Aspen vs unleaded

[Matthew Storrs]

Battery’s? Yeah I know- you can’t do proper work with batteries- but if even 30% of your work can be just as easily done with a battery saw, you’ll have 30% less fumes, you’ll probably save £500 in fuel every year. Put that towards Aspen for the rest of your work, win win?

[owain038]

Am I the only one that hates the smell of Aspen? Recently trialed it with a new Husqvarna hedge trimmer and the smell is so sickly it makes me feel ill.
I'm not hating on it I genuinely like the idea behind it but I can't stand the smell from the 'fumes' off it.

[Steve Bullman]

32 minutes ago, owain038 said:

Am I the only one that hates the smell of Aspen? Recently trialed it with a new Husqvarna hedge trimmer and the smell is so sickly it makes me feel ill.
I'm not hating on it I genuinely like the idea behind it but I can't stand the smell from the 'fumes' off it.

I wasn't keen on it the first time I smelled it, but after a few days you don't notice it at all

[scbk]

Don't like the smell of aspen, but the fumes aren't as bad as normal petrol. Need to look at battery powered stuff soon.

[Stubby]

8 hours ago, owain038 said:

Am I the only one that hates the smell of Aspen? Recently trialed it with a new Husqvarna hedge trimmer and the smell is so sickly it makes me feel ill.
I'm not hating on it I genuinely like the idea behind it but I can't stand the smell from the 'fumes' off it.

It might have been very old stock possibly . The early stuff had an oil mixed with it that smelled like a chip shop . They have changed that now .

[Ashes_Firewood]

The fumes from normal 2 stroke fuel was why I switched to Aspen. Used normal 2 stroke for years then I started to get a headache from it and my eyes felt irritated and generally felt a bit shit all round. Not had any of that since I started using Aspen.

[Dbikeguy]

Same found i got headaches using pump fuel so moved to Aspen, looking at hedge trimmers at the moment and that will be battery. Once you invest in the battery and chargers the bare tools are actually very keenly priced.

[Bunzena]

I switched to Aspen 3+ years ago across all my kit.  I had to change some parts after a the first season [Carb diaphragms and fuel lines] because Aspen seemed to cause some issues [leaks - primarily].  Now all is fine. 

 

This is another reason I haven't gone back - even briefly - to standard two stroke and pump fuel. 

 

Like a few others here - I now have a mix of petrol and battery tools.  True that for some jobs - battery doesn't cut it - but for many it does.  I have only used the petrol strimmer/brushcutter twice this season.  The future is electric!

 

Accept that Aspen is expensive but I'd never go back.  In 100 years time, people will marvel at the risks we put ourselves in using ordinary petrol in tools we used 'close-up'.  Alkylate fuels like Aspen are far from perfect - but what price is your health?

[Stubby]

44 minutes ago, Bunzena said:

I switched to Aspen 3+ years ago across all my kit.  I had to change some parts after a the first season [Carb diaphragms and fuel lines] because Aspen seemed to cause some issues [leaks - primarily].  Now all is fine. 

 

 

Its not the Aspen causing initial problems , Its the Aspen revealing the problems that the pump fuel as been slowly causing . If you run a saw on Aspen from the get go you wont get those problems . The pump fuel removes the coating from the rubber components that is there to keep it supple . The pump fuel itself will keep it supple until it eventually rots . Aspen won't remove the coating . Its when you switch from long time pump fuel use to permanent Aspen the rubber components stiffen and crack . Its not the Aspen doing it though .

[nepia]

It's not just the smell and the headaches that concerns me when you guys use pump fuel all the time.  Petrol contains benzene and derivatives of; do you know how carcinogenic those chemicals are, even the part-burnt ones?

Justify the cost of Aspen on grounds of your health - and that of others.  I wonder actually if there could one day be a court case brought by a cancer sufferer claiming that if their employer had fulfilled his duty to protect his staff better he would have supplied alkylate fuel or similar instead of pump fuel and that it is thus his fault that the claimant now has cancer (and thus now owes the claimant lots of money).