Marine grade fuel?

[whalems]

My brother just took his saw in for repair and the dealer told him he needs to start running marine grade fuel in his saws because the ethanol level is to high in even premium grade fuels. Has anyone else ever heard of this. We run nothing but premium oil and premium fuel in our saws and it has junked two carbs on his saw so far. at $1.00 more a gallon for marine grade fuel its still cheaper then new carbs.

[BreezyHill]

For our snowmobile club we run sthil and they suggest using their premium oil and only mix enough that will be used in no more than two weeks. The better thing is to buy one of those fuel mixing syringes and make it a tank at a time. The issue is to be sure the gas is fresh...so you end up taking some out of our truck...the wife's car when see isn't looking. The price of the syring is only a few $$$ and a length of old sap line that is clean and a little pump for the cordless screw gun is $10.

Be certain you are getting the expensive sealed gas cans. The plastic ones breath as does the chainsaw and they suck in moist air as they cool and the water is captured by the alcohol in the gas. It then sits in the carb and eats them up. The rubber doesn't like the alcohol either. I saw one with a new thumb primer last two weekends before it ruptured. And to think Obama wants us to go to 15%. That is not going to stimulate the economy...just cost hard working people money in repairs.

Marine doesn't have the alcohol due to the water all around issue. It is hard to find in my area. Other wise I would go that route and the premium oil...it has the stabilizer in it already. To much stabile makes a mess of snowmobile carbs. It likes to settle in the carb but leaves a interesting film that carb cleaner will remove, if you use enough.

[maple flats]

check out www.pure-gas.org This is a sight that lists stations in the US and Canada that have ethenol free gas. Since it is user driven, check out and verify any stations listed.

[tuckermtn]

Aviation gas is another alternative that has no ethanol. Some of the small private airports around here have self serve pumps and just put a credit card in and fill 'er up.

higher octane as well.

[Big_Eddy]

Around here - regular fuel may contain up to 10% ethanol, premium is not supposed to have any. Once August arrives, I buy premium and add stabilizer to the 5 gal can, so the last few fills in the summer tools (tiller, mower, lawn tractor) are stabilized premium. Haven't had issues come spring. My saw is used every couple of weeks - I don't bother with it - understand the better 2-stroke mixes have stabilizer built in.

[BreezyHill]

Better check with your repair shop. I have a guy that came unglued when I told him I was going to try high test in the chainsaws. The higher the octane the higher the temp of the motor. It also burns slower and is not meant for the higher rpms of a chainsaw or working sleds. Our grooming sleds manual says 87 only. I know a club that had problems with scandics on super. Our station ran out of regular during a snow storm. The operator filled the sled with super for the same price and blowed her up an hour later. Melted the piston head in #2 jug. The dealer drained the tank and asked what the fuel was.
Check with your saw dealer if super is ok.

Ben

[vtmapleman]

There are a couple of gas stations in my area that sell 93 octane with no ethanol. I have run this gas in my chainsaws with absolutely no problems. You do have to adjust the high needle valve to get it to run properly. I don't know about sleds.

[bobsklarz]

My Stihl dealer told me to use racing fuel. No ethanol, no alcohol. Seven bucks a gallon but haven't had carb trouble since I started using it.