Another gas question

R

Rludington

Member
I've always used top tier ethanol free Gas for my mowers / small engines. Do you think the top tier gas is needed ? I have 2 stations , one has top tier ethonol free 87 octain, the other is ethanol free 91 octain. Which would you use ?
(The 91 octain is a lot cheaper)
 
Name the stations.....If for example one is Mobile and the other is Walmart Gas, then it's an easy choice for me.
In my experience, the Top Tier designation hasn't been as reliable as I had expected.
I think your choice of Ethanol free is a great idea for your mowers regardless. Ethanol gums up small engine fuel systems quickly.
 
Just make sure the pump nozzle is a dedicated non-Ethanol pump (like QT or Murphy USA i my area) and not a 4-5 selection on one nozzle type because you will get a strange blend with some Ethanol mixed in it. The last customer may not have purchased non-Ethanol.

Ethanol in the fuel is hygroscopic, so it naturally collects moisture out of the air and that makes it very corrosive to aluminum carburetor housings and components. It is also destructive to soft fuel lines and breaks down the rubber material from the inside of the fuel lines.

As for the Octane rating, I say use what runs the best in your machine for the money you spend.
Advertised octane rating is not the same as real octane rating because it depends on the source (depot) that the fuel comes from.

Another thing to consider is a fuel stabilizer if the fuel sits for more than 30 days at a time. Stabil Marine is one of the better ones that I have used. This is important in case there is a time when you only have Ethanol blended fuel available to use. Mix the stabilizer in your fuel can/container and not just dump it in the equipment fuel tank to sit.
 
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