Petrol or alkylate for a new saw?

[waterbuoy]

Evening all

 

I have recently bought a new MS 261 to join its older/bigger sibling (MS 066) and a small Makita battery saw.  It is replacing an old Husky 55 from the early 1990s.  I freely admit that I am what some on here refer to as a weekend warrior; I am not a professional arb worker but I have been using saws for more than 40 years and have dropped many a large (or small) tree and process upwards of 20 cube a year.  In addition to owning and using three saws I use a variety of other 2-stroke machines - brushcutters, hedgecutters, stihl-saws, generators etc and half a dozen outboards between 2 and 200hp.

 

I have used 'conventional' 2-stroke mix (ie petrol and the appropriate oil) for all machines with no issues - at least ths far.  I use the highest grade of petrol available and, in the case of the MS 066 and generator, drain the tank if I am going to be leaving then for a while.  The other gear is used regularly, and I run the ouboard tanks down before storing them for the winter.  However, I am noticing that even using the higher grade of petrol it goes stale after just a couple of weeks and the equipment becomes more difficult to start.

 

Simple question - for the new saw, should I now move over to Motomix/Aspen/other brands or will I be OK to stick with petrol?

 

Unless advised otherwise I am reluctant to swap the other gear onto Alkylate as I have heard of issues when this is done with older fuel-lines etc (and the MS 066 drinks fuel!).  I also have a relatively local supplier of both Motomix and Aspen so can keep a couple of cans in stock and replace as and when required.

 

Thoughts appreciated please.

 

[pleasant]

Once you have committed to Aspen (or such like) on your NEW saw then you will be fine as the diaphragms within the carb etc wouldn't have been affected by having run on pump fuel. So, in a nutshell- start with aspen on a new saw and stick with it and you won't have issues.

[waterbuoy]

Thanks - but would you suggest/recommend that I do run it on Aspen etc or should I be OK to stick with petrol?

[pleasant]

Deffo run it and continue to do so for its life on aspen (or equivalent) as there are positive advantages to your saw if it hasn't been run on anything else- but stick to it whatever you choose either way- don't chop and change.

[eggsarascal]

Being a very rare user of 2 stroke machines I only ever use Aspen.

[Doug Tait]

I like the idea of the "benefits" to engines/environment/health, certainly don't get a headache using aspen like I often do with pump fuel. I also like the idea of not worrying about machines sitting idle with fuel in as my own stuff is used sporadically.

 

Started using aspen a couple of years ago myself when I bought a Stihl long reach hedgecutter that had only run on aspen previously. At the same time I swopped a fairly new T540xp to aspen too. Anything I replace now will start on aspen but I'm still using pump fuel for the older stuff, much as pleasant recommended.

 

Incidentally, at work we swopped over fully to aspen a year or so back, a full range of chainsaws, hedgecutters etc all different ages and there have only been issues with 1 polesaw and 2 groundsaws so you're not guaranteed to have a problem swopping older kit over.

[nepia]

58 minutes ago, waterbuoy said:

so can keep a couple of cans in stock and replace as and when required.

 

Aspen's exy stuff so save a little and get 25L at a time.  The canisters are good for re-use (not for re-filling with Aspen though that may come one day); child locks on both cap and breather

[Macpherson]

I totally get the alkylate fuel alternate option for fuel in high performance stressed engines that are being damaged by the current shyte that passes for petrol.

 

And while I can't disagree with the use of Aspen or the likes for your brand new saw is probably just about affordable.

 

There is just no way that using it in outboards or most other 2T applications is even remotely an option, and to that end I can say that I've been using fuel stabilisers for about a decade now and have suffered zero of the  problems that have plagued many others that I know.

So the one I use mainly is Ethanol Shield but Briggs and Stratton Fuel fit also prevents degradation for much longer than they claim as I've experienced directly.. no need for draining down and no need to worry about carbs dissolving, give it a go it doesn't cost much.... and all the best for the coming year👍

 

 

[lurch_917]

i have a husky 560xp auto tune that loves their fuel mix xp power 2 . my efco also loves it buy my einhall brush cutter dosen't so that stays on good old pump fuel and cheep 2st mix . 

never tried the aspen so cant say about it .

[waterbuoy]

Thanks for all your replies

Whilst I already use fuel additives for the diesel we put into our boats (to address the 'bug' issue) I wasn't aware of the petrol additive/stabiliser that MacP referred to.  I'll give that a go for the 066 and other 2-stroke gear and see if it improves things, and research a source of the larger containers of the alkylate fuels for the new saw.  Only down side I can see is having to run two fuel cans and not getting them mixed up, but as I am usually the only one doing the fuelling then that should be OK.

 

Thanks again, and Happy New Year to all when it comes

Edited December 31, 2022 by waterbuoy
typo