Echo 590 or the X Series?

[John_Mc]

That's correct. But note that some chainsaws spec 91 octane minimum, and it's realistic to assume that canned gas might drop below 91 if left open for some period of time.

As noted: new unopened can.

 

[stevem5215]

Truefuel just like fuel at the gas pump can have quality issues. Tanks in the ground leak and get water in there. You just don't know what you'll get regularly. Approx 30% of all fuel stations in the USA have leaking/seeping tanks. It's a expensive problem that no one wants to deal with. Even the feds ignore it as much as they can.

 

[WinterDeere]

Truefuel just like fuel at the gas pump can have quality issues. Tanks in the ground leak and get water in there. You just don't know what you'll get regularly. Approx 30% of all fuel stations in the USA have leaking/seeping tanks. It's a expensive problem that no one wants to deal with. Even the feds ignore it as much as they can.

I worked at a large gas station in high school, and we always had water in the tanks. It was our job to record the water level at each shift change, from the monitoring equipment mounted in the utility room, and management would either adjust the pickup height or schedule tank pumping based on the levels. I believe the sumps in our tanks were usually set at 6" above the tank bottom, and our water levels would usually stay under 3". I remember one of the managers telling me to never get gas when you saw the tanker truck in the lot refilling the tanks, as the water on the bottom would get stirred up then, and pumped into customer vehicles. This was early 1990's.

 

[two_bit_score]

The problem reports on the Trufuel were from other sources.

I bought 4 gallon cans of VP today at Lowe’s. No Tru-Fuel available. Lowe’s was always well stocked with TF in the past. I wonder if the popularity of battery outdoor equipment is reducing demand for canned gas enough to reduce availability? At least in the box store market?

 

[ning]

I'm amazed at the concept of the canned gas, it's an amazing marketing move.

I've never had a problem with 87 pump gas and the only thing I've ever used a stabilizer in is in the rototiller that I just fire up once a year since I've gotten the 3ph tiller, everything else just hums right along.

 

[Hay Dude]

I keep a can or 2 of Motomix in the toolbox and saws in the cab. Generally, I’ll run 93 mix in the weed wackers, blower and the smaller saw.

 

[gsganzer]

In my years doing forestry (80's) we always bought the highest octane for making my 2-cycle fuel, but I don't remember why. Maybe it was the assumption back in the 80's that it didn't contain ethanol. I know that's not the case now, all octane ratings can have ethanol.

Now, I have a Bucc ee's near me that sells ethanol free and I buy that in 5-gallon cans for the welder, pressure washer and making 2-cycle.

 

[EddieWalker]

Since buying the chainsaw and trying caned gas for the first time, I've decided to spend the extra for ethanol free gas for all my small engines. I filled up the Mule with it Saturday morning and it seems to be running better, smoother, and maybe even quieter. I did the same with my log splitter, and it's running great too. It started on the first pull every time I used it, and the week before, it took several pulls to get it to start. It could be the higher octane, or it could be that I'm just imagining it, but I don't think so.

I think it's worth the extra money for ethanol free in those engines and it's probably what lead to my issues with my Stihl and Husqvarna chainsaws. I might spend the money to have them fixed one more time and run the good gas through them.

I'm not sure if I want to mix my own gas with the ethanol free stuff from the gas station or not. The canned gas has a higher octane rating, and for the small amount of fuel that I use my chainsaw for, it's nice having it start up right away and run strong when I'm using it.

 

[WinterDeere]

The canned gas has a higher octane rating, and for the small amount of fuel that I use my chainsaw for, it's nice having it start up right away and run strong when I'm using it.

Canned gas is good stuff, none of the concerns with ethanol storage. But do understand that higher octane fuel in any engine without variable boost and electronic timing will actually reduce horsepower, not increase.

Very basic theory, you need to run above minimum octane rating to avoid pre-detonation (pinging) and knock. Engines with variable boost (turbo charged) and electronic timing will vary boost and timing up to the threshold allowable by the fuel, so in those particular cases you may see an increase in horsepower for higher octane. But in any "dumb" basic fuel injected engine, or any carbureted engine, you're actually going to lose a small amount of horsepower running anything above minimum octane rating.

That said, the difference is so small as to be mostly trivial. It's only going to cost you a few percentage points in jumping a few octane points above minimum rating. But the notion that higher than minimum octane makes the saw "run strong" is not correct.

 

[EddieWalker]

That makes sense. Before buying the canned gas, I was buying the cheap stuff with an 87 octane rating, and mixing in the oil for my chainsaws. I also filled my 5 gallon gas cans with the 87 octane to run my log splitter, lawn mowers and the Mule. I switched to cordless for the weed eater, so that's one less thing to buy gas for.

So my comparison is from the 87 octane with ethanol in it to the 95 octane premixed fuel for my chainsaw, and the 92 octane ethanal free from the gas station for my five gallon cans to run everything else. I haven't used it in the lawn mower yet, I'm just about done with that for they year, but I still have a few areas I want to touch up, so we'll see if I notice anything different with that when it happens.

The question I ask myself is if I can get away with mixing my own gas again using the ethanol free gas from the station with the lower octane, or should I stick with what Husqvarna is selling for chainsaws because they think it's the best gasoline for chainsaws? And is it worth the money to bother?