High effort to pull start my 2-stroke blowers

[MowerMike]

Why are you using high octane fuel? I am fairly sure that all you really need is 87 octane regular. I am not sure this is why you are having problems starting the blowers, but I never use high octaqne fuel in any of my equipment because in my opinion it is not needed in anything but high compression performance engines. You actually get a faster burn during combustion with 87 octane!
Stabil does make a fuel stabilizer for ethanol gas and has worked well for me, so I would try that with 87 octane and see what happens!

The TruFuel premix is only available as 92 octane, and Echo and Hitachi both recommend using 89 octane, so I will never use less than what the manufacturer recommends. Regardless, I don't think the gas octane has anything to do with the high effort starting that I'm experiencing.

 

[Mad Mackie]

All the operators manuals for my small engines recommend at a minimum 89 and I generally use it. I have noticed that StaBil now has an ethanol involved product. I had been using the red StaBil since it first came out in the late 60s. I had considered the marine version of StaBil but it was very pricey. StarTron has been working fine for me, but I still run my seldom used equipment out of fuel when not being used. My Briggs, Honda and Kawasaki 4 strokes all get 87 with StarTron.
My equipment stays in a cargo trailer and the heat buildup in the trailer causes the stored fuel to go nasty sooner than normal. I also keep several small cans of Sea Foam handy and I periodically refill them from a 1 gallon can.
Mad Mackie in CT:biggrin:

 

[Justlawns]

I use 91 or 93 octane mixed at 4oz to 1.5 gallons which is 34 to 1. I've never had any problems and my equipment is 8 years old they still run great . The biggest problem with 2 stroke equipment is not running the proper mix

 

[motoman]

Interesting the call for 89 plus octane, as I have never noticed that and use 87. Also I can only get ethanol 10 % and have never had a problem. But I will err on the rich side if unsure of oil mix.

 

[Mad Mackie]

Both my Husqvarna and Stihl 2 stroke operators manuals call for a minimum of 89. My Briggs, Honda and Kawasaki 4 stroke call for 87. All specify a max of 10% ethanol.
Mad Mackie in CT:biggrin: