# Rapidtrak Gas



## Honda n CNY (Nov 9, 2018)

Good afternoon gang. I was cleaning my garage and moving my blower around today. I noticed on the gas tank that the dealer placed a sticker that states to us 91octane, non ethanol fuel only. 

I use non ethanol 87 octane, not 91. Is this just a suggestion or does the manufacturer recommend this? I can't find it in the book anywhere. I will need to either empty the tank or buy an octane booster. 

Thanks in advance!


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## kimber (Dec 19, 2019)

87 octane is fine for small engines, 91 is totally unnecessary.


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

I agree with kimber.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

:iagree: I can't say I know what the manufacturer recommends but until you get into a high performance engine (turbocharged, Supercharged, high compression) there isn't a need for the higher octane. It might be in that area non ethanol is only available in the higher octane ? 91 won't hurt, there just isn't any benefit on a stock small engine.

.


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

FWIW …. I have never used non ethanol, but I have always used Stabil and half the rate of Seafoam in all my 5 gal. cans as soon as I fill them. Never had a gas issue in all my years, and I never run them out after each use.

I have found it always beneficial to periodically run all my equipment, even out of season stuff. I never feel it iis good to let a piece of equipment or car to just sit idle for any great length of time.


JMHO


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

Non-ethanol is good, if available. But I'm skeptical of the 91 octane requirement. I'd check your owner's manual, I'd expect that it will show that 87 is OK. Like K4aF said, 91 octane is typically required for high-compression engines, but snowblower engines usually don't fall into that category.


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## TooTall999 (Nov 19, 2015)

I'd rather pay the small premium for non-ethanol gas(which is readily available in my area) then buy gas with ethanol and rely on extra cost additives to offset the negative effects of ethanol laced gas.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

:iagree: It's not that you don't want to run 91 it's that you WANT to run whatever is non-ethanol whenever possible.

Even with non-ethanol, like oneacer I add some sta-bil (measured that is) and some Lucas FI cleaner to each 5 gal can. I just have too many machines to keep track. I always try to run them dry before storage but .......
The sta-bil and Lucas are cheap insurance IMHO.

.


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## Honda n CNY (Nov 9, 2018)

TooTall999 said:


> I'd rather pay the small premium for non-ethanol gas(which is readily available in my area) then buy gas with ethanol and rely on extra cost additives to offset the negative effects of ethanol laced gas.


I agree. If you re read my post I was referring to the benefit of 91 octane over 87, both of which would be non ethanol. I understand the benefit of non ethanol, and use it in all my machines. Also, I still use Seafoam and Stabil. I have never had any issues but was a little thrown off by the 91 Octane requirement.


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## Honda n CNY (Nov 9, 2018)

I agree, always non ethanol for me in every machine, everytime. It's easy to get around here. However, there is only one station in the area that I know of with higher octane, non ethanol stuff.


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## Town (Jan 31, 2015)

In Ontario Canada you can get ethanol free gas in 91 octane at all gas stations. The 91 octane is usually better because it includes more cleaners and ethanol has less btu's. Ethanol free gas lasts for years without degrading enough to affect performance of small engine. No stabilizers or any other stuff required, just use up the fuel over time.

Ethanol gas at 5% seemed OK in Canada, but when the ratio was increased to 10% we had major problems that fuel stabilizers could not correct so most here switched to ethanol free and the 91 octane came along for the ride. No counting of days of use or adding stabilizers. The extra cost is noticeable. But compared to trying to start a snowblower at minus 30 C and colder to find globules of water absorbed into the ethanol that will not burn is full redemption.

Sounds like the dealer for the OP is used to cold weather issues with ethanol. If winter means -30 C temperatures then he deserves to be listened to.


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## SnapperInMA (Jan 24, 2016)

Check the owner’s manual if possible. My walk behind lawnmower (John Deere JX75) with a Kawasaki engine requires 89 octane per the owners manual.


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## rslifkin (Mar 5, 2018)

Personally, I typically run higher octane 90+ in lawn equipment or anything that doesn't go through fuel quickly. Most of those engines don't need the higher octane under normal operating conditions, but fuel does lose octane as it sits. And it's not uncommon for me to end up running 6 month old (stabilized) fuel, so I figure starting with higher octane is cheap insurance. 

Keep in mind, between the lawnmower and snowblower, I rarely go through more than 10 gallons in a year. And I store equipment with a full tank during the off season, so for the snowblower, when I fire it up in November, that's fuel that's been in there since April and was probably purchased in February.


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## Honda n CNY (Nov 9, 2018)

Thanks for all of the replies. I'll stick with my 87 non ethanol and not worry about it. It's down the road and only about $0.30 more a gallon and good insurance. Happy New Year!


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## Brent Holm (Oct 22, 2019)

I still maintain it is a complete waste of time to even worry about it. How many of you ran stabilizers etc and then stopped? I used to be religious about stabil etc but haven;t bothered with it for a really long time now. I buy gas with ethanol, have for decades. I have never had a problem with ethanol fuel, never. I store things seasonally with no treatment what so ever and thus for zero ill effects. So seek out and pay for these gimmicks, they might make you "feel" better but they are not doing anything tangible to benefit your engine.


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## CTHuskyinMA (Jan 14, 2019)

Honda n CNY said:


> I agree, always non ethanol for me in every machine, everytime. It's easy to get around here. However, there is only one station in the area that I know of with higher octane, non ethanol stuff.


I’m just curious, because I have never seen a pump with non ethanol gas, how much does it cost per gallon? The nearest station to me is a Sunoco that’s about 15 miles away. Currently, in my area, 87 octane is around $2.59 and 93 is $3.09


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## Dag Johnsen (Dec 24, 2018)

*a friend*



Honda n CNY said:


> Good afternoon gang. I was cleaning my garage and moving my blower around today. I noticed on the gas tank that the dealer placed a sticker that states to us 91octane, non ethanol fuel only.
> 
> I use non ethanol 87 octane, not 91. Is this just a suggestion or does the manufacturer recommend this? I can't find it in the book anywhere. I will need to either empty the tank or buy an octane booster.
> 
> Thanks in advance!


According to my friend who runs a gas station you should (in Norway) use the high octane gasoline since it is a better fuel and the engine starts easier as well.
I will start doing this after I refill next time.

Dag


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## Brent Holm (Oct 22, 2019)

Dag Johnsen said:


> According to my friend who runs a gas station you should (in Norway) use the high octane gasoline since it is a better fuel and the engine starts easier as well.
> I will start doing this after I refill next time.
> 
> Dag


I would be concerned about having friends like that! ALL gasoline in the US for sure is loaded with detergents and additives. You do get more additives to raise the octane number in the "premium" grade fuels. The problem is, the higher the octane rating, the more resistant to ignition the fuel is. This can actually rob a low compression engine with conservative ignition timing and low operating speed of power. The only one benefiting in that scenario is the guy who owns the gas station selling you a higher priced product... 

The power loss will be more pronounced with higher altitude as well. We had older snowmobiles that ran substantially better on 85 than the 91 recommended for the newer, higher compression models.


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## Dag Johnsen (Dec 24, 2018)

*gas*



Brent Holm said:


> I would be concerned about having friends like that! ALL gasoline in the US for sure is loaded with detergents and additives. You do get more additives to raise the octane number in the "premium" grade fuels. The problem is, the higher the octane rating, the more resistant to ignition the fuel is. This can actually rob a low compression engine with conservative ignition timing and low operating speed of power. The only one benefiting in that scenario is the guy who owns the gas station selling you a higher priced product...
> 
> The power loss will be more pronounced with higher altitude as well. We had older snowmobiles that ran substantially better on 85 than the 91 recommended for the newer, higher compression models.


Thanks for the input Brent.

He will not sell me any gas so that is not his goal:wink2:
But what he says is that the 95 octane sold in Norway are ****, and he 98 octane will be better for my machine. But I can and will reconsider after what you just said. So far I always used 85 (what you call 85 I guess)

Dag


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## johnwick (Dec 16, 2019)

Brent Holm said:


> I would be concerned about having friends like that! ALL gasoline in the US for sure is loaded with detergents and additives. You do get more additives to raise the octane number in the "premium" grade fuels. The problem is, the higher the octane rating, the more resistant to ignition the fuel is. This can actually rob a low compression engine with conservative ignition timing and low operating speed of power. The only one benefiting in that scenario is the guy who owns the gas station selling you a higher priced product...
> 
> 
> 
> The power loss will be more pronounced with higher altitude as well. We had older snowmobiles that ran substantially better on 85 than the 91 recommended for the newer, higher compression models.




I agree completely. I have had a Honda lawn mower bought new 9 years ago. The first couple years,when new, it ran horribly. Rough, surging and fouled the plugs. This was when I was using 91 premium gas. 

I changed out the plug, added 87 octane to the tank (did nothing to the carb) and it’s ran terrifically for the 6-7 years since. 

High octane is not always best for these small engines.


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## North49 (Dec 4, 2018)

Town said:


> In Ontario Canada you can get ethanol free gas in 91 octane at all gas stations to.


It’s my understanding that this is not the case anymore. I can find only Shell that sell “pure” ethanol free gas. Esso and Petro Canada don’t at least up here in Northern Ontario.


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## paulm12 (May 22, 2015)

It didn't take long for another gasoline thread to develop here. Personally, I use regular 87 octane E10, treated when purchased with stabilizer. Note that every OPE manufacturer manual that I have read says 87 octane is fine, and recommends treating if it sits more than (usually) 30 days. Also to use it up in 90 days. 

Dag: I don't think that high octane starts any better in your snowblower engine, it is made to prevent pre-ignition in the combustion chamber of higher performance engines.

Does anyone have a technical study showing that premium gas lasts longer? I have not seen one yet. 

Happy New Year all .....


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## BazookaJoe (Oct 6, 2019)

Brent Holm said:


> I still maintain it is a complete waste of time to even worry about it. How many of you ran stabilizers etc and then stopped? I used to be religious about stabil etc but haven;t bothered with it for a really long time now. I buy gas with ethanol, have for decades. I have never had a problem with ethanol fuel, never. I store things seasonally with no treatment what so ever and thus for zero ill effects. So seek out and pay for these gimmicks, they might make you "feel" better but they are not doing anything tangible to benefit your engine.


Thanks for posting. I was wondering if I was the only weird guy out here who didn't get all excited about ethanol blend gas. Over the past 30 years, I have used probably a couple thousand gallons of e-gas thru snowmobile, boats, and small engines. Sure, once in a while, a snowmobile would get a plugged pilot jet over the summer, but so did my Yamaha YZ250F motocross bikes from sitting a couple weeks or over winter with non-e gas. 

For the older snowmobiles with carbs, e-gas was a handy tool to change the jetting just a little bit on the warm days, but then run non-e gas on really cold days. Now with EFI, I just quickly change the snowmobile's "menu" to run the e-gas mapping. 

Something often overlooked as an advantage of e-gas, is its ability to absorb water in the tank. Remember the old days of carrying a couple bottles of Heet in the car for fuel line ice up? I haven't bought a can of Heet in years- I still have a few bottle of Iso-Heet with a thick coating of dust. 

As to e-gas attracting water, that just isn't happening in most cases. The reality is the gasoline has vapor pressure and is constantly venting off fumes. This layer of evaporated fumes will prevent the humid air of contacting the surface of the gasoline. 

There is one danger of e-gas for higher hp engines, but this really doesn't apply so much to low hp engines. That danger is that if the ethanol blend gasoline absorbs an amount of water equal to the alcohol content, that alcohol-water mix becomes unstable and can settle to the bottom of the tank. This mixture of alcohol & water will burn really hot and with a far lower air-fuel ratio. This burn action will burn the oil film off the cylinder walls and quickly score & sieze the pistons. 

Years ago, there were lots of snowmobile magazine articles about this topic.


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## notabiker (Dec 14, 2018)

BazookaJoe said:


> Thanks for posting. I was wondering if I was the only weird guy out here who didn't get all excited about ethanol blend gas. Over the past 30 years, I have used probably a couple thousand gallons of e-gas thru snowmobile, boats, and small engines. Sure, once in a while, a snowmobile would get a plugged pilot jet over the summer, but so did my Yamaha YZ250F motocross bikes from sitting a couple weeks or over winter with non-e gas.
> 
> For the older snowmobiles with carbs, e-gas was a handy tool to change the jetting just a little bit on the warm days, but then run non-e gas on really cold days. Now with EFI, I just quickly change the snowmobile's "menu" to run the e-gas mapping.
> 
> ...





Same here. Just buy regular 85 octane (normal stuff here in Colorado and cheaper than 87) and Sta-bil added to the can before I leave the house so the station mixes it up real good and I haven't had issues for the decade since I started using Sta-bil in all my small engines.


Even ethanol free gas is going to go bad after a little while.


Avgas I hear stays good for years but the LARGE upfront cost vs using Sta-bil makes it an expensive alternative which I can't justify as regular gas and Sta-bil is still much cheaper and hasn't caused issues.


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## Honda n CNY (Nov 9, 2018)

CTHuskyinMA said:


> Honda n CNY said:
> 
> 
> > I agree, always non ethanol for me in every machine, everytime. It's easy to get around here. However, there is only one station in the area that I know of with higher octane, non ethanol stuff.
> ...


It runs $2.87 a gallon around here.


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## BNSFguy (Nov 2, 2019)

It's a known fact: if your engine, based on compression ratio, isn't high enough, it won't require higher octane fuel. High octane fuel ignites slower or later in the stroke, as is required in a high compression, high performance, engine. If you run low octane fuel like 87 in a high compression engine, the fuel ignites quicker, before the piston reaches the top of its stroke, causing "detonation". This can cause serious damage to the engine and is the "knocking" you hear people talk about. You'll also have reduced power. 
If your engine can run fine on 87 octane, putting 89, 93, or 100 isn't going to do a darn thing for it. But if your engine requires higher octane than 87 because it's got a high compression ratio, than choosing to use low octane fuel will result in significantly reduced power, pre-detonation and the "knocking or pinging" sound, as well as additional engine wear to the point of engine failure (usually valves, pistons, and crankshaft) . 
As for ethanol, I'd always choose non-ethanol in any engine I run, assuming it's not cost prohibitive. So for small engines, I run non-ethanol, 87 is fine (although lots of gas stations with non-ethanol only supply it in 91 - 93 octane). I'll gladly pay the 40 to 50 cent added cost per gallon. But for my cars and trucks, the price difference vs the mileage loss usually makes 10% ethanol added fuel overall cheaper. You will get more miles per gallon on non-ethanol gas vs 10% ethanol. But it's usually not enough to offset the price difference per gallon.


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## BNSFguy (Nov 2, 2019)

I use regular non-ethanol gas most of the time in my small engines, but I've also used VP 94 octane non-ethanol small engine fuel as well as Tru Fuel. VP is better in my opinion and cheaper, although quite a bit more expensive than non-ethanol gasoline. But if you only use a couple of gallons a year, the VP lasts several years and won't absorb moisture. Makes long term storage a non issue.


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

I'm cheap  I could see a case for buying a gallon of Tru Fuel (or whatever), and using it just at the end of the season. Drain the tank of the normal stuff and run the machine empty, then add a little non-ethanol gas. Start it, to draw that into the carb, then put it away for the off-season. 

Even using this approach for several machines wouldn't be very expensive, and would let you use the more-stable fuel for when they are going to be sitting idle.


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## Dag Johnsen (Dec 24, 2018)

*just experience*



paulm12 said:


> It didn't take long for another gasoline thread to develop here. Personally, I use regular 87 octane E10, treated when purchased with stabilizer. Note that every OPE manufacturer manual that I have read says 87 octane is fine, and recommends treating if it sits more than (usually) 30 days. Also to use it up in 90 days.
> 
> Dag: I don't think that high octane starts any better in your snowblower engine, it is made to prevent pre-ignition in the combustion chamber of higher performance engines.
> 
> ...



Hi:smile2:


all I got is the advice from a guy who lives in the Mountains in Norway, trades fuel and runs all kinds of machines in Winter, with Norwegian gas. He told me the higher octane will start easier in the real Cold weather. I will try higher octane on the Japanese machine and give some feedback. For my all American Simplicity Pro, I will continue using lower octane, works perfect.


Dag


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## paulm12 (May 22, 2015)

Hey Dag; let us know how the higher octane works for you. The debate will go on forever, but is always interesting to hear people's experiences. 

Thanks


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## crazzywolfie (Jun 2, 2014)

andersi said:


> It’s my understanding that this is not the case anymore. I can find only Shell that sell “pure” ethanol free gas. Esso and Petro Canada don’t at least up here in Northern Ontario.


same around me also. shell is the only one that still put on their pump that there 91 is ethanol free. the local ultramar i think may also carry ethanol free 91 but i know the ultramar next town north has ethanol in there 91. esso or petro canada don't really even say if they have ethanol in their 91 octane gas. personally i just stick with shell to be safe.


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## Brent Holm (Oct 22, 2019)

Dag Johnsen said:


> Hi:smile2:
> 
> 
> all I got is the advice from a guy who lives in the Mountains in Norway, trades fuel and runs all kinds of machines in Winter, with Norwegian gas. He told me the higher octane will start easier in the real Cold weather. I will try higher octane on the Japanese machine and give some feedback. For my all American Simplicity Pro, I will continue using lower octane, works perfect.
> ...


Higher octane will make it more difficult to start in the cold. Who ever this person is they do not know much about gasoline despite selling it...


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## Dag Johnsen (Dec 24, 2018)

*it is not the octane itself*



Brent Holm said:


> Higher octane will make it more difficult to start in the cold. Who ever this person is they do not know much about gasoline despite selling it...


Brent, the reason is not the higher octane, he says the quality of the gas (With higher octane) are much better than the cheaper gas, this is in Norway.


Dag


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## Brent Holm (Oct 22, 2019)

I do not care where it is. Gasoline is not that different, hence cars being sold all over the world despite slight variations in quality and availability. Higher octane will NEVER fire easier than low octane, just a fact. Lower the octane, the lower the flash point. The colder the weather and higher the elevation requires even LESS octane to perform properly. In the rocky mountains my choices are 85,87,91 octane. In Norway it will be rated differently because we use an average of two methods to rate our octane, Europe generally uses one method and it produces the higher of the two numbers we use in the US to rate fuel. IE; Your 95 is the same as my 91. 

Bottom line is, the lower the octane the better for a snowblower. I would suggest some research beyond the guy selling you gas. He is simply wrong...


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## BNSFguy (Nov 2, 2019)

Yup. As I stated in a previous thread: higher octane fuel is used in high compression, high performance, engine's to reduce pre-detonation, the common "knocking or pinging" you hear when you use low octane fuel in a performance, high compression, engine. The higher octane fuel does NOT burn quicker, just the opposite. Just do a basic internet search if you want to learn yourself. With that said, according to Sunoco:

"87 octane fuels tend to be less refined and contain more unstable hydrocarbons. As the months pass during storage these unstable components react to form gums, varnishes and lower octane hydrocarbons. As a result the octane can decrease within months for 87 octane fuels, especially when stored under less than ideal conditions. 93 octane fuels are more refined and contain more stable hydrocarbons. These stable hydrocarbons can last 2-3 times longer than 87 octane fuel. Even in proper storage 87 octane gas can start to degrade in 3 months, 93 octane fuel should last closer to 9 months before degradation is noticeable. Keep in mind that 93 octane fuels are still susceptible to octane loss and vapor pressure decreases due to butane evaporation."


https://www.sunocoracefuels.com/tech-article/octane-stability-high-octane-vs-low-octane-fuels

https://www.meineke.com/blog/using-premium-gasoline-really-save-money/


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## justadbeer (Oct 17, 2019)

I couldn't agree more. This whole non ethanol thing seems to have come out of nowhere and is taking over the internet. Saw one guys post saying he buys pre-mixed non ethanol for $8 a quart for his weed eater "because it's a lot cheaper than buying a new carb". I have news for him, a weed eater carb is about $12-20 bucks all day long. Don't overthink this people. Dump some Stabil in there and forget about it.


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## crazzywolfie (Jun 2, 2014)

justadbeer said:


> I couldn't agree more. This whole non ethanol thing seems to have come out of nowhere and is taking over the internet. Saw one guys post saying he buys pre-mixed non ethanol for $8 a quart for his weed eater "because it's a lot cheaper than buying a new carb". I have news for him, a weed eater carb is about $12-20 bucks all day long. Don't overthink this people. Dump some Stabil in there and forget about it.


for stuff like weed eaters, chain saws, blower it does make a difference. stabil won't prevent the metering diaphragm from drying out. some of those small carbs are more than $12-20. had one i couldn't find any cheaper than $50. on top of that the ethanol also dries out the fuel lines so eventually when replacing the carb you are likely going to snap a fuel line while messing with them. while some are easy to replace others require you practically tearing a machine apart to replace. personally the tiny bit extra i spend on buying ethanol free and keeping my machine running trouble free for years to come is worth it to me.


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## BNSFguy (Nov 2, 2019)

Most gas stations that carry "non-ethanol" gasoline, and there's an awful lot of them across the country, charge on average 50 cents a gallon more than 10% ethanol gasoline. If given the choice, you're crazy not spending the "pennies" a year and buying "non-ethanol". There's too many problems associated with ethanol to even bother with it if you can buy non-ethanol gas. I mean, think about it: if you use 10 gallons of gas a year across all your small engine machines, snowblower, lawnmower, weed whacker, chain saw, etc....) that comes to 5 bucks extra. Why would you bother with ethanol ??? 
Now using VP 94 octane Small Engine gasoline or TruFuel would be significantly higher and not worth the cost for most users.


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## TooTall999 (Nov 19, 2015)

One simple fact: ethanol is hygroscopic, which means it absorbs water from the air. Water doesn't burn and it also leads to the gumming up of various engine parts. So you can either pay a small premium for non-ethanol fuel, or pay for various additives, fuel treatments, stabilizers or whatever and take your chances. Personally I run 89 octane non-ethanol gas in every engine I own. I find it's worth the extra 40- 50 cents per gallon over E10 87 octane and it's readily available to me.


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## johnwick (Dec 16, 2019)

I get emails from Ariens when they update their blog posts and they recently had a post about maintenance. Most of it was basic to all of us. But they spent nearly half the article stressing the importance of good gas. Importantly, while they recognized that E10 is technically okay to use, the couldn’t recommend highly enough people finding pumps that were ethanol free. They went on to state the significance of avoiding “multi-grade” fuel hoses as well. 

While I treat my gas regardless, I plan on heeding their advice on ethanol free and an fortunate to have many options nearby at only a $0.30 premium.


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## BNSFguy (Nov 2, 2019)

johnwick said:


> I get emails from Ariens when they update their blog posts and they recently had a post about maintenance. Most of it was basic to all of us. But they spent nearly half the article stressing the importance of good gas. Importantly, while they recognized that E10 is technically okay to use, the couldn’t recommend highly enough people finding pumps that were ethanol free. They went on to state the significance of avoiding “multi-grade” fuel hoses as well.
> 
> While I treat my gas regardless, I plan on heeding their advice on ethanol free and an fortunate to have many options nearby at only a $0.30 premium.


There you go. That says a lot. Ethanol sucks for small engines. Spend the few cents extra and buy regular gasoline. If you don't have a station nearby that sells non-ethanol fuel, than it's best to use a stabilizer (Sea Foam, Stabil, etc...). In that case though, me myself, I'd spend the money and order VP small engine non-ethanol, 94 octane from Home Depot and have it delivered to your door. While it's obviously a lot more expensive, for the little I use, I'll spend the $40.00 a year knowing I have excellent fuel that can store up to 2 year's and will not damage any of my small engines.


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## Brent Holm (Oct 22, 2019)

I just love this whole idea that ethanol laced fuel is going to ruin engines. You know that stuff has been in gas for decades, billions of gallons sold, hundreds of millions of engines running on it daily. I gave up on this silly idea a long time ago. I do not buy stabilizers, I do not seek out non eth fuel and pay more for it and I have NEVER experienced a fuel related failure on any vehicle or equipment I have owned. It is a complete waste of time and energy to even bother doing anything besides just filling machines with available fuel when they need it. You guys have fun solving this non-issue LOL


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## johnwick (Dec 16, 2019)

Brent Holm said:


> I just love this whole idea that ethanol laced fuel is going to ruin engines. You know that stuff has been in gas for decades, billions of gallons sold, hundreds of millions of engines running on it daily. I gave up on this silly idea a long time ago. I do not buy stabilizers, I do not seek out non eth fuel and pay more for it and I have NEVER experienced a fuel related failure on any vehicle or equipment I have owned. It is a complete waste of time and energy to even bother doing anything besides just filling machines with available fuel when they need it. You guys have fun solving this non-issue LOL




Brent,

I don’t think anyone wishes a fuel problem on you and it’s great to hear you’ve never had a problem. Regardless, hundreds of thousands of people over the years have had that problem, and simply because you haven’t, doesn’t mean you should make a blanket statement that finding good gas or treating is a waste of time for the rest of us. There’s just so much variation in equipment, climate, machines etc out there. The point of my Ariens post is that they sell thousands and thousands of machines, and wouldn’t be going out of their way to tell us to use the best, treated gas we can... unless they were aware of countless issues as reported by their customers and dealer network. 

The problem does exist. However, Most of us on this forum will be smarter than the average homeowner and treat our E10 gas with stabilizer, at a minimum.


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

Never ceases to amaze me on how this topic of gas gets such an avid following of passionate remarks.

People like the majority in this forum are going to continue what they have been doing for years, as it works well for them with there equipment and in there location.

Put it simply, there is no doubt a variety of formulas that produce the same result … which is to have a lifelong gas experience, trouble free, for all your small equipment.

I for one , on all 4 of my 5 gallon cans, as soon as I fill them with reg. 87 octane, I put in Stabil, and half the recommended rate of SeaFoam. Been doing this for as long as I can remember, lol, which is a very long time.

I have never encountered any gas issue on any of my equipment, whether it be snow blowers, lawn mowers, pressure washers, etc., etc.....

BTW, slightly off topic, but speaking of pressure washers, I see many where the homeowner is not aware of the requirement when they store it, especially in an unheated area, with the conditioner in it. I have seen many with a ruined pump. Not only does it act as an anti-freeze, but more importantly conditions the O-rings and seals.


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## BNSFguy (Nov 2, 2019)

Brent Holm said:


> I just love this whole idea that ethanol laced fuel is going to ruin engines. You know that stuff has been in gas for decades, billions of gallons sold, hundreds of millions of engines running on it daily. I gave up on this silly idea a long time ago. I do not buy stabilizers, I do not seek out non eth fuel and pay more for it and I have NEVER experienced a fuel related failure on any vehicle or equipment I have owned. It is a complete waste of time and energy to even bother doing anything besides just filling machines with available fuel when they need it. You guys have fun solving this non-issue LOL


Couldn't disagree with you more !!! Why don't you go use E85 or E80 with 85% or 80% ethanol and save yourself a few more cents per gallon. Go ahead. Tell us how that works out for you.


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

Isn't it the other way around? I think E85 is 85% ethanol, 15% gas.


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## Honda n CNY (Nov 9, 2018)

RedOctobyr said:


> Isn't it the other way around? I think E85 is 85% ethanol, 15% gas.


No. He is correct.


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## johnwick (Dec 16, 2019)

E85 is absolutely 85% ethanol, 15% gas.


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

What is this, like the 100th thread on gas …. Time to move on … just sayin ….


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