ETHANOL?

Winch

Winch

Location
Asheville, NC
Lately, I have been talking to a lot of people about, and hearing a lot of negative things about ethanol and it's effects on chainsaws. At the same time, I have heard the opposite, that our chainsaws can handle it.

Personally, I have been running 92 octane in my own tree service saws for years. No problem, and all of that has ethanol.

Those saw I have been running at my place of employment have been running 87-89 octane ethanol-laden fuel for over 6 years, or ever since ethanol was introduced to our fuel here.

I am looking for HARD FACTS, or perhaps HARD ANECDOTES, about chainsaws you know about with problems that are/have been definitively fouled by the big E.

I'm asking for certain knowledge, because just about everyone and their brother has an idea about whether the stuff harms our gear - and I don't know what to think anymore.

Anyone have a saw that was killed/needed major service because of ethanol?
 
It is not so much the ethanol itself, but the degradation of the rubber components of the saw and the collateral damage that ensues. For example, fuel line gets all gummy and degraded causing a lean condition and meltdown. If you stuff is tuned for what fuel combo you are using you will be fine. That goes for fuel with, or without ethanol. Not sure if this is the info youare looking for however.
 
good for you for asking for first hand experience and not just what you have heard.

Well, first hand experience:

All I've had a problem with is if the gas gets a little old, meaning 1 to 2 months old. This can happen in our 660 saw with 4 foot bar and our 880 saw.

I have finally learned, that if I do not dump out the gas from the saws tank, the saw runs like crap. Rev and die down, rev and die down.... Even if the tank is like half full and we dump in new fuel to top it off, it will still usually run like crap.

dump out the whole tank, put in fresh gas, for about 20 seconds it runs bad still, then smooths out and everything is fine.

I have not taken any saws apart and found rubber parts and stuff melted or whatever, although i hear this all the time too. so i don't know first hand if it is true or not. I do know that many things don't seem to run very good these last 2 or 3 years it seems. I've got a stihl hedge trimmer and weedwacker i have set asside that it going to need some exploring to see why they won't stay running.

NOW, something I have heard and heard from credable people, it what is so bad about Ethanol is that it attracts water. Water accumulates in the gas.

Now, water doesn't burn or give any energy, so what it can do is LEAN out the fuel burning mixture. What happens when something runs too lean? higher rpms. what happens when rpms are too high? you can "burn up" your engine. Likely, score piston to cylinder walls type of things.

I hear that when the government makes the ethanal jump up past 10%, we will see an incredable amount of problems.

So, all I've seen myself is that gas that is 1 to 2 months old that is in a vented container or saw fuel tank should not be run in a saw.

yes, there are additives out there that break up the water and disperse it so the saw can use it up in tiny amounts without hurting the saw.

What i do is dump the gas out on some cardboard or something and light it on fire. Seems the best environmental thing to do with it. But be careful of course, light from a distance.

seems like a waste huh, government making us use ethanal "for benifitting the environment" but we have to throw gas away after a month or two.
 
X,
Interesting. I have found the same to be true with my 3120 - runs rough with old gas. I recently started dumping the fuel out of my big saws after use, just like you.

Difference - I dump the old gas back into the gas can with a funnel, then burn the old stuff in my mini or other small gas engines that don't run quite as hot as chainsaws.

I just started this new system, and I will start marking down when I mix my ethanol gas, making sure it doesn't get more than a month old. It shouldn't, this being the busy season, but if it does, it goes into other equipment, not chainsaws.

Sounds to me like the gas sitting in the saws might be the problem over time.

Thanks for your input, too, Oscar.
 
SJack,
Thanks for the link, but don't get too excited about it yet. I visited one of those stations last Friday, got some "Ethanol Free" gas, and used it. No problems to report, but I gotta say, I'm not 100% sure I trust that there is NO ethanol in the gas. Sure, they have a sign that says "No ethanol in our gas," but after calling a local racing shop, i am sorta convinced that no gas in pumps is going to be free of the stuff.

It all comes from the same refineries, and a sign doesn't make me trust it.

I guess I am looking for trails of E-destruction so I can justify buying the Stihl Motomix for my new toy, but I don't really want to cuz it's too expensive.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Back
Top Bottom