LEADED vs UNLEADED

[fried1765]

My primary care doc is a real airplane nut and spends every spare minute that he can at the local airport. He's also a small acreage owner with a couple of tractors. We talk a lot about tractors and small engine equipment that we all use to maintain our land. He gets me AV gas in 5 gal. cans for use in the small stuff. He is not a fan of ethanol because he says "it makes planes fall out of the sky".The gas he gets for me is usually $20-$25 for 5 gals.which will last me a couple of years. He says it's 104 octane LL. I know it sure peps up a chain saw or weed eater.
Before getting this I was using the "racing" gas from the small equip. dealers for $80-$90 for 5 gal.

As far as I know ALL low lead gas sold in the US is actually defined as...... 100LL

 

[Jim Nelson]

As far as I know ALL low lead gas sold in the US is actually defined as...... 100LL

Could very well be,I sure don't have the experience that you have on the subject, all I know is that it sure does pep up the small engines. I do put extra 2 cycle oil in it though.
Thank you for your service and sharing your experiences.

 

[buickanddeere]

Could very well be,I sure don't have the experience that you have on the subject, all I know is that it sure does pep up the small engines. I do put extra 2 cycle oil in it though.
Thank you for your service and sharing your experiences.

If the 100LL perks up a two stroke that much . The carb could be lean , the cranks seals leaking , timing over advanced , operating too hot or combustion chamber deposits have raised the compression ratio.

 

[Jim Nelson]

If the 100LL perks up a two stroke that much . The carb could be lean , the cranks seals leaking , timing over advanced , operating too hot or combustion chamber deposits have raised the compression ratio.

Well here again,I have to plead stupid, I don't use my 2 stroke stuff nearly as much as I used to but it starts easier and runs better when I do need it.The only obvious leaking is the bar oil,I don't know how to tell if the crank seals are leaking, or how to check the timing. I did put a new carb. on one of the saws just about the time I started using this and adjusted it to where it runs the way I think it should.
Thanks for the info.

 

[MossRoad]

If the 100LL perks up a two stroke that much . The carb could be lean , the cranks seals leaking , timing over advanced , operating too hot or combustion chamber deposits have raised the compression ratio.

X2 :thumbsup:

 

[ray66v]

He is not a fan of ethanol because he says "it makes planes fall out of the sky"

I'm no fan of ethanol either.

Though the aviation community is not in favor of using ethanol, accident reports involving "planes falling out of the sky", from ethanol use, do not seem to be piling up.

A lot of the guys who were running auto gas, continued to do so after the government mandate to put ethanol in all auto gas. And, it simply isn't causing the big problems for them that were predicted.

 

[Jim Nelson]

I have a very good friend who is a chief in the Navy Seal very shallow water warfare program and in their smaller, gas powered boats the use only ethanol free. Their bigger boats are all diesel powered jet drives.
I sold my last boat 15 years ago but it seems like I was told that all marina fuel was non ethanol. We used to go to the gas station and pump street gas into 15 gal. drums and pump that into our boats with no problems.

 

[PILOON]

There were originally 3 grades of aviation gas with 80/87 being the most common and generally used in all the Cessnas Pipers etc.
Then there was at the higher end a 100/120 and for a while another somewhere in the middle.
Now days smaller aircraft are using automotive gas with a STC (special permit but seem to recall that higher altitude use is forbidden or limited.

To the best of my knowledge the high octane gas was what they used in AC such as the Connies and others with the big radial engines.(and probably the old warbirds)

 

[CincyFlyer]

What exactly do you have in mind for options?

The only leaded fuel I know of, is 100LL aviation gas, and beside the fact that it's low lead, using it in any vehicle aside from an airplane, is a violation of federal law. Not to mention, it's expensive.

I have seen "lead substitutes" for sale, but they aren't lead. So, I really don't know if they do anything, aside from lightening your wallet. There doesn't seem to be any research on them as far as I can see, to show they make a difference.

Lots of opinions, as usual, but there seems to be little science.

AvGas is "low lead" only compared to the 100/130 gas of old. It's nasty stuff, and limited (as everyone knows) to use only in aircraft.