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Old 07-13-2021, 03:54 PM
sdbob sdbob is offline
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Default Ethanol Free Gas questions

Just by chance found ethanol free gas a mile from my home at a fuel oil dealer. I haven't bought any yet. The octane is 90. I was thinking to try some for my CubCadets,10,12,and 16hp I use for mowing and yard work. What can I expect? Also would my 70s street cars benefit from this gas? Thanks.

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Old 07-13-2021, 04:22 PM
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Ethanol free is readily available here in MS. I use it exclusively in my 2 riding mowers and have had no issues. I use it in my 63 wagon as well, but I add octane booster.
James Q

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Old 07-13-2021, 04:22 PM
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I use it in anything with a carb, my car, lawnmower, chainsaw, 4wlr. It seems to help a lot in my opinion but I know people using ethanol gas without problem.

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Old 07-13-2021, 04:27 PM
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Bob - if your Cub Cadets are like my John Deeres, you will have fewer excuses not to mow

With the 10 percent ethanol, my Deeres will start running poorly if mowing in the sun and the ambient hits 95 degrees F.

"Honey, the mower isn't running right, will have to come in for awhile"

As far as your cars are concerned, if the 90 octane is sufficiently high for your engine(s) the driveability will be somewhat better, you should have about 6 percent more horsepower, and obtain about 6 percent better fuel economy with the ethanol-free.

Depending on your carburetor, there MIGHT be some long-term (25~30 year) longevity benefits to the carburetor.

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Old 07-13-2021, 05:33 PM
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Many small engine manufacturers will void warranties if they can blame a failure on E10. They strongly recommend non-ethanol gasoline.

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Old 07-13-2021, 05:35 PM
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Everything I have to take care of my property runs better on non-ethanol, start better, idle better. I use it exclusively in all equipment along with quads and motorcycles. Spring time startup is a WAY better experience.

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Old 07-13-2021, 06:41 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dataway View Post
Everything I have to take care of my property runs better on non-ethanol, start better, idle better. I use it exclusively in all equipment along with quads and motorcycles. Spring time startup is a WAY better experience.
Same here for the last 20 years. Thankfully, we have a choice. For my 2cycle oil mix fuel, I always choose 89 octane Pure gasoline. Unfortunately many metro areas & surrounding area are not in EPA compliance & all that's available is the E10 garbage.

Have never calculated a difference in hwy fuel mileage between Pure Gasoline & E10 in our later model gasoline vehicles (Toyotas). In all of our previous daily driver XJ Cherokees, I could detect a noticeable fuel mileage decrease with E10.

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Old 07-13-2021, 08:55 PM
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-Many of the small engines have been slow to adapt E10-compatible hoses and floats. So those components will last longer on E0 (pure gas). It can (first hand knowledge) also eat away at old carb vehicle hoses. Use SAE J30R7 for carb or J30R9 for fuel injected. I've also had no problems getting J30R9 FI hose to seal with carb-style flair and hose clamps (YMMV).

-Fuel mileage will increase slightly with E0 due to higher energy content. Not enough alone to justify the cost for that reason alone, but it will improve.

-E0 is stable over a longer duration. It'll stay fresher, longer.

-E10 is hygroscopic (absorbs water). Which is why it tends to cause corrosion and can leave a sticky residue if exposed parts sit long enough to dry out. Not as bad as higher levels like E20-E100, but more than E0.

-E10 will vaporize at a lower temperature, which can cause startability under hot conditions issues others have mentioned.

-E10 has a lower stoich value (~14.1 vs. ~14.7) it effectively makes the carb run ~4% leaner unless all the fuel circuits are re-calibrated. This can result in performance or driveability loss others have noted. 4% isn't much, but if you're already biased slightly lean, a non-feedback system like a carb may not run as well.

So a lot of the effects of E10 can depend on compatibility of your hardware, how humid of a climate it's exposed it, and how frequently the vehicle is driven.

For me, after having a number of small engines have hose and float (plastic) failures, I switched to E0 90 octane on all my small engines (including 2 stroke mix), and (since I'm not driving it daily) my Pontiac as well. Daily drivers (which are also EFI), I run E10.

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Old 07-13-2021, 09:02 PM
jerry455 jerry455 is offline
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The lawn mower and outdoor power equipment store near me says to only use non ethanol fuel if possible. My mower and snow blower run a lot better with real gas.

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Old 07-13-2021, 09:19 PM
sdbob sdbob is offline
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John Labuda that runs the 56Pontiac gasser is my CC local dealer. He also recommended gas. Thanks, I'm so use to the current offerings I didnt ck for regular gas until couple days ago. Funny that the oil dealer (offering the gas)use to deliver our heating oil until we had natural gas installed. Again guys thanks for the advice. My cubs do run 'funny'. The SD I forget what octane is recommended, I'll check.

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Old 07-13-2021, 11:59 PM
bdk1976 bdk1976 is offline
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I've never had an issue with ethanol while engines are running - it's the crap it leaves behind when it evaporates that has always been the problem for me.

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Old 07-14-2021, 10:03 AM
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I just had to buy replacement carb parts for a rarely-used trail mower I bought from a neighbor last year. I put gas in it for a mowing event and it poured right out of the float bowl. I found a good 1/16" of rust inside the bowl. I am confident the odds of this are reduced with ethanol-free. I had this same experience with my LeMans after it sat in Seattle for several years absorbing water... so now I don't use anything else in my small engines.

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Old 07-14-2021, 10:28 AM
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What are you guys paying for ethanol free gas? It's $4 and change here.

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Old 07-14-2021, 10:58 AM
bdk1976 bdk1976 is offline
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It's only like a .30 cent premium around here if you get it out on the reservation - I think I paid $5.50 a gallon for it in town a few months back.

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Old 07-14-2021, 11:26 AM
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It’s $3.46 here I run it in my work truck went from 14.5 average to 16.0 not resetting it and it took a month but it slowly went up FYI I never reset it. I use it in all my yard equipment but always mix it with sta-bil for them never know when they will sit not used.

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Old 07-14-2021, 04:27 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg Reid View Post
What are you guys paying for ethanol free gas? It's $4 and change here.

Sent from my moto g stylus (2021) using Tapatalk
I paid $3.49 Monday near Troy AL, 10 gallons for $35. Burned through half of it during the 5 hours it took to mow my front lawn, running a Kawasaki powered Bad Boy 60" Maverick. They don't call it "wiregrass" for nothing.

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Old 07-14-2021, 08:33 PM
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"Bob - if your Cub Cadets are like my John Deeres, you will have fewer excuses not to mow

With the 10 percent ethanol, my Deeres will start running poorly if mowing in the sun and the ambient hits 95 degrees F.

"Honey, the mower isn't running right, will have to come in for awhile"

Got to use this excuse today, temperature hit 97 degrees F., and sure enough the Deere started running rough!

Jon.

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"The most expensive carburetor is the wrong one given to you by your neighbor".

If you truly believe that "one size fits all" try walking a mile in your spouse's shoes!

Owner of The Carburetor Shop, LLC (of Missouri).

Current caretaker of the remains of Stromberg Caburetor, and custodian of the existing Carter and Kingston carburetor drawings.
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Old 07-25-2021, 10:35 AM
sdbob sdbob is offline
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I just pulled the carb on my 100 ,yard and plow tractor.running poorly lots of 'junk' in it. My 1650 mower does ok. Im going out to get the regular good gas after I get back from norwalk.

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Old 07-25-2021, 11:25 AM
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All I have ever used in my Cubs is the 90 octane ethanol free. All run excellent and don't have constant fuel system related reliability issues.

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Old 07-26-2021, 06:31 PM
jerry455 jerry455 is offline
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Just bought 5 gallons this morning for my mower, $4.04 per gallon, here 22 miles north of Detroit.

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