shelf life: premium vs reg?

[Industrial Toys]

I thought the same thing, use the higher grade fuels. But someone in the know told me that this is in fact counter productive. Sorry, can't remember the details, why. Anyway, now I just buy regular and put stabilizer in it, when mixed. Maybe, I should be adding it to the straight gas if it is going to be sitting for a while. With any luck, maybe there won't be any two stroke engines around here in the near future, which would not hurt my feeelings any. I certainly won't miss them!

As a side note. A friend told me that a friend of his delivers fuel and it's not uncommon for him to put regular fuel in the higher octane tanks at gas stations. The same thing as a delivery guy I spoke to, that says he doesn't know where he will pick up fuel or to whom it will be delivered. Talk about the crap of different brands being better!

A national tv show did a special on testing to see if there were advantages to using higher octane gas, mostly for fuel mileage. They found not. But I think their study was highly flawed in that they never tested what they actually were putting in their tanks!

 

[PRF]

I usually throw 2 oz of seafoam in a jug with a container of oil and add .9 gallon premium gas. Stays good a long time. Brother is a service manager at a Kubota dealer and got that advice from him. Your mileage may vary

 

[3v0]

My opinion are these.

Octane may not help prolong shelf life but a better additive package that comes with a premium grade gas may.

I speculate that gas goes bad via chemical reactions which happens faster if gas is stored at higher temperatures.

EDIT: To check my thinking I consulted wikipedia which lists 5 possible additive package compents that stabilize gas. I wonder if it if they publish the additive package contents.

Antioxidants, stabilizers
Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT)
2,4-Dimethyl-6-tert-butylphenol
2,6-Di-tert-butylphenol (2,6-DTBP)
p-Phenylenediamine
Ethylene diamine

 

[Bird]

As a side note. A friend told me that a friend of his delivers fuel and it's not uncommon for him to put regular fuel in the higher octane tanks at gas stations. The same thing as a delivery guy I spoke to, that says he doesn't know where he will pick up fuel or to whom it will be delivered. Talk about the crap of different brands being better!

A friend or a friend, huh? How much fact do you think that is? Personally, I wouldn't believe that at all.

I have no idea what is done now and for a lot of years, but back in the '50s when my Dad owned service stations and I worked in them, the state inspector periodically showed up unannounced. He had a specially designed 5 gallon can into which he would pump 5 gallons of gas from a pump, could measure to the ounce whether the pump put out too much or too little. He'd then take a small sample in a bottle to take with him, pour the rest of that 5 gallons back into the underground tank, go to the next pump and do the same thing to each pump. So he made sure the pump put out the amount it claimed to put out. And the little bottles he labeled and took with him were for the analysis to see that it was the right grade in each tank. I cannot imagine what the fine would have been if we, or our fuel provider, had put the wrong grade in a tank.

 

[ovrszd]

A friend or a friend, huh? How much fact do you think that is? Personally, I wouldn't believe that at all.

I have no idea what is done now and for a lot of years, but back in the '50s when my Dad owned service stations and I worked in them, the state inspector periodically showed up unannounced. He had a specially designed 5 gallon can into which he would pump 5 gallons of gas from a pump, could measure to the ounce whether the pump put out too much or too little. He'd then take a small sample in a bottle to take with him, pour the rest of that 5 gallons back into the underground tank, go to the next pump and do the same thing to each pump. So he made sure the pump put out the amount it claimed to put out. And the little bottles he labeled and took with him were for the analysis to see that it was the right grade in each tank. I cannot imagine what the fine would have been if we, or our fuel provider, had put the wrong grade in a tank.

I can't comment on the octane part of this discussion as I've not confirmed that with the drivers. But here locally a contract firm brings gas to all our local stations regardless of brand. One of their drivers is a friend of mine. He delivers to BP, Conoco, Phillips66, Casey's and various off brand stations. He gets all their fuel from the same place in KC. Next time I visit with him I'll confirm whether or not he has to fill his tanker out of different hoses there. I'm betting not. I'm betting it's the same gas.

 

[3v0]

From what I am reading the distribution station has storage for each range of gas. When the delivery driver fills his truck he adds the additive package to the load.

But that only makes sense if he is delivering gas to only on brand of station. Shell for example.

 

[Coyote machine]

First choice would be highest octane E-10 FREE gas. Next would be highest octane, FRESH E-10 if nothing like first choice was available in my area. Marine grade gas, sold at marinas, should have additives already added to the fuel, or be E-10 free, YMMV depending on where you live, who supplies your gas to the station/marina, etc. The current thinking is to buy small quantities of gas that can be stored in the newest NON-vented containers to keep moisture out and to minimize phase separation that occurs with E-10 fuels.
I use Stihl's ultra mix for my saws and have Seafoam, marine grade and regular grade Stabil, Startron, and Yamaha Marine fuel stabilizers/additives for various engines I own.
Last end of season I ran all my chainsaws, weedeaters and other 2 cycles equip with some stabilized NON-E-10 gas until the engine stopped running. I drained out any remaining gas in each tank and stored them in my boat bay of my barn, (no heat, but insulated). No starting issues this past spring. I plan to do that each season now, and cross everything I can cross, in addition to asking the local witch doctor to lift any voodoo curses off me come Springtime....:confused3:
Good luck to all.

 

[Bird]

I can't comment on the octane part of this discussion as I've not confirmed that with the drivers. But here locally a contract firm brings gas to all our local stations regardless of brand. One of their drivers is a friend of mine. He delivers to BP, Conoco, Phillips66, Casey's and various off brand stations. He gets all their fuel from the same place in KC. Next time I visit with him I'll confirm whether or not he has to fill his tanker out of different hoses there. I'm betting not. I'm betting it's the same gas.

In the 40s and early 50s, there was a Bell refinery in Ardmore, OK. My grandfather said he'd seen tank trucks for all the different brands getting gasoline there. So he used the cheapest gasoline he could buy, but his old Chevy truck never exceeded 20 mph. And yep, I've heard about the delivery trucks all getting their gas at the same place. I've heard both that it's all the same, and I've heard about the drivers adding different additives to it in their trucks for different brands. And quite frankly I have no idea what the truth is in this day and age. I do believe (no proof or real evidence) that there were more differences in the brands 50 or more years ago and that they're all much alike due to government requirements now. And as I said, that's just my unsubstantiated opinion.

When my Dad had a Texaco station in 1956 with Fire Chief (regular) and Sky Chief (ethyl) gas Texaco used to advertise the Sky Chief as a "tower of power." The state inspector said he'd never use Texaco Sky Chief because he claimed the extra power was the result of the chemical makeup which he claimed was the same as adding a little kerosene to the gasoline. His claim was that it increased power, but also fouled plugs more frequently. And again, I have no idea whether the guy was right or not.

I do know that I bought a new 1971 3/4 ton Chevy pickup with a 350 cu. in. 4 bbl. engine. I had a 10.5' slide in pickup camper originally, but 8 or 9 months later, traded the pickup camper for a 25' travel trailer. Since I figured it was hauling, or pulling, a pretty good load, I thought maybe the higher octane gas would be preferable, so I always used ethyl. Well, that truck had less than 10k miles on it when we went to the lake one weekend and on the way home Sunday afternoon, I stopped at a red light, then when the light changed, and I stepped on the accelerator, that truck backfired once, then ran so rough that I wondered if we were going to make it home. Monday morning, it was running very rough, but I got it to a Chevy dealer. When I went back to get it that evening, they asked me what kind of gas I'd been using. When I told them, they said that was the problem, that the truck was made for regular gas and the ethyl (premium) gas had built up carbon and fouled the spark plugs. So from then on, I used regular.

 

[Coyote machine]

Next time I'm driving in the 50s or 60s I'll be sure to use the low test gas from the local Texaco station, but only if they have an original Pegasus/Texaco sign on the pole!:thumbsup:

 

[ovrszd]

Bird, when I was a kid my Dad farmed with small Ford tractors, 8N, 641. When doing light work he burned "regular" gas. In the Fall when plowing time came he'd have the guy fill the barrel with "ethyl". He swore there was a difference. When I turned 16 (1967) if I had the money or was gonna dragrace on Saturday night I also burned "ethyl". :thumbsup: