How will the new 15% ethanol gasoline affect our Craftsman mowers and lawn tractors?

Auto Doc's said:
It is not advised to use anything but E10 or non-ethanol in small engine equipment. E15 will create excess cylinder temperatures that will eventually lead to engine failures. Along with that it will use more fuel than usual.
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Nope....not even close. The latent heat of evaporation from ethanol actually cools the intake charge and engines run cooler because of that fact. Run an engine on methanol....huge increase in latent heat of evaporation. The cylinder will feel cold to the touch when running.
 
Funny when you look for ethanol and 2024....NAS has nothing to say about it.
sgkent said:
Ethanol is a molecule that has hydrogen, carbon and carries an oxygen molecule. Octane carries only hydrogen and carbon. It has many more of both compared to ethanol. As a result, ethanol burns leaner, faster and produces less power. It results in a 12% faster rise in combustion pressures, and less burn duration time. That is more like you pushing your grandchild on a swing with anger than a loving push when compared to pushing a piston. In my opinion, it is all about certain people making money and not things running and lasting as efficiently as they could. The National Academy of Sciences in a 2024 study determined that ethanol laced fuels are far worse on the environment than E-0 fuels. More CO2 emissions too. Worse, ethanol is hygroscophic, and pulls H2O from the air. That introduces water to the fuel and causes corrosion. Some unscrupulous business people can add it before they sell the fuel because it dilutes in the ethanol without being visible (until it reaches saturation). To my knowledge there is no standard that limits the percentage of water in the ethanol, and that changes MPG when you are being sold water instead of fuel. Think about it. In a 10,000 gallon highway tanker of E10 gasoline, someone could drain off 40 gallons of fuel, add back 40 gallons of clear water, and that water would not be visible because ethanol will hold up to 5 - 6% water. That 40 gallons at $4 - $5 a gallon per load ... . Do the math. E-15 only makes all this worse but who cares. The American people will slop up to the trough just about anything they are told if, "But, it saves the planet," is added to the sentence. They will let all levels of their government dictate this.
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Never put E anything into the tank of an internal combustion engine.
Ethanol is for imbibing at social gatherings. Don't let the "gubmint" do their social experimenting
on your equipment. The only thing Ethanol in gasoline does is send your engine to an early retirement,
and inflate the price of corn, and us farmers do not mind that one bit. But you would be hard pressed to
find any farmers in my area who would ever put this crap into the tank of any of their gasoline equipment.

Stay away from anything the "gubmint" says is good for you. You'll sleep better at night. ;)
 
sgkent said:
Ethanol is a molecule that has hydrogen, carbon and carries an oxygen molecule. Octane carries only hydrogen and carbon. It has many more of both compared to ethanol. As a result, ethanol burns leaner, faster and produces less power. It results in a 12% faster rise in combustion pressures, and less burn duration time. That is more like you pushing your grandchild on a swing with anger than a loving push when compared to pushing a piston. In my opinion, it is all about certain people making money and not things running and lasting as efficiently as they could. The National Academy of Sciences in a 2024 study determined that ethanol laced fuels are far worse on the environment than E-0 fuels. More CO2 emissions too. Worse, ethanol is hygroscophic, and pulls H2O from the air. That introduces water to the fuel and causes corrosion. Some unscrupulous business people can add it before they sell the fuel because it dilutes in the ethanol without being visible (until it reaches saturation). To my knowledge there is no standard that limits the percentage of water in the ethanol, and that changes MPG when you are being sold water instead of fuel. Think about it. In a 10,000 gallon highway tanker of E10 gasoline, someone could drain off 40 gallons of fuel, add back 40 gallons of clear water, and that water would not be visible because ethanol will hold up to 5 - 6% water. That 40 gallons at $4 - $5 a gallon per load ... . Do the math. E-15 only makes all this worse but who cares. The American people will slop up to the trough just about anything they are told if, "But, it saves the planet," is added to the sentence. They will let all levels of their government dictate this.
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This letter from the USEPA is a temporary waiver in air pollution regulations and allows gasoline fuels to increase the percentage of ethanol to E15 because of the conflict with Iran. The link opens into a four page .pdf letter to the Governors for their State Implementation Plan (SIP) for air quality. E15 is made available for 20-day intervals which can be renewed. https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2026-03/national-fuel-waiver-governors-3-25-26.pdf
 
I have used 10% ethanol ever since it came out without any problems. Ethanol does absorb water but that keeps water from accumulating in your gas tank. When you buy gas line anti-freeze it is alcohol to absorb the water to prevent the freezing. The alcohol burns with the gas. I would not use 15% ethanol because the engines are not designed for it.
 
Cusser said:
How will the new 15% ethanol gasoline affect our Craftsman mowers and lawn tractors?

What should we do?
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I found several gas stations in my area that sell E Free. If you have Sheetz in your area some but not all of them have a pump with E (Ethanol) free gas. While I have 2 Sheetz's within a mile of my house, I make a10 mile round trip to Neville Island where they have it on a pump. I called around the stations in my area and at one a foreign person with an heavy accent thought I was asking if they had free gas.
 
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