What's the best fuel for chainsaws?

[pleasant]

When i explain to my customers their issue is water in their fuel mix....and because the fuel pick up is at the lowest point of the tank, with water being heavier than petrol, the engine is trying to start on water, they normally think I'm making up and dont beleive me or they say they havent used it in the rain, so how did it get there. I have a varied selection of glass jars that i keep a sample of the fuel i remove from customers machines to show them....plus as a picture paints a thousand words I have a glass cabinet on my reception with examples of gummed up and or rusty carbs, perished fuel lines and clogged fuel filters we have removed, so customers can see for themselves whilst I work out their invoices.

[john87]

1 hour ago, Mark_Skyland said:

I have had plenty of customers move over to alkylate fuel with no issues at all, they have all been husky or stihl machines though. The exception is probably 200t owners but that is more down to the poor design of the carb. I've seen plenty of cheap branded machines that haven't managed more than a year before the fuel line turns to jelly while using petrol! 

 

What I will say is dump your fuel can every now and then as I see a lot, and I mean a lot of water in the ranks of machines these days. The last one this week must have had at least 20cc of water in the tank it engine totally knackered and it wasn't worth fixing. £250 out of pocket for a new chainsaw. That would have bought him a lot of alkyate fuel, probably enough for 5 years worth of use.

 

Whatever petrol or two stroke mix you use, don't use old fuel and check your tanks  for contamination regularly.

 

Everyone should give it a try, dump your fuel into a clear container, I bet most people will find that it looks cloudy. Leave it for an hour or so and then check it out. Look for a water bubble at the bottom. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evem better, go down the garage and buy yourself some nice fresh unleaded.

Go outside and pour our half a pint into a clear glass bowl.

Come back half hour later... See how it has gone cloudy?? That is the water it has absored from the air..

 

I have had to do with a few machines [nto mine] in the last few months that would not start. Owners all insisted it was NOT the fuel and that the fuel had only been in there "a week or so" Tip out the fuel, in with the new, and the machine starts up..

 

john..

[spuddog0507]

Dont think i could afford to run my saws on aspen at £18 a gallon, it would cost me above a £100 a week in fuel for a saw on a busy week,, It dont cast me that to run a 3,2ltr shogun, since the E10 came out i have only bought the super unleaded fuel like Shell V power, had no issues what so ever but i have noticed one or 2 little differences, 1) the saws seem to run a bit sweeter than they did when i ran them on just standard unleaded,

2) We seem to get a bit more run time out of a tank of V power as compared to the older standard unleaded, OK it may only be a couple of minuets extra run time per tank but over the day/week/month it adds up slowly but surely, Ok the fuel is a little dearer to start with, but working it all back it does save a few quid in the long run,,, 

[doobin]

Esso premium petrol, branded E5 by law, is actually E0, except in cornwall

and parts of the north. 

[pleasant]

7 minutes ago, doobin said:

Esso premium petrol, branded E5 by law, is actually E0, except in cornwall

and parts of the north. 

Absolutely correct, but not all esso stations sell it in that format so be careful, but essentially a large percentage do. So, yes you can get esso premium which is ethanol free and thats the stuff to go for

[aspenarb]

I was always led to believe that you should not use high octane fuel in a two stroke, I use the cheap gear at the pumps, batch mix about 40ltrs at a time twice a week. Cant say I have ever seen a problem with water in the fuel.

 

Bob

[coppice cutter]

11 hours ago, pleasant said:

When i explain to my customers their issue is water in their fuel mix....and because the fuel pick up is at the lowest point of the tank, with water being heavier than petrol, the engine is trying to start on water, they normally think I'm making up and dont beleive me or they say they havent used it in the rain, so how did it get there. I have a varied selection of glass jars that i keep a sample of the fuel i remove from customers machines to show them....plus as a picture paints a thousand words I have a glass cabinet on my reception with examples of gummed up and or rusty carbs, perished fuel lines and clogged fuel filters we have removed, so customers can see for themselves whilst I work out their invoices.

Is the issue with ethanol in the petrol not that previously at least the water stayed separate from the petrol and was visible to the naked eye?

 

Now, it mixes with the ethanol in the fuel and is carried through the entire system unknowingly.

 

And with double the amount of ethanol, there is now the potential to carry double the amount of water in the fuel.

 

Of-course this all depends on there being an opportunity for there to be water present near the fuel in the first place. If cans and tanks are kept well sealed and used promptly it's possible there'll be no bother at all.

Edited November 27, 2022 by coppice cutter

[pleasant]

Ethanol is naturaly hygroscopic....which means it acts like a sponge in the atmosphere and absorbs moisture from it. Particularly when stored. E10 is ten percent ethanol and is recommended to be used within 30 days of purchase, e5...5 percent ethanol is longer, but a use by date it approx 6 to 7 weeks. After these times the fuel deteriorates rapidly, can go back to its raw state and absorb moisture

Edited November 27, 2022 by pleasant

[openspaceman]

1 hour ago, aspenarb said:

I was always led to believe that you should not use high octane fuel in a two stroke, I use the cheap gear at the pumps, batch mix about 40ltrs at a time twice a week. Cant say I have ever seen a problem with water in the fuel.

 

Bob

Two strokes inherently have lower compression pressures than 4 strokes so there is less tendency to detonate, hence they can run on lower octane fuels.

 

High octane fuels have less calories than low ones so economy can be slightly less.

[pleasant]

53 minutes ago, openspaceman said:

Two strokes inherently have lower compression pressures than 4 strokes so there is less tendency to detonate, hence they can run on lower octane fuels.

 

High octane fuels have less calories than low ones so economy can be slightly less.