Export thread

Hi folks,

We just bought a new snow blower. The manual says to use fuel with not more than 10% ethanol.The low octane fuel around here contains 10% ethanol which would seem to be acceptable.
The high octane fuel is available ethanol-free. It costs a lot more but that's not the deciding factor. I understand the higher octane burns hotter. Isn't that bad for the engine?
A third option is to use the low octane gas with the additive that counteracts the ethanol.
We just want to use the fuel which will prolong the life of the snow blower the most. Thanks for any help.

Todd K Stearns

I always recommend non-ethanol, with a caveat. I personally use 10% ethanol, but a always drain the entire system at the end of the season. I also shut off the fuel flow to the carb after each use and drain the carb bowl. This way each time I use it I start with a dry system. Others will say this is overkill and just use an additive, which I never recommend. That’s wasting more money than non-ethanol fuel..

Thank you for the reply. I would opt for the high octane ethanol-free fuel myself IF it won't damage the engine. Why am I worried about that? When I was younger I burned out the head in a 4 cylinder vehicle. I was told it was because I was using 94 0ctane fuel in it and that it burned too hot for that small of an engine. This may or may not pertain to a small engine. With the newer equipment going all-electric soon we want this thing to last as long as possible. Cost of the fuel is of little importance. It's not like we're driving it 200 miles a week, LOL.

toddsyr said:

Thank you for the reply. I would opt for the high octane ethanol-free fuel myself IF it won't damage the engine. Why am I worried about that? When I was younger I burned out the head in a 4 cylinder vehicle. I was told it was because I was using 94 0ctane fuel in it and that it burned too hot for that small of an engine. This may or may not pertain to a small engine. With the newer equipment going all-electric soon we want this thing to last as long as possible. Cost of the fuel is of little importance. It's not like we're driving it 200 miles a week, LOL

Click to expand...

Believe it or not but, lower octane fuel runs better in most all stock ( non-modified) 4 cycle snow blower, mower type engines! Now 2 strokes are a different deal, they are enhanced by higher octane. Now, without getting all scientific....It's all about the amount of compression each engine has as to what octane works best!

High (?) Octane fuel does NOT burn Hotter, I burns Slower to avoid predetonation.
Use it.

That's the plan Gord. The manual only says a MINIMUM of 87 octane, it doesn't list a maximum. After scouring the internet I also found no mention of a maximum octane there either. Thanks to everyone for there replies.