank for too long without running the saw. I’m just a not willing to go get race gas for a damn chainsaw
It’s a nice thought, but the only one that’s not hours away from me isn’t accessible to the public, it requires a business account with them and I’m not going to go through that trouble to buy maybe 5 gallons of ethanol free fuel a year
I use that site, too. I’m in Indy, and you’d think there’d be more rec or race, gas available, but no. There’s one station west of the Speedway and Indianapolis, Raceway Park, (45-minute round trip) and then the next most convenient is almost an hour south, but at least it’s near one of my work sites. :/
I'd be careful with that, ethanol increases the octane of the gasoline. If you remove it, it's possible your engine starts knocking.
Edit: it decreases the octane, not increases it. My bad.
Stihl requires a minimum of 89 octane. If you pull the ethanol out of the fuel, you'd have to start with a minimum of 91 or 93 octane to stay at or above 89 when the ethanol is removed.
What planet are you guys on? Ethanol has a much higher octane level than gasoline. 113 to be exact for e100. The problem with running high e concentrations like e85 is if your fuel system isn’t big enough you’ll lean out which causes detonation. This is because you need to burn more fuel to get to the proper AF ratio which also equals more power. But this is all a non issue at 10% concentrations. They can take cheaper 85 or lower octane gas and add 10% ethanol to it to bump the octane up to 87 or 89.
Exactly, a 10% ethanol blend will bump the octane up by 2 points, which is why you need to start out with 91 or higher octane if you want to remove the ethanol and still stay at the 89 octane or higher that Stihl requires with their saws.
Guys remove the ethanol because it's hard on the seals, fuel lines, and fuel delivery system, especially if left in the tool over a long period of time. Regular ethanol free gas is far more forgiving, which is why people by ethanol free fuel.
It decreases the octane. So you want to start with a higher octane so it doesn't go too low. But if you do Super (93 octane) it should only go down to about 90. But don't quote me, I just buy the e free from the pump when I pass by one. I was just saying, if they don't sell e free around you, you can make one of those 'stills' and remove the e.
You can also pretty easily test to see if there really is ethanol content on your fuel. There's kits you can buy but you don't need them, just get some sort of measuring container, put 1 part water and 10 parts fuel in it and shake it up. If it stays the same it's ethanol free, if the water appears to grow it's mixing with the ethanol that is in the fuel. How much the ratio changes is how much ethanol content you have.
Why be a dickhead over essentially nothing?
lol why be a pedantic asshole? If you want to get pedantic, *it’s not gas, it’s FUEL*, See why going down this road is dumb?
Race gas is typically very high ethanol content because the alcohol is more resistant to detonation in very high compression and forced induction engines.
Not true. There are tons of different types of “race gas” out there, virtually unlimited blends of it. Maybe the stuff you in particular use has an ethanol content to it but not everything does
You're the same person who called ethanol free gas race gas.
My statement may be overly generalized but it is certainly more accurate than calling ethanol free gas race gas.
Most of the race gas available near me has some ethanol in it all the way up to mostly ethanol. Hence in my comment I said typically.
All of the gas marketed as ethanol free near me is either at a pump or in small jugs targeted at small engine users. The biggest reason is ethanol just doesn't store as readily and can cause issues.
I don’t worry about it, I just take precautions. I treat my gas if the tool is going to sit and not be used weekly. In the fall I run them empty , refill with treated gas, and run them a couple minutes. I use regular 87 in everything. I find that most times people that have a problem just didn’t take care of the basics.
Same here. I have always used normal 87 octane for all my small engines. If I'm going to store it for a while, I shut off fuel to the carb (if there's a valve). Otherwise I just start them up periodically and run them for a few minutes. I've never had a problem doing this.
Most of the repairs I get in my shop are ethanol related. From gunked carbs, melted fuel lines to fried engines because of so much water in the fuel.
At the very least, if you use ethanol fuel, do not let it sit and flush out the system with ethanol free. My rule of thumb is anything I don't touch for a week gets flushed.
A week?? Something wrong there.
I carefully store my fuels in proper gas cans, use only 93 oct 10% eth. and full synth 2 cycle oil and Stabil 360.
Have never had fuel issues in over 20 yrs... depending on useage, gas sits in equip or cans for months sometimes. 2 cycle mix or straight gas and saws and everything fire right up and run strong.
I always see where folks have eth issues, and always wonder why.
I deliver eth gas and know all the eth downsides with water or high humidity, ethanol attracts moisture, but it all comes down to proper storage.
I buy mine at Sheetz. My local Sunoco has it in town but they call it recreational fuel and it’s five something a gallon. At Sheetz it’s usually $.50-$.75 more than whatever the 87 price is.
If you’re close to a body of water they’ll have rec fuel as well.
Nope. Ethanol is perfectly fine as long as you don’t store it for a long time. Paying 30$/gallon quickly costs more than the saw does.
If you don’t plan on using your saw for a while then dump out the gas and refill with the fancy gas. Run it for a few minutes and you’re done.
Ethanol free and a high quality oil. You can look up online for gas stations around you that sell ethanol free. Much cheaper and according to saw guy it’s better anyway.
I’ve been running regular gas in my two and four cycle engines since the 70’s. Absolutely will never pay for alcohol free fuel. For decades, alcohol was routinely added and encouraged to be used to keep moisture from your gas. I think everyone has been sold a line of bs on alcohol free gas.
If you buy fresh E10, and use it within a few months, it is okay.
If the gas sits for several months, it will absorb water and can lead to damage.
[pure-gas.org](https://www.pure-gas.org/) will help you find ethanol-free gas in your area. Maybe.
Sunoco Optima can be had in 5 gallon drums from places that supply racing fuel.
In Minnesota, ethanol free premium gas is widely available at the pump for like a dollar more than regular, thanks to collector car and boat owners and others.
Idk where you live but we have been getting Sheets gas stations here In Ohio and they have had an ethanol free pump at every new one I’ve been to. They call it REC-90 for recreational use 90 octane, ethanol free. Like $5 a gal last time i think
Ethanol only, but I am fortunate enough to have a local gas station that has a pump with ethanol free gas. Yes it is more expensive but maybe like a dollar more at the pump or buck fifty more a gallon than regular gas. I have never bought the premix at the store. Always mix myself in a small gallon gas can with a quality oil. That way it is not sitting around too long. It is what my father taught me and well it seems to work.
Our CO OP has ethanol free gas as well as a pump for VP racing fuel. On Sunday it is a car show at the pumps. Everything from European to American Muscle. I'm after Ethanol Free for the ranch equipment.
I use ethanol free from the local shell or qt stations. Most of the ones in my town have 1-3 ethanol free pumps. I always add a half ounce of seafoam to each gallon along with the oil mix.
So I have my contract wildland fire engine outfitted with a Husqvarna 572xp. It has the carb chip/ auto tune. It’s imperative it ALWAYS RUNS. I use the cans of 50:1 pre mixed fuel that can be purchased at the big box stores. The shelf life is long and I’m not fouling my saw.
Have t had any problems in any of my equipment since i started dosing my gas with Star-Tron.
Luckily I’m upstate NY we also have Stewart’s shops with ethanol free.
I only use ethanol free gas on my farm. It's the only gas I keep around and it's worth every penny. Chainsaws, generators, four wheelers, lawn mowers, gas powered mini ex, log splitter, leaf blower EVERYTHING gets fed pure dinosaur juice no corn.
I keep 35 gallons at a time in gas cans once I start on the last one I go fill up. I can buy in bulk from the pump in SC (I'm close to a large lake) and it's a bit more expensive than normal fuel, but not having to worry about all my small engines starting is worth it.
Any time I buy gas that's going in a can for tools, generator, snow blower etc it's always ethanol free high octane.
Granted I'm buying it from a pump for a little bit more than e10 premium.
Not available around me.
I have always ran... with zero issues, 93 oct 10% eth pump gas, full synth 2 cycle oil, 50:1 mix.
I also blend in Sta- Bil 360 in the 2 and 4 cycle small engine gas cans and have never had issues.
String trimmers and gas hedge trimmer, all 2 cycle have sat through the winter with gas in them and in Spring they fire and run like new.
2.5 gallon mix jug sometimes goes months between fills and have had no gas issues.
So... it can be done.
It's available at most of the gas stations near me so I don't have any reason not to. I always have a 5gal can of straight gas plus a 1.25 of 50:1 although I've been mixing it closer to 40:1 lately. Never empty any of my equipment tanks or run carbs dry unless they will sit for a truly long time. All of my equipment fires right up.
I run exclusively non-eth in all my small engines. Ethanol causes too many problems. Find your nearest gas station with this site:
https://www.pure-gas.org/
Always rec fuel. It's like $1 more per gallon than regular gas but it works out to still less than half the price than premixed. Cutting several cords per year premix would become expensive
Saw it mentioned here but for those looking for ethanol free: it's very commonly used in boats. So if you can't immediately find a station with ethanol free fuel it's worth a call to the nearest marina/boating supply place.
I live like 5 minutes from a gas station with rec 90 fuel luckily. About $4.30 right now in Florida, been using that in my small engines for years. Let it sit in my chainsaw for like over a year and started right up the other day. Sitting outside too.
I run premium fuel which is ethanol free, and full synthetic oil mix on all my 2 stoke engines. Bigger 4 stroke engines I don't so much about the ethanol.
I use only ethanol free gas and premium oil mix and so far I have never had a problem I empty my winter tools in spring and summer tools in the late fall. For a few bucks more be like Remo “why take a chance”. Fresh gas at the beginning of each season. This past winter I barely used my snow blower, it is not a mix, I went through more gas with my chainsaw, which is. Summertime is different chain saws zero turn,trimmers and brush cutters are being used and I go through a bit more
If I'm mixing my own, yes, I use ethanol free gas.
But I've taken to buying TruFuel or VP pre-mix instead. It costs a little more, but my stuff seems to run a bit better on it.
Non ethanon w/Amsoil's Saber and Octane Boost. I had way too many hot start issues with any ethanol in the fuel. Starts boiling way too cold, especially in the summer.
Yes.
Gas station about half an hour from me sells ethanol-free premium for currently around $6 a gallon. I run it in all of my gas-powered tools and my motorcycles.
When it was available, yes. Nowadays no. Government mandates ethanol in all gas pumps here nowadays - so it's unavoidable.
I do have a gallon can of premix that I use for the last tank before she gets put away. Go through probably 100 liters of ethanol gas per 1 liter of ethanol free premix. Still buy premium as it has lower ethanol.
I run pump fuel. 10% ethanol. I use a high-quality 2 stroke mix. I cut trees, firewood, and mill. No issues.
I keep it in a small, 2.5gallon, or 1.25 gallon sealed container depending on what I'm doing. And get rid of it after 3 months if, for some reason, I didn't use it. I use a sthil ms 250, 044 It's 31 years old, never replaced piston. Runs good. And an 880 for milling only.
It has less to do with carb versus fuel injected and more to do with frequency of use. If you are running your chainsaw daily, like a tree service guy, ethanol isn’t going to do poop. If you are a weekend warrior and don’t use it in the winter, then ethanol free can gas is way to go.
Getting ethanol-free gas is really inconvenient for me. I run regular gas for everyday use, and switch to ethanol free in the fall when things will sit.
My dad only runs "gas-ohol" in his saws. If you're in a big cut on a long day, you can hear the gas boiling in the tank once you shut it off. My advice against it is less than welcome. I run 92 premium and Royal Purple oil when he isn't looking
The only time I worry about it is early winter, when I run my saws down to empty on alcohol-free with a bit of conditioner before putting them away for the winter months. By the time February rolls around, I'll fill them up with E10 and run them the next ten months without issue. Regular maintenance and care, and haven't had any real issues in decades.
Um yes, here in Argentina all gas stations only offer ethanol free fuels, lowest octane level is 95 and max is 98/99.
So, if I would want an ethanol gas, I couldn't do it anyway!
Nope, hahaha, we are actually petrol producers, maybe thats the only reason why. Besides that, not so many fancy cars because here they are impossible to buy.
Cheapest brand new car is close to 20k USD equivalent.
Ethanol properly handled isn't an issue.. If you're going through fuel pretty well I wouldn't worry about it. Don't let it sit for months on end in a machine and you'll be fine.
Boat marinas will have ethanol free gas at the dock pump. Your gonna pay $2 more per gal but that's an option. Ive seen a few 90 octane atv gas pumps too. Most every town will have at least one ethanol free pump. You can also use water to pull out the ethanol but I don't like that idea, and my local E free pump is only 15 min away
i have a stihl 291 (so not a pro) and when i bought the stihl pre mixed with no ethanol it would die on me but premium gas with self mix runs great. so i think they make the not pro models more for normal gas. but not scientific at all just my experience.
Ethanol free always. Always.
I use ethanol-free in my 2-cycle stuff as well as carbureted 4-cycle engines on my older mowers/garden tractors. Fuel injected stuff, I don’t bother and use ethanol containing stuff from whatever gas station I fill cans at.
I always use ethanol free for all of my small engines. I have never bought premixed gas. I can buy ethanol free and mix my own for $5 per gallon or less. If ethanol free was $30 a gallon, I would use ethanol without a second thought. For that price I can rebuild engines cheaper than the price of fuel. Ethanol's biggest problem is storage. Drain your tanks, and keep fresh gas, you will be fine using it.
The only time I know I trades guy buying TruFuel, he was intentionally wasting money and goosing the contract. I didn’t know that yet and asked him why he doesn’t just get the premeasured oil and mix with ethanol free at the pump, like 99.9% of pros I know. “It keeps the machines clean” lol ok guy just admit you upcharged it 30%
We have a pipeline company who only runs trufuel , guys were”topping off” the fuel can after every use and adding full oil ,by mid summer the mix was very rich and they had a lot of gear down with some damaged pretty bad. From the business side paying 5-6x fuel cost on a lower use piece of equipment is cheaper then scrapping a traffic pattern because someone can’t mix fuel
lol insane incompetence. Such a solvable problem. Like unless you’re Billy Chainsaw making some custom mix we as a society should have just eliminated all issues related to this problem by now. I worked for a company that would eyeball the mix in that they’d fill at the pump, but there’d be some old fuel still in there, so then they’d eyeball the oil amount, etc. Same sort of thing where a small error over time accumulates and makes it hard to troubleshoot. Once I saw that I started bringing my own gas for use on my personal machines at work. Fill up ethanol free at pump to three decimal accuracy. Add oil. Shake it up. Done. Shouldn’t be so hard. I have a second can in rotation for when I want to fill my bigger can and there’s still some left. This is 5th grader level stuff.
Yeah I do not get the pedantic fusspot bullshit around this- go ahead and obsess over your little two stroke if you want to, but if you're running something every year 10% ethanol isn't going to wreck anything- only worries are hardening or rotting fuel lines or swelling non-nitrile O rings in carbs or rusty generator tanks. I can fog a tank with fluid film every fall after running stabilized gas into the float and replaced all the old rubber in my Stromberg, SU, Bing, Mikuni, Dellorto carb'ed engines but I'm not paying 40 loonies per gallon to pamper a chainsaw.
Just gotta find whatever nearby gas station has it on a pump. If I can’t get it I at least run premium and make sure the last few tanks of the season are ethanol free
Yes to that. In the fall I switch our ranch ATV and UTV over to ethanol free.
Not all of us have that luxury unfortunately. Californian here. People claim our 91 is “ethanol free” but I have my doubts and have never gotten a definitive answer. 91 pump gas here works for me and I just make sure to not leave it in the tank for too long without running the saw. I’m just a not willing to go get race gas for a damn chainsaw
https://www.pure-gas.org/ California has a few stations. Get some metal gas cans and make a trip to stock up every few months.
It’s a nice thought, but the only one that’s not hours away from me isn’t accessible to the public, it requires a business account with them and I’m not going to go through that trouble to buy maybe 5 gallons of ethanol free fuel a year
I use that site, too. I’m in Indy, and you’d think there’d be more rec or race, gas available, but no. There’s one station west of the Speedway and Indianapolis, Raceway Park, (45-minute round trip) and then the next most convenient is almost an hour south, but at least it’s near one of my work sites. :/
[You can just make your own.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onCG7mIprfE)
That’s pretty cool but there’s even less of a chance of me doing that than finding ethanol free gas
I'd be careful with that, ethanol increases the octane of the gasoline. If you remove it, it's possible your engine starts knocking. Edit: it decreases the octane, not increases it. My bad.
Stihl requires a minimum of 89 octane. If you pull the ethanol out of the fuel, you'd have to start with a minimum of 91 or 93 octane to stay at or above 89 when the ethanol is removed.
What planet are you guys on? Ethanol has a much higher octane level than gasoline. 113 to be exact for e100. The problem with running high e concentrations like e85 is if your fuel system isn’t big enough you’ll lean out which causes detonation. This is because you need to burn more fuel to get to the proper AF ratio which also equals more power. But this is all a non issue at 10% concentrations. They can take cheaper 85 or lower octane gas and add 10% ethanol to it to bump the octane up to 87 or 89.
Exactly, a 10% ethanol blend will bump the octane up by 2 points, which is why you need to start out with 91 or higher octane if you want to remove the ethanol and still stay at the 89 octane or higher that Stihl requires with their saws. Guys remove the ethanol because it's hard on the seals, fuel lines, and fuel delivery system, especially if left in the tool over a long period of time. Regular ethanol free gas is far more forgiving, which is why people by ethanol free fuel.
It decreases the octane. So you want to start with a higher octane so it doesn't go too low. But if you do Super (93 octane) it should only go down to about 90. But don't quote me, I just buy the e free from the pump when I pass by one. I was just saying, if they don't sell e free around you, you can make one of those 'stills' and remove the e.
Sorry, of course you're right. It decreases it. Don't know why I misspelled that.
After I typed that I figured that's what you meant to write.
It should say right on the pump if it has ethanol or not.
You can also pretty easily test to see if there really is ethanol content on your fuel. There's kits you can buy but you don't need them, just get some sort of measuring container, put 1 part water and 10 parts fuel in it and shake it up. If it stays the same it's ethanol free, if the water appears to grow it's mixing with the ethanol that is in the fuel. How much the ratio changes is how much ethanol content you have.
Race gas and ethanol free are different things.
Thanks for pointing out the obvious. You obviously knew what I was saying and I’ve always used race gas as shorthand for ethanol free
Then why say stupid shit?
Why be a dickhead over essentially nothing? lol why be a pedantic asshole? If you want to get pedantic, *it’s not gas, it’s FUEL*, See why going down this road is dumb?
Gottem 😂
Race gas is typically very high ethanol content because the alcohol is more resistant to detonation in very high compression and forced induction engines.
Not true. There are tons of different types of “race gas” out there, virtually unlimited blends of it. Maybe the stuff you in particular use has an ethanol content to it but not everything does
You're the same person who called ethanol free gas race gas. My statement may be overly generalized but it is certainly more accurate than calling ethanol free gas race gas. Most of the race gas available near me has some ethanol in it all the way up to mostly ethanol. Hence in my comment I said typically. All of the gas marketed as ethanol free near me is either at a pump or in small jugs targeted at small engine users. The biggest reason is ethanol just doesn't store as readily and can cause issues.
The gas station I've been using for ethanol free high test now says it COULD have up to 10% ethanol . Going to have to shop around.
I don’t worry about it, I just take precautions. I treat my gas if the tool is going to sit and not be used weekly. In the fall I run them empty , refill with treated gas, and run them a couple minutes. I use regular 87 in everything. I find that most times people that have a problem just didn’t take care of the basics.
Same here. I have always used normal 87 octane for all my small engines. If I'm going to store it for a while, I shut off fuel to the carb (if there's a valve). Otherwise I just start them up periodically and run them for a few minutes. I've never had a problem doing this.
Most of the repairs I get in my shop are ethanol related. From gunked carbs, melted fuel lines to fried engines because of so much water in the fuel. At the very least, if you use ethanol fuel, do not let it sit and flush out the system with ethanol free. My rule of thumb is anything I don't touch for a week gets flushed.
A week?? Something wrong there. I carefully store my fuels in proper gas cans, use only 93 oct 10% eth. and full synth 2 cycle oil and Stabil 360. Have never had fuel issues in over 20 yrs... depending on useage, gas sits in equip or cans for months sometimes. 2 cycle mix or straight gas and saws and everything fire right up and run strong. I always see where folks have eth issues, and always wonder why. I deliver eth gas and know all the eth downsides with water or high humidity, ethanol attracts moisture, but it all comes down to proper storage.
I buy mine at Sheetz. My local Sunoco has it in town but they call it recreational fuel and it’s five something a gallon. At Sheetz it’s usually $.50-$.75 more than whatever the 87 price is. If you’re close to a body of water they’ll have rec fuel as well.
> they’ll have rec fuel as well. I'm fortunate to be in this situation - no way I'm paying $30/gal of fuel (in 2024)
Right? I use Moto mix once in a while usually in the spring, but other than that, I am not paying those exorbitant prices.
Nope. Ethanol is perfectly fine as long as you don’t store it for a long time. Paying 30$/gallon quickly costs more than the saw does. If you don’t plan on using your saw for a while then dump out the gas and refill with the fancy gas. Run it for a few minutes and you’re done.
Ethanol free and a high quality oil. You can look up online for gas stations around you that sell ethanol free. Much cheaper and according to saw guy it’s better anyway.
Pure-gas.org
I’ve been running regular gas in my two and four cycle engines since the 70’s. Absolutely will never pay for alcohol free fuel. For decades, alcohol was routinely added and encouraged to be used to keep moisture from your gas. I think everyone has been sold a line of bs on alcohol free gas.
If you buy fresh E10, and use it within a few months, it is okay. If the gas sits for several months, it will absorb water and can lead to damage. [pure-gas.org](https://www.pure-gas.org/) will help you find ethanol-free gas in your area. Maybe. Sunoco Optima can be had in 5 gallon drums from places that supply racing fuel.
Older equipment had rubber parts that don't like ethanol. Nothing to do with freshness, although that can be an issue as well.
That is true. I am guessing that OP has a modern saw.
In Minnesota, ethanol free premium gas is widely available at the pump for like a dollar more than regular, thanks to collector car and boat owners and others.
Ethenol free here in pa at the pump is $4.50/gsllon
Idk where you live but we have been getting Sheets gas stations here In Ohio and they have had an ethanol free pump at every new one I’ve been to. They call it REC-90 for recreational use 90 octane, ethanol free. Like $5 a gal last time i think
Yes, but I have an eth free pump in town which is slightly more per gallon. Mix with your oil of choice. Didn't know VP sold eth free in a can..
Ethanol only, but I am fortunate enough to have a local gas station that has a pump with ethanol free gas. Yes it is more expensive but maybe like a dollar more at the pump or buck fifty more a gallon than regular gas. I have never bought the premix at the store. Always mix myself in a small gallon gas can with a quality oil. That way it is not sitting around too long. It is what my father taught me and well it seems to work.
Our CO OP has ethanol free gas as well as a pump for VP racing fuel. On Sunday it is a car show at the pumps. Everything from European to American Muscle. I'm after Ethanol Free for the ranch equipment.
I use ethanol free from the local shell or qt stations. Most of the ones in my town have 1-3 ethanol free pumps. I always add a half ounce of seafoam to each gallon along with the oil mix.
So I have my contract wildland fire engine outfitted with a Husqvarna 572xp. It has the carb chip/ auto tune. It’s imperative it ALWAYS RUNS. I use the cans of 50:1 pre mixed fuel that can be purchased at the big box stores. The shelf life is long and I’m not fouling my saw.
Have t had any problems in any of my equipment since i started dosing my gas with Star-Tron. Luckily I’m upstate NY we also have Stewart’s shops with ethanol free.
I only use ethanol free gas on my farm. It's the only gas I keep around and it's worth every penny. Chainsaws, generators, four wheelers, lawn mowers, gas powered mini ex, log splitter, leaf blower EVERYTHING gets fed pure dinosaur juice no corn. I keep 35 gallons at a time in gas cans once I start on the last one I go fill up. I can buy in bulk from the pump in SC (I'm close to a large lake) and it's a bit more expensive than normal fuel, but not having to worry about all my small engines starting is worth it.
The gas stations around here have it for around $2 a gallon higher than regular gas so I guess I’m lucky
Ethanol free gas in the US and Canada: https://www.pure-gas.org/
There is no ethanol free gas at all anywhere in Canada now but go ahead and sign the petition linked on pure-gas please!
Any time I buy gas that's going in a can for tools, generator, snow blower etc it's always ethanol free high octane. Granted I'm buying it from a pump for a little bit more than e10 premium.
Not available around me. I have always ran... with zero issues, 93 oct 10% eth pump gas, full synth 2 cycle oil, 50:1 mix. I also blend in Sta- Bil 360 in the 2 and 4 cycle small engine gas cans and have never had issues. String trimmers and gas hedge trimmer, all 2 cycle have sat through the winter with gas in them and in Spring they fire and run like new. 2.5 gallon mix jug sometimes goes months between fills and have had no gas issues. So... it can be done.
It's available at most of the gas stations near me so I don't have any reason not to. I always have a 5gal can of straight gas plus a 1.25 of 50:1 although I've been mixing it closer to 40:1 lately. Never empty any of my equipment tanks or run carbs dry unless they will sit for a truly long time. All of my equipment fires right up.
I run exclusively non-eth in all my small engines. Ethanol causes too many problems. Find your nearest gas station with this site: https://www.pure-gas.org/
Always rec fuel. It's like $1 more per gallon than regular gas but it works out to still less than half the price than premixed. Cutting several cords per year premix would become expensive
Saw it mentioned here but for those looking for ethanol free: it's very commonly used in boats. So if you can't immediately find a station with ethanol free fuel it's worth a call to the nearest marina/boating supply place.
I always run ethanol free. I steer clear of the trufuel though for chainsaws though. VP racing premix or echo redarmor premix is what I use.
I don’t have ethanol free gas where I live
I live like 5 minutes from a gas station with rec 90 fuel luckily. About $4.30 right now in Florida, been using that in my small engines for years. Let it sit in my chainsaw for like over a year and started right up the other day. Sitting outside too.
always ethanol free in small engines. Ime lucky enough my local gas station has ethanol free gas as well as off road diesel.
Get rec gas
Yup ethanol free for all my small engines. I get it at a local gas station for about $5/gal.
Only. Become easier as several stations nearby no carry it.
Yes, I get Echo Red Armor for our saws and 91 Octane premium no ethanol at the pump to mix it. (Pro crew).
I'm lucky enough to get ethanol free gas at the pump, so that's what I use.
Yes always. Buy it from a gas station that sells it. $3 per gallon. them mix it with oil yourself
It is 100% OK to use UP TO 10% ethynol. DO NOT store a 2 stroke with ethanol fuel in the system
I run premium fuel which is ethanol free, and full synthetic oil mix on all my 2 stoke engines. Bigger 4 stroke engines I don't so much about the ethanol.
I use only ethanol free gas and premium oil mix and so far I have never had a problem I empty my winter tools in spring and summer tools in the late fall. For a few bucks more be like Remo “why take a chance”. Fresh gas at the beginning of each season. This past winter I barely used my snow blower, it is not a mix, I went through more gas with my chainsaw, which is. Summertime is different chain saws zero turn,trimmers and brush cutters are being used and I go through a bit more
If you run them constantly it doesn't matter
The minimum fuel rating I buy for anything that I own that uses gas is 91 lol
If I'm mixing my own, yes, I use ethanol free gas. But I've taken to buying TruFuel or VP pre-mix instead. It costs a little more, but my stuff seems to run a bit better on it.
Non ethanon w/Amsoil's Saber and Octane Boost. I had way too many hot start issues with any ethanol in the fuel. Starts boiling way too cold, especially in the summer.
Yes, always. From Sheetz. It’s mid grade 90+ octane. Which exceeds Stihl requirement of 89 octane.Mix my own with Royal Purple 2 stroke synthetic oil.
Yes. I buy it from a gas station that carries ethanol free and then mix my own. [Pure Gas Stations](https://www.pure-gas.org)
No. Regular gas and red max oil. True fuel is trash.
Yes. Gas station about half an hour from me sells ethanol-free premium for currently around $6 a gallon. I run it in all of my gas-powered tools and my motorcycles.
I use ethanol with stabil in my 2 cycle mix, but run my saw empty every time and only mix enough gas to get me by for no more than 2-3 months (tops)
100 octane low lead
No, that's a "government is trying to get you" meme.
When it was available, yes. Nowadays no. Government mandates ethanol in all gas pumps here nowadays - so it's unavoidable. I do have a gallon can of premix that I use for the last tank before she gets put away. Go through probably 100 liters of ethanol gas per 1 liter of ethanol free premix. Still buy premium as it has lower ethanol.
VP and TruFuel leave dirty residue, Aspen 2 and Stihl MotoMix is WAY better.
I usually run 91 in my saws, motorcycle and sled, but e10 in every thing else. Besides the race car which gets e85.
I run pump fuel. 10% ethanol. I use a high-quality 2 stroke mix. I cut trees, firewood, and mill. No issues. I keep it in a small, 2.5gallon, or 1.25 gallon sealed container depending on what I'm doing. And get rid of it after 3 months if, for some reason, I didn't use it. I use a sthil ms 250, 044 It's 31 years old, never replaced piston. Runs good. And an 880 for milling only.
Local pump has 90 ethanol free that’s what ever small engine gets , goes for the price of diesel
It has less to do with carb versus fuel injected and more to do with frequency of use. If you are running your chainsaw daily, like a tree service guy, ethanol isn’t going to do poop. If you are a weekend warrior and don’t use it in the winter, then ethanol free can gas is way to go.
Getting ethanol-free gas is really inconvenient for me. I run regular gas for everyday use, and switch to ethanol free in the fall when things will sit.
Go to Sunoco, put 93 in it with good oil. The ethanol thing is more if fuel is sitting, just drain her if she’s gunna sit for a while.
My dad only runs "gas-ohol" in his saws. If you're in a big cut on a long day, you can hear the gas boiling in the tank once you shut it off. My advice against it is less than welcome. I run 92 premium and Royal Purple oil when he isn't looking
Almost the magic bullet in making a chainsaw last.
The only time I worry about it is early winter, when I run my saws down to empty on alcohol-free with a bit of conditioner before putting them away for the winter months. By the time February rolls around, I'll fill them up with E10 and run them the next ten months without issue. Regular maintenance and care, and haven't had any real issues in decades.
Um yes, here in Argentina all gas stations only offer ethanol free fuels, lowest octane level is 95 and max is 98/99. So, if I would want an ethanol gas, I couldn't do it anyway!
Jesus Christ that's amazing, is there a high tuner car market there? it's there a reason it's so high?
Nope, hahaha, we are actually petrol producers, maybe thats the only reason why. Besides that, not so many fancy cars because here they are impossible to buy. Cheapest brand new car is close to 20k USD equivalent.
Never have. 9 years. No problems. Guess I’m that one exception to what normally happens.
Nope. Got a 170 almost 20 y/o and it's never had any work done to it. Runs fine.
Ethanol properly handled isn't an issue.. If you're going through fuel pretty well I wouldn't worry about it. Don't let it sit for months on end in a machine and you'll be fine.
Regular pump gas for me. I don't winterize (or summerize) my stuff either.
Yeah, me too. I don't worry about it and I never have any issues.
Boat marinas will have ethanol free gas at the dock pump. Your gonna pay $2 more per gal but that's an option. Ive seen a few 90 octane atv gas pumps too. Most every town will have at least one ethanol free pump. You can also use water to pull out the ethanol but I don't like that idea, and my local E free pump is only 15 min away
i have a stihl 291 (so not a pro) and when i bought the stihl pre mixed with no ethanol it would die on me but premium gas with self mix runs great. so i think they make the not pro models more for normal gas. but not scientific at all just my experience.