Gas for chainsaw...

[Richard]

Curious as to others thoughts.

I've got a Stihl 044. Probably 20 years old. Still runs strong. Though I do not admit nor deny being of OCD tendencies..... I ONLY buy premium/high octane for it. higher the better. Before 9-11 happened (World Trade Centers), I'd go to a local small airport and buy their Avgas. I've not tried since then as I'm presuming that won't be allowed.

So.... next choice for the last umptten years is go to to gas station.....BUT, I will NOT get gas from a pump with a single hose and allows you to choose higher octane. I figure by the time my 2 1/2 gallon can is full, I've emptied all the REGULAR octane between the pump & handle but, paid a premium for it. Now, the next person who fills their tank will get "my" higher octane mixed in with their regular.

So, I only go to stations that have dedicated hoses for each grade of fuel. I don't go every week.... over the last two times I've gone (i have to drive about 10 miles to get to the only station I'm aware of near me that has the dedicated hose for high octane)

Anyway, they have a bag over the handle. They are either out of higher octane or maybe an issue with their pump, tank, paying the bills....something.

So this has me wondering about the merits of maybe buying the gallon premix at the box store (I'm guessing for like $25 verses $12 at the pump). I understand this is already premixed at 50:1 so it should be open & pour.

What I'm wondering is, has/does anyone do that and is it worth the premium? I've premixed gas for my saws or dirtbikes for the last 46 years so mixing a batch is not an issue. Because it's so easy to do, it makes my skin crawl to pay the premium BUT, if the fuel is actually of this higher octane, it's much easier to grab a can verses the production I have to go through to drive to the next town over. (I live in the middle of nothing)

 

[Jstpssng]

I do that if I don't expect to be using my saw much for a while. Not so much now that we can buy Ethanol Free, which I run in all of my small engines except my 2021 EFI snowsled. For a long time it was relatively reasonable, but I've noticed that when the price of regular gas settled down a bit, the E-0 didn't follow suit. It's still well over 4 bucks a gallon, but still cheaper than dumping out as much as I used to.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Yep the can fuel is good. You won't have carb troubles with it. Even if you just use can fuel once in a while, it's good for your machine. I sent six crews out a day. They burned 5 gal of two stroke each day, per crew. I'd try to mix them one 5 gal can of tru fuel a week. Cut my two stroke problems to zero. Just using it once a week.

 

[ericm979]

The canned fuel is way too expensive for me. And when I mix my own premix I can use the high quality oil I prefer.

Blender pumps put out .5-1 gallon of whatever was previously pumped. Stihl recommends 89 octane. If you fill a 2.5 gallon can with 91 and the previous customer pumped 87, you'll end up at 90 or so. You could always pump a gallon or so into your truck and then fill the can.

Running more octane than needed does not have any advantages. As long as the octane is sufficient to prevent detonation (which you can't hear on a two stroke), any more is just wasting money. Race or av gas might not go stale quite as fast as pump gas but the cost makes it not worth it for me. And leaded av gas has a lot of lead in it.

If E0 is readily available and does not cost much more than E10, it's not a bad idea to run it. Especially if you're in a place where it can get cold enough that phase separation can be a problem. (though only if water gets into the gas). It's a long drive for me and they charge a hefty premium for it, so I run E10. It's worked fine for me.

I fill a 5 gallon can with 91 octane (because of the blender pump issue) and mix a gallon at a time in a separate can. If I have any left in the 5 gallon can after a few months it goes into the truck and I buy fresh fuel.

 

[Dftodd]

I purchase only ethanol free gas from a dedicated pump for all my small engines and lawn equipment.

I just finished up some mixed gas that I mixed up 4 years ago for the saw.

Haven't had a lick of trouble with it going bad. Give the can a shake and then poured it in

 

[Jchonline]

Curious as to others thoughts.

I've got a Stihl 044. Probably 20 years old. Still runs strong. Though I do not admit nor deny being of OCD tendencies..... I ONLY buy premium/high octane for it. higher the better. Before 9-11 happened (World Trade Centers), I'd go to a local small airport and buy their Avgas. I've not tried since then as I'm presuming that won't be allowed.

So.... next choice for the last umptten years is go to to gas station.....BUT, I will NOT get gas from a pump with a single hose and allows you to choose higher octane. I figure by the time my 2 1/2 gallon can is full, I've emptied all the REGULAR octane between the pump & handle but, paid a premium for it. Now, the next person who fills their tank will get "my" higher octane mixed in with their regular.

So, I only go to stations that have dedicated hoses for each grade of fuel. I don't go every week.... over the last two times I've gone (i have to drive about 10 miles to get to the only station I'm aware of near me that has the dedicated hose for high octane)

Anyway, they have a bag over the handle. They are either out of higher octane or maybe an issue with their pump, tank, paying the bills....something.

So this has me wondering about the merits of maybe buying the gallon premix at the box store (I'm guessing for like $25 verses $12 at the pump). I understand this is already premixed at 50:1 so it should be open & pour.

What I'm wondering is, has/does anyone do that and is it worth the premium? I've premixed gas for my saws or dirtbikes for the last 46 years so mixing a batch is not an issue. Because it's so easy to do, it makes my skin crawl to pay the premium BUT, if the fuel is actually of this higher octane, it's much easier to grab a can verses the production I have to go through to drive to the next town over. (I live in the middle of nothing)

I buy 5 gal premix, lasts much longer than anything at the pump (no ethanol) and for me thats a years worth of fuel in my saws. I had a few places that sold Ethanol free gas, but they went out of business. Not the Stihl brand mind you, but my local stihl dealer sells a cheaper alternative that is essentially the same.

 

[Rockbadchild]

in both of your case you spend more money then the gallon inside the pump you are worried about … Save a penny to spend a buck is what you are doing.

When i go get fuel i bring a 5 gallons and a 2 gallon filled them both and i mix the two gallon for the chainsaw and keep the other one for my quad or dirt bike … i won’t fund a company to mix my gas and put it in a fancy container for me.

 

[ponytug]

I wouldn't want to use AVgas on the property due to the lead.

There is always the "drive a gasoline powered vehicle to the gas station, and put two gallons of 91octane or so into the vehicle, and then fill your 5 gal jerrycan". That way what ever you wanted to buy goes in your jerrycan...

I stick to premium brand gas stations for my tractor and small engines. I figure that it isn't worth it to me to save a few cents for engines that I count on. I use 89-91 fuel in the small engines that get Stabil fuel treatment before adding gasoline. Stihl recommends 89 octane. I also switched to metal fuel cans just to cut down on water absorption and venting.

Canned gasoline, aka alkylate gas, is generally more stable, but read the label; some say two years, some say five, some don't say. If they don't commit to a good until date, I don't buy it. Recently, I have found some canned fuel that wasn't 100% distillate. Also you may want to check the lids; the stuff in my local box store often seems to come with the caps not on fully, and you can feel that some of the cans are lighter.

All the best,

Peter

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

I purchase only ethanol free gas from a dedicated pump for all my small engines and lawn equipment.

I just finished up some mixed gas that I mixed up 4 years ago for the saw.

Haven't had a lick of trouble with it going bad. Give the can a shake and then poured it in

I run old gas too. Runs fine.

 

[Richard]

Went to that station tonight. The pumps with individual hoses are gone. Been replaced with one hose does all. I have no clue, maybe that's why they had them bagged at one time.

I was sitting there just thinking where have I seen a dedicated hose....I have NO recollection when suddenly, I noticed over to the side (where a diesel or kerosene pump might be standing on its own) was a pump....

Went to look.... it was 90 octane 100% gas, no ethanyl (if I read the sticker right)

So looks like I can still get what I need. I DID however, discover something that made me slap myself on the head with a "Doh" moment.....

The little Stihl oil bottles are for 2 1/2 gallons. I was watching the meter and it stopped it KEPT stopping.

Seems I have a 2-gallon can. Had it for probably 10 years and have always presumed it to be 2 1/2 gallons. So I've always been running at a richer than 50-1 mix (not that it would or has really hurt anything)

I DID notice one time, a bit more smoke in the exhaust but frankly, presumed it was because the saw is 20 years old. Might be a combination of a 20 year old saw needing some love and slapping a bit more oil in the mixture.

Either way, I'm ready to rock & roll again.