How do you treat the fuel in your saw for long-term storage? Just purchased a ported 254 and if it cuts as good as my friends stock 254 it will hands down become my primary saw and the Stihl will be my secondary. How do I store a saw for winter or long term? Run it out of gas before storage? Treat fuel with Sta-bil and leave the tank full? Does Sta-bil have a shelf life? I have a never opened bottle that is 3 or 4 years old. Or is there something else I should also do?
A lot of these ope oils have a stabilizer now..some guys top em' off..some guys run em' dry...everyone claims they way they do it works so I'm not sure there is a definitive answer. Do you have access to e-free gas ? .. If not run some of the canned stuff. I've had good luck with seafoam despite what some guys say about it. There will be loads of opinions.
I use E0 89octane gas with a stabilizer . For the most part ,I just make sure the tank is full before putting a saw up . If it’s a saw that I run very infrequently , I drain the fuel ,and run it dry .
Presently using Stihl HP Ultra. Don't know if it has stabilizers. Only reason I use it is that they told me it extended the warranty by a year. Down to my last bottle of oil and will probably by something different. No e-free gas that I am aware of in my area, but can get the canned stuff $$$. Will have to check out seafoam. We will see what others have to say.
By habit I always use Stabil when buying gas. For the saws, I've never ran them dry; just leave what gas is in there and have never had a problem doing that. In our case, we run the saws mostly in the winter months and rarely start them in summer.
Oh yeah, on the Stabil. I don't think there is a shelf life listed for it. If you've not opened it yet, I'd say it is as good as what you'd buy in the store.
Just run fresh gas when you run it, but pour it out and run the canned gas through it for storage. Seafoam is a stabilizer and stabil I think is fine for years...not treated gas bit the product itself. If I were to leave a saw for years I would run it dry personally. But just for the season I would use treated fuel or canned fuel.
Bought my one and only saw about 10 years ago and I have never done anything but put Stabil in the fuel can (if I think about it). I don't empty it.......ever, in any way. It has run pretty low, and when I go to use it, I just fill it with "fresh" fuel. Could be a few months between uses. Maybe I've just been lucky. I think if I had a saw ported (I wouldn't), I'd be a bit more cautious.
Never any additives. Just e10, in all my stuff. My sleds started 1st and second pull today with *gasp* ethanol blended fuel and no additives. Been sitting since March. If storing for a year or more I'd drain it. Simply because of octane degrade.
Yea but you use it often. A few months with stabil is nothing. I assume were talking 10 months to several years in this case
I can tell you I've seen seafoam work on rough running motors first hand, some call it snake oil .. must be a pretty good snake.
MS 250 is 2 year old I believe, Poulan perhaps 5 or 6 years old. Been making wood seriously for the last 3 years or so. Been cutting off and on since the '70s. Waiting on the 254 to arrive and it is an older saw. Haven't used the Poulan in several of years and it had a problem the last time I fired it up 2 years ago. That is what prompted the question since I am anticipating the arrive of my new saw and it may well be my primary saw.
It ranges from 30 years old to new? Done it forever. I only remember problems pre blended fuel as a kid. Gunk tar varnish. Pia.
And do you have a fuel cutoff you use? I ask, because based on my own experience, when I would leavery fuel in my farm mower in the line and to carb it would weld the needle in the carb and fill the bowl with crystal like crud. This was during the summer. Like I'd buy fresh gas use it in mower to cut grass and leave and not return for say 6 to 12 weeks till I cut it again. Carb would be stopped up. Id have to pull carb off clear and or rebuild it and it would be fine. Also have algae in the bowl from I assume water that the e 10 gas absorbed? Come back next time, same thing. I then put a cut off and ran it dry each time, not a problem in like 5 years since the cut off other than fuel lines eaten up but that's an easy fix. I use e10 plain gas in it.
Maybe it's the climate? Maybe frequent 90%+ humidity days and 90+F days all summer may wreck the fuel more?
Um, well, uh, not zactly. I have two jugs of Stabil, but none got put in the last batch of fuel. Maybe I should do that. Ok, I don't think I've gone 10 months w/o cutting............no E free fuel nearby, that I know about.
I run 89 octane E free marine fuel with Stihl ultra oil. Mix 5 gals. at a time & add 8oz of seafoam to the mix. Some saws sit for a while with fuel in them, but not more than a few months. I'm a big seafoam & & E free fan in small equip. I expect my stuff to start when I pull the cord.
