Ethanol fuel or Aviation fuel

Sorry, if this has been done already. I've been looking for non-ethonal fuel and cant seem to find any. I believe its creating problems with the way my saws are running. No specifics, they just ran a little worse now that I've ran it for last winter and this year so far. Almost out of mix and looking for non ethonal fuel. The local municipal airport has both 87 and 100 octane av gas that's ethonal free. Has anyone used the 100 in the saws? Any problems forseen using or tuning it.
When I was younger we used to by av gas for our dirt bikes. They ran better off the higher octane stuff.

 

I should have clarified, its 5-10% ethonal not E85. Thanks

 

Are you positive the ethanol is causing the problem??

 

http://pure-gas.org/

If you have a marina near by they sell non e fuel

 

I just hung up with the marina, she sounded unsure but she said its all ethanol added.
Also, being a newbie here I just typed in "Octane" in the search (after I posted thread) and found quite a bit of info.

 

Most of the marinas won't sell ethanol gas. If you have carb problems with slime in them or soft fuel lines you need to find an alternative fuel source. 87 octane is fine in most saws any way.

 

Just found some non Ethanol 93 15 miles away (that's close around here). If the price was reasonable, I'd like to try the 100 for awhile.

 

Mine doesn't sit for long around here. Cutting all winter usually. Thanks again.

 

Unless your saw's compression is higher than stock, I doubt the extra octane will help it run better. Honestly, I doubt the non-E fuel will "cure" your saw either. It may have the fuel system fouled from E fuel...and non-E won't fix that.

I can get 90 octane gas....it absolutely makes my quad and mower run better under heavy loads...they spark/fuel knock a little if you run them really hard. I thought it would make my saw run better but I couldn't tell a bit of difference.

 

Stihl says to run at least 89 octane. Here that that means running supreme. Most places sell either 87 or 90

 

Your probably right, that makes sense. I've been running loose with the gas, oil type, and mix ratio. I always have family out here on the farm mixing fuel and willy nilly getting gas. I usually hide my 372xp and mix can in the basement when the father in law shows up to cut wood. But, now I'm cracking down. After reading some threads on here, I'm going to be the only one allowed to fill cans and mix gas with good fuel and oil from now on.

 

Your correct Nate thats what the stihl manual saws but all these saw heads say the 87 will give you more power as it com busts faster as it is easier to ignite from lower octane. And you won't get complete combustion anyway at 13000 rpm's. None of them have ever said they have seen detonation in woods ported saws let alone stock saws.

Do what you wish but I this k some of the builders are more engineer than some of the industry guys that draw up stuff on a computer.

 

I doubt you are going to see any noticeable change running 93 octane in your saw other than a lighter wallet. I often here of guys running Coleman fuel (basically straight naptha, which is 55 octane) in two stroke lawn equipment without any problems.

Id recommend against using avgas. Notwithstanding the cost ($6-7/gal), 100LL also has a lot of lead in it - something like 10x as much as leaded auto fuel had at the time of the phaseout. The "low" in low lead means it just has less lead than WWII vintage 115/145 octane avgas had which had probably enough to poison you on contact . Over time that lead will foul your plugs, and you are going to be breathing all that lead.

 

I have found a few places with 90 octane 'rec gas'. Usually near snowmobile and orv trails.

I usually just use premium from my favorite Shell station. If I'm not cutting much, I'll mix a gallon at a time, and if I think it's been sitting too long I will pour it in my mower or car when I fill up. Never really noticed any difference.

My '66 Sea King outboard gets the non-E rec gas

Got to agree on the av gas.

 

Thanks everyone. Found 91 non ethanol premium. Going with that and royal purple 40:1. See how it goes.
Thanks for the input and advice.

 

Yea i forgot to mention i would not use 100ll cause i would not want to breath the lead fumes while cutting as your muffler is no more than 4 feet from your face

 

Good point, didn't realize the lead content of it.

 

My advice - get yourself another 1 gallon gas can - mark it with a sharpie for your saws.
If your saws feel like they are slacking in changing conditions it very well mean you need a slight retune - plenty of guys here that can lead you in the right direction on a slight H/L turn one way or another
Don't be afraid to ask - none of us know everything, and most of us CRS

Every time I refill a 5 gallon can I rinse it and dump in my truck - the jet sizes in vehicles and number of cylinders + tank volume leads to very few issues from E10 - corrosion from sitting is a different story.
If you plan on cutting and it's set for a while empty it into other equipment/old trucks etc. - get fresh fuel