Octane

[Soundguy]

From what I've read, you shouldn't use gasoline containing ethanol in any 2/4 stroke engine as the alcohol can cause extensive corrosion. As such, I started using premium gas in my lawn mover, chain saw, etc, since that is the only grade that is guaranteed not to have ethanol in it.
My brother is a mechanic & he recommends mid-premium grade for our car as well. He has been told that gas with ethanol gives 5-10% less gas mileage than straight gas with the same octane rating.

it has less btu so I bet it does give less milage.

as you know.. the higher the octane.. the more anti-knock/ping/spark knock the fuel has.

thus a high compression, high rpm engine can make use of hi octane fuel to prevent pre detonation.. etc.

i'm not sure my lawn eater really needs the extra 50 cents a gallon octane boost... so I'll save the money towards a replacement mower. i've got about 15ys onthe current one.

i have seen plenty of rubber fuel lines go bad from ethanol fuels.

we used to have to go to a marina to get non ethanol fuel.. and that was a 45m drive each way...

we now have 1 local station the next city up. 2 cities up actually.. that has a single 92 octane , no ethanol pump.

and it's more expensive..

gotta love it.

 

[Soundguy]

Why is everybody so against ethanol and our corn farmers? All of my latest small engine purchases state gasoline with no more than 10% alcohol. I believe it was a mistake when the mandate went in to use ethanol in gasoline, but we now have to live with it. All of the stations in our small Minnesota town have non-alcohol premium for use only in classic cars, small engines, and off highway - but yesterday it was 40 cents higher than unleaded regular. Sure, unleaded premium with 10% ethanol reduces fuel economy because ethanol does not contain the heat content of gasoline. It is a debate as to whether ethanol costs more to produce than the fuel used to produce the corn crop. This year there is no doubt - ethanol is a lose - lose except if you are a corn farmer. Then it is a big winner. I grown canola which will go into either cooking oil or bio-diesel. Thank you for your support. Actually after windrowing canola today I believe that the majority of my crop has gone into venison.

we aren't against corn farms or ethanol. we are against some stupid govt backed mandate to make the stuff the hardes most energy wasting way possible.

look at other countries doing ethanol.

switchgrass?

depleted sugar cane?

all waste by products or non food items.

why do we devote a crop footprint to ethanol corn when something like a depleted sugar cane pressing could be used. or heck. switchgrass makes MUCH more effective biomass for ethanol.

there are simply much better was to do it than we are. ways that would actually yeild a good positive energy trade off for the other hassels involved like less btu and cost of production.

in the end.. what are the side effects of ethanol? corn production land that might have been used for human or animal consumption corn is now ethanol corn. notice animal feeds ar emostly corn based? GOOD IDEA.. lets take a basic staple of our sofiety and manipulate the market on it.!! superb. now horse feed that I used to pay 6-$ a bag for a few years ago costs 2x that

awesome job. can't wait to see what the comittee comes up with next...

 

[Soundguy]

The bottle says it is petroleum distillates, which is not alcohol.

at one time i had heard it had propanol in it.. but the msds is kinda bland on that now that the new formula is out. 95% mineral oil now...

 

[dodge man]

Its tough for me to find non alchol fuel in my area in anything other than 87 octane.

 

[Soundguy]

Florida has all pumps posted with signage that specifies that ALL grades have Ethanol added.

Fortunately, that does not apply to Diesel, so the tractor is safe.

you have to look around hard to find one without ethanol.

in ocala there is one.. north side of town.. of olld jacksonvile rd. pas tthat the only other i know of is the marina in deland.... ugh

 

[Soundguy]

High octane fuel burns slower than regular grade fuels. Could this cause an engine to run cooler? This could really matter in small air cooled engines, especialy 2 strokes.
.

i believe that's a correct assumption. probably a small temp difference. if you had some air colled equipment that was overheating.. worked super hard or otherwise needed some cooling help.... high octane may help..

 

[phiferpharm]

My question is somewhat an opposite one. My Ferris went nose down in the cheesedip last Friday and would have required a new engine, so I went cheap and got a Snapper Pro S50x. The dealer said run regular in it, but everything else I run uses high test. Will it hurt to run the higher octane in the ZTR? I really don't want to have to keep up with which gas can is regular versus High test.

 

[Soundguy]

an engine made to run on low octane shouldn't have a problem with high octane. IF, and i do mean IF there was a problem.. it might be a harder cold start.. but I doubt you will see this.

 

[ddipert]

An engine designed to run on low octane fuel should not be run on high octane fuel. High octane fuel burns slower which will still be burning when the exhaust valve opens, burned valves, less power wasted money.

Pure-gas.org check them out for ethanol free fuel stations in your area. If you have an ethanol free station not on the list please submit it.


Ethanol in fuel has several issues:
Rubber hoses break down causing clogged fuel passages, injectors, needle seats, hoses break down internally.hose could look great on the outside but inside could be totally stopped up.
Ethanol sitting in an aluminum carb will eat the aluminum.
Ethanol fuel sitting will collect moisture from the air. Water and ethanol turns in to a white slime, then again clogging fuel passages.

If you have never tested fuel for ethanol, try it some time. In a glass container put equal parts water and fuel ( they wont mix like oil and water).Put fuel in container first, mark height then add water shake then let sit. You will notice you have more fuel then you started with and less water, and a milky (slime) area which is where the ethanol is saturated.

Ethanol produces 60% of the btu that non ethanol gas produces. Some government agency decided ethanol gas produces less emissions then non ethanol gas does but by burning 40%% more fuel we are creating more emissions. Our family produces corn for ethanol production, not my decision, but it pays better than feed corn.
Sorry for the long winded post just trying to get the correct information out to everyone.

 

[cqaigy2]

we aren't against corn farms or ethanol. we are against some stupid govt backed mandate to make the stuff the hardes most energy wasting way possible.

look at other countries doing ethanol.

switchgrass?

depleted sugar cane?

all waste by products or non food items.

why do we devote a crop footprint to ethanol corn when something like a depleted sugar cane pressing could be used. or heck. switchgrass makes MUCH more effective biomass for ethanol.

there are simply much better was to do it than we are. ways that would actually yeild a good positive energy trade off for the other hassels involved like less btu and cost of production.

in the end.. what are the side effects of ethanol? corn production land that might have been used for human or animal consumption corn is now ethanol corn. notice animal feeds ar emostly corn based? GOOD IDEA.. lets take a basic staple of our sofiety and manipulate the market on it.!! superb. now horse feed that I used to pay 6-$ a bag for a few years ago costs 2x that

awesome job. can't wait to see what the comittee comes up with next...

Well said!