87 octane versus ethanol in gas

SouthSoundTree-

SouthSoundTree-

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Would you rather use 87 octane, non-ethanol fuel, or 89/ 91 octane with 10% ethanol?

I have both available to me around the corner, and sometimes near the jobsite, but have to go to town for ethanol free higher octane.


I believe Stihl recommends 89 or higher octane.
 
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  • #4
I try to run 91 ethanol-free. Which is the lesser of two evils?
 
My guess would be that Stihl recommends Stihl Alkylate fuel, which is what I run.
 
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  • #8
http://www.buyrealgas.com/California.html

3.5 miles to Garberville. That's crazy.


Ultimately, the answer is just buy more cans, and store ethanol free someplace dry and safe. If money and time were plentiful, I'd buy a lot of things to simplify things. Still setting in from the move and trying to find time for many things.
 
It takes me about an hour round trip to go to the closest non ethanol station. I'm out right now, using regular gas, which is a rarity. I've heard that regular gas tends to loose octane over time which non-ethanol gas does not do. The now lower octane gas then causes pinging which is often missed in the small, high revving 2 strokes and that results in engine failure. For that reason I would say low grade non-ethanol is probably better then higher grade ethanol gas, unless of course you are going to use it up in short order. I'm not sure how accurate all of that is, it was told to me by a local saw and mower shop, so I am open to the idea that he might just be trying to avoid warranty claims.
 
stig said:
My guess would be that Stihl recommends Stihl Alkylate fuel, which is what I run.
Click to expand...
I think that is just here in Europe, Stig.

Here Husqvarna and Stihl both do it, but in North America they don't have it (with few lucky exceptions).
 
I have lost the details of the thread...Willie...are you saying if you don't have non-ethanol gas you would run regular gas with ethanol but the higher octane (I think 91 here)?
 
I'd favor the octane over the non eth. Crappy choice either way but I think the octane is more important
 
Fortunately there's 91 octane ethanol free from Esso and Shell 15 miles from here. It's a fairly regular trip for shopping so mileage is not really an extra expense. 91 octane is 21 cents a liter more than regular 10% ethanol gas but gasoline prices have dropped considerably in the last 2 weeks and I expect the spread will be different tomorrow.

Aspen alkylate fuels are available in Western Canada, distributed by Mr. Mike Acres.
http://www.aspen.se/Canada

The local John Deere - Stihl dealer stocks it as well as Stihl MotoMix. Prices in Canadian ($) Loonies.
MotoMix 1 liter $9.49 Goofed here. It's 950 ml per can which is $10 per liter.
Aspen 2 1 liter $8.00
Aspen 2 5 liters $ 35.00

Husqvarna pre-mix is available here as well.
 
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The nearest non ethanol gasoline to me is 90 miles ,lake Erie area .

I'm not certain on a stock engine if you can actually get pre detonation, pinging .I run Hi-test, 91-92 octane although it probably isn't necessary .Other than deteriation of seals and carb parts ethanol probably isn't as big a deal as often talked about .

On that I noticed a couple of years ago many replacement seals ,carb kits etc. use material which are more robust than the standard buna-n materials used prior .I do know for a fact Ford changed the materials used in the fuel systems about 10-15 years ago .
 
Thanks, guys. I'm just a retired farmer with a mess of blown down Manitoba Maples, DED Elms and an old cook stove. Saws are a Stihl MS170, Worx 303.1 and a Dolmar 5105.
 
I'm with Willie, again :|:. Of these less than perfect sets of choices, I'd absolutely go high octane vs. no ethanol... especially assuming one ran his saws frequently and kept fuel for relatively short periods.

But it must be said, for reasons no one can explain, I've had next to no trouble with ethanol fuels over many a year, whereas many well respected members of the T'House have had vastly different outcomes. Others opinions may be counter, and worth hearing.
 
What about that Sta-Bil additive for alcohol fuel? Anyone try that stuff?

All my stuff is old, well nearly all of it. I have bulk 91 delivered because of no alcohol. I guess you can get carb kits for stuff that is alcohol resistant, but I would rather not kit all the carbs on the place to run the ethanol.

It something like 25 carburetors.
 
I don't know. I've always avoided ethanol like the plague in my personal stuff, and ran it everyday in my work stuff, and I can't tell any difference. Running the same 441 on regular ethanol gas, with cheap car-quest 2 cycle oil @ 32-1 for about 6 years now. No problems.
 
25 carburetors!!!!!!!!!!!
When all you nasty capitalists have used up all the oil, and we have to go back to how it was before we had internal explosive engines.
Can you imagine just how many mules it is going to take to run your spread.
 
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