Intro & fuel question

Hi, I'm a noob here, first post.

A lot of you guys are obviously pros. I am not; I'm just a homeowner who cuts and splits his own firewood. Up until recently I was doing everything with a single small homeowner saw (Echo CS310 with 16" bar) but last month I bought a bigger saw (Tanaka TCS51EAP with 20" bar) and I'm getting more serious about making sure I take care of my saws right. Seems like most people say not to use ethanol-mix fuel, but there's really nothing else in my area, so what do you guys recommend? I have four options:

1. Use E10 pump regular and drain/run-dry after use. This is what I've been doing so far.
2. Use expensive canned fuel (TruFuel).
3. Remove the ethanol from E10 pump premium using the water trick.
4. Use one of those stabilizer additives that's supposed to solve the ethanol problem for OPE.

I know these saws are not pro Stihls or Huskys like a lot of you guys have, but I'd still like to get the best life I can out of them. I'm tempted to try option 3, but I don't know anyone personally who's actually done it.

 

I do #1 but I'll let it sit in the saw for a couple weeks, dump it when it gets to around a month. If I know I won't be using it for a few weeks, dump and run it out of fuel.

Welcome to FHC

 

I am curious about #3, and would do #4 if that didn't work. We've got options in every town we go to, so I don't have to worry about this-- yet.

Welcome to FHC.

 

I've found a local source for 90 octaine, ethanol free fuel. It runs $3.89 a gallon and my saws seem to like it just fine. There is a website for locating gas stations and other sources of E- free fuel. I don't have the web address at the moment but maybe someone will pass it on to you before I can.

Welcome to the land of the wooden heads. You hang out here for just a few minutes you will become a full time wood junkie.!

 

Welcome to FHC ! If you're a fairly religious about using fuel stabilizer ,and getting rid of / using fuel before it goes stale ,E -10 will be just fine .

 

Thanks for all the welcomes.

By "curious about it" do you mean you've heard of it too and are wondering if it works?

I've been to that site, and unfortunately the closest such gas station is 45 minutes away from me in another state. That's not to say I never get out that way, but it's not worth a special trip unless I have something else to do there.

I am already pretty much a wood junkie. My wife bought me that Echo saw for my birthday a few years back, and by the following fall I'd established a two full cord seasoning rotation in the backyard. And we don't even heat with it, we just have a fireplace for the winter and an outdoor firepan to sit around in the other seasons. She loves to tell people that was the best gift she ever bought me.

 

Use 89 octane when you use it. Have a can of the expensive pre-mix fuel handy. When you are going to put up the saw for some length of time, run the 89 out of the tank. Put in small amount of the expensive fuel and run it long enough to get fuel in the carb/lines/etc. good to go!

Welcome to the site!

 

Nope, just never heard of it.

 

I never worried about it over much @ e10 or lower. Though I will buy E free when I can.

I won't use trufuel on principal. Marketing shil bs!

I've had good luck so far with sta bil type products and premium mix oil. Knock on wood. Figured i can fix any problems that arise.

Welcome to the club.

 

Okay, didn't want to explain it if you already knew.

It's really counterintuitive. You start with pump premium and mix some distilled water in with it, then shake it up and let it sit for a day or so. The water binds with the ethanol, but not with the gasoline, so they separate, and you're left with a layer of water-alcohol on the bottom and a layer of de-ethanol'ed gasoline on the top. Drain off the water-alcohol and you're good to go.

That's the theory, anyway. I've seen videos on YouTube of people doing it. Some people put food coloring in the water before adding it, to make it easier to tell later when you're finished draining it. It sounds logical when it's explained, and seems like it would work, but OTOH the internet is full of malicious trolls, so I'm a little leery.

 

Any marinas around you? They generally have E-free gas.

 

Hmmm. Yes, I am surrounded by marinas, actually. There are lakes all over the place and half the towns in the area have "Lake" in their names. I never thought of that. I will make some calls.

 

How do you like the tanaka? I was always a little curious about them.

 

All I can get at the pump is e-gas. Never had no trouble with it. I use Stabil all the time since I don't always get back to things as soon as I think I will. Mostly buy super or premium. Most 2 strke oil has stabilizer in it these days. Anything with a float bowl gets run dry.

 

Well, take my opinion for what it's worth, keeping in mind that I'm not a pro and don't have a wide frame of reference for comparison.

That said, I like it a lot. It's got plenty of power. It's got a decompression valve, so it starts easy (though the starting procedure has several steps). I've seen some people complain that it is hard to start warm, but that has not been my experience so far. It comes with an Oregon chain and sprocket-nosed bar, and even though it's a low-kickback chain it still cuts plenty fast. First time I had it out, I was noodling through some 16" to 18" diameter ash logs, and it took about a quarter of the time I would have spent doing it with the smaller saw. I can only imagine what it would be like with a pro chain. The chain side cover is metal. It has an adjustable oiler. It's got bucking spikes, which I've already learned to use. It transfers almost zero vibration to my hands, and it's nicely balanced. I've seen complaints that it is heavy, but it doesn't seem especially heavy to me; it's easy to control.

The only complaints I have about it are trivial. The slot on the chain tension adjuster is shallow and a bit prone to letting the scrench slip out. The exhaust is super hot, so be careful where you point it. But these are nitpicks.

And of course it's orange. Apparently all good saws are required to be orange. Or so I'm told. There's a Hitachi-branded version of this identical saw, but it's green, so probably best to stick with the Tanaka model.

Oh, and it was inexpensive for its size and class:

 

Welcome, I have tried the water thing.. it's not the easiest to do... and you end up with watered alcohol laying around and gas fumes.. my marina sells e free gas but I still put stabil in it for time of year like this when mowers are setting sleds art running yet. other than that listen to every one else..

 

I would think the water/alcohol would be safe to just pour down the drain. At that point it's chemically no different from vodka, right?

 

I poured it on bon fire it burns blue IIRC, but it's a chemistry experiment... you are never really 100% sure what you got..

I am on septic system so for me not in sink..

 

I wonder what the octane rating would be with the ethanol removed? It will be lower, will it be too low?