2-stroke mixes age-resistant?

[RWEST]

A buddy of mine stopped by the other day to look at buying a chainsaw. He purchased some property and wants to clear out some trees, mostly mountain hardwoods (cherry/oak/maple/beech) that have fallen, been knocked over by the last guy who timbered the property, and/or are standing.

He has an old 015 Stihl, which is great for limbing and small stuff, but not the best for consistently cutting anything 8" or larger (it can be done, it's just a lot easier with a bigger saw). The guy's a contractor, and has experience with a variety of larger saws, but they'd all been beat up by the guys who used them before, and he wanted to try some clean ones out before he bought one for himself. I have a pile of saws, Stihls and Husky's, that I got back in 2000 and 2001 for a project I did clearing a few acres for my niece's house. The saws have been sitting since late '04, with the mix (50:1 poulan synthetic/89 octane) in the tanks. I dug out a couple saws for him to try, a 357XP Husky, a 365 Husky (my favorite, which they've stopped making

) and an 046 Stihl Magnum (a brute). They'd been sitting in my unheated garage (temps ranging from 15 - 35 degrees). We cleaned off the accumulated crud, cleaned up the plugs and such, and they all fired up within 5 or 6 pulls. We ran the old gas through them and put in fresh mix, and he's out cutting away, trying to decide which one of them he likes best.

I had a similar experience with on old 056AV Stihl (so old it doesn't have a blade brake or compression release on it!!) that sat for 5 or 6 years, then fired up within 5 pulls.

The point of all this is, you hear about gas aging, and gumming things up, but, for whatever reason, I really haven't noticed it when it's mixed. Anyone else have similar, or opposite, results?

 

[Shmudda]

Reason being is most of the 2-cycle lubricate contains fuel stabilizer in it today, so that really helps out a lot.

I have done the same thing, but to be honest if I'm not going to use an engine for more then a couple months, whether it's a 2 or 4 stroke I drain the fuel and run it dry until it stalls from no fuel. Never had an issue doing this as they start right up when I need them to.

Craig

 

[4Kings]

You probably wouldn't have the same luck with today's ethanol laced gasoline. Stihl and Husqvarna have both issued bullitens about avoiding long term storage when using gasoline with ethanol. The ethanol degrades the rubber components of allowed to sit for long periods.

 

[Ace Power Equipment]

One key is you used 89 octane. 2nd is some of the saws you were using are a little older and dont have the tiny jetted carbs we sell today forced on us by the EPA to be non pukers to the enviorment. Condiotoned gas (mix) may last a little longer. Clraning plugs before you started pulling helped also. Last you must know when to take it off choke to prevent flooding. Big mistake by most folks unfamilar w 2 cycle. Today most 2 cycle manufactures state that using less than 89 octane will void any warranty.


Brian

 

[montanaman]

A good rule to live by is to not mix more fuel that you can use in 90 days. Try to get fuel with no alcohol in it, if you can but never more than 10%. Yes, most quality 2 cycle oil has some form of stabilizer in it, but that doesn't make it last forever.

For what you pay for a quality saw today, it won't cost an extra $20 a year for most owners to treat them right!

Everything I sell leaves my shop with known quality premium fuel and fully synthetic mix oil.

I've had a few customers actually come in and ask what was in a product when I sold it to them, because it didn't seem to run as good after the first tank ran out and they put their mix in it..........

 

[1962]

Another option is 100 LL avaition fuel. You can purchase this at small local airports. This fuel has a shelf life around 3 years or so. Great for stand by gasoline powered generators as the fuel has no ethanol, and does not attract moisture like gas station fuel.

Even fuel treated with stabilizer wont stay as fresh as 2 year old AV fuel. Try it, you will see.

 

[LBrown59]

I have a 1992 Toyota truck .
Just got it out of the shop yesterday .
Stale gasoline gummed up and killed the fuel pump.
Had to buy and install a new pump and drain out the old gas and put in new gasoline.

The point of all this is, you hear about gas aging, and gumming things up, but, for whatever reason, I really haven't noticed it when it's mixed. Anyone else have similar, or opposite, results

Wait till ya experence it!

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Another option is 100 LL avaition fuel. You can purchase this at small local airports. This fuel has a shelf life around 3 years or so. Great for stand by gasoline powered generators as the fuel has no ethanol, and does not attract moisture like gas station fuel.

Even fuel treated with stabilizer wont stay as fresh as 2 year old AV fuel. Try it, you will see.

I'm going to have to try this. I have a small backup generator, but it does me no good if I can 't store fuel for it. Are there any drawbacks to using this 100LL fuel? Does the engine run the same as with gas pump stuff?

 

[studor]

My local small engine repair shop guy once told me that over 50% of the traffic in his shop is bad gas related after I watched him empty a saw, refill it and start it for a customer for no charge. The customer then bought something. I asked him if he did not think he would decrease his business by telling people to use new fuel -- his reply was "some people don't seem to figure it out ". He said the major problem was not the gas in the tank but the fuel sitting in the carb which had a tendency to gum things up and "varnish" the parts -- then he did have to charge.
His instructions were use premium gas, good oil, if there is a tank shutoff use it to run the carb dry, use additional stabilizer during winter, and if gas has been sitting around for more than six months in anything other than a completely sealed container (tanks don't count, they are vented)it's probably time to use it for other than small engines. Seemed sensible advice.
regards

 

[Tig]

In my snowmobiles I found that the gas in the tank could smell ok but in the carb bowl it was bad and smelled like turpentine. I drained the bowls and tried to light a capfull with a match. It would not burn.
I topped up the tank and was able to start the sled once I cleared the bad fuel from the lines.
Since these machine are oil injected the fuel in the bowl would be mixed while the tank would be straight gas. Not sure if that changes the life one way or another.