av gas and a snowblower

[fbref5269]

hi all,

i have 2 1/2 gals of mixed and unmixed av gas 100 octane left over after berwick was cancelled. can i run the unmixed in my sears 9hp snowblower? and the mixed in my stihl 041 farm boss(the 1980 version not the new one).

they are calling for 4 to 6 inches in westminster, md tomorrow.

two rules in life.... there is no crying in baseball and no snow in md in october.

frank

[thepiranhabros]

hi all,

i have 2 1/2 gals of mixed and unmixed av gas 100 octane left over after berwick was cancelled. can i run the unmixed in my sears 9hp snowblower? and the mixed in my stihl 041 farm boss(the 1980 version not the new one).

they are calling for 4 to 6 inches in westminster, md tomorrow.

two rules in life.... there is no crying in baseball and no snow in md in october.

frank

When I used to run AV100LL, I'd put the leftovers in my 2-cycle lawn equipment (string trimmer, sidewalk edger, leaf blower, chainsaw).

This year I ran 110 Sunoco, and still put the leftovers in my lawn gear.

Engines never ran better!

[fbref5269]

thanks

thank you. i have heard the fuel is too hot. i wanted to hear from someone who has used it. i would think the engines would like it. i have put it in the snow blower and i am ready!!!!!!

frank

[sam]

No problem whatsoever. I use my leftover in my chainsaw, 2 stroke and 4 stroke mowers. All I notice is the castor burning sweet.

[bill boyes]

I have used leftover race gas with oil in my lawn/Edger for years. Only problem surfaced last year when the fuel lines to my Lawn Mower and Leaf Blower dissolved. Along with the needle valve,seat In the Briggs Stratten motor. I asked for advise from my local Farm Equipment shop. They said they do the same except at years end they run pure gas/ alcohol FREE through the motors and then put them away. I have noticed at his shop and others sell small QT cans that sell for about $9.00 of alcohol free fuel. They say to run this fuel or fuel mix to purge the alcohol fuel before putting the tool away for storage. I ' am now a believer.

[fbref5269]

gassed up and ready

the snow blower is gassed up and ready to go. thanks for all the input! and it is snowing in westminster, md as i write. looks like i'm going to use it today. this goes against 2 rules in life..... there is no crying in baseball and there is no snow in october.

frank

[Yellowjacket]

There's actually a lot of lead in 100LL gas. If your motor doesn't run hot enough to burn it off you will lead foul your plugs. Best thing to do would have been to dilute it with mogas, 2:1 mogas to avgas would help a lot and over the winter you would still get rid of the stuff. Remember avgas will keep for a couple of years, so it isn't going to go bad in the can over the winter if you don't mix it with mogas right away.

If you want to get rid of it the best thing to do is run your tank to empty, put in a third of a tank of avgas and then fill the rest with mogas. This will cut the lead content down to where it won't foul anything.

[sam]

I have not experienced any lead fouling.

[Yellowjacket]

Avgas has more than 2x the lead of the highest octane pump gas you could ever buy. If your engine doesn't run hot enough to burn it off, in time it will lead foul the plugs. I've used Avgas in high compression auto engines on the track and on the street and have experienced lead fouling if it wasn't run hard enough. Just sayin....

[bill van steenwyk]

Not talking about AV gas as it is supposed to be ethanol free, but a word of warning about ethanol laced gas being used in small lawn or garden equipment:



Ethanol laced gas has it's detractors, but we all need to get used to it as it is here to stay, at least as long as ADM's lobbyist's are allowed in DC.

That being said, you need to take some precautions. Some years ago when they started selling it here in the midwest, I put some in a generator I keep on the back porch in case of power outages. After about three months of no use, I went to crank it up just to "exercise" it and it would not start. Checked for a full gas tank and it was empty even thought I thought I had filled it up. Turned out the ethanol in the gas had eaten a hole in the clear plastic bowl that had the screen type filter in it and also was the on-off valve to allow gas to flow to the carb. All the gas (about 3 gallons) had run out on the deck. Luckily there was no ignition source around nearby or I could have lost my house. I replaced that type filter and on-off valve with a metal one and added Stabil gas treatment to the fuel and have had no more problems. Most of the equipment being sold nowadays is being equipped with ethanol resistant materials in the fuel system, but if you have older equipment you can have problems. Best solution is after winterizing drain the fuel system of any ethanol laced fuel.

I have found that at least some gas stations that are near lakes or marinas have ethanol free gas and are a good source for gas for small lawn equipment and other types of similar equipment that does not get used over the winter. Stabil also has an ethanol gas treatment, as does Lucas Oil. The Stabil ethanol treatment is dark blue in color, the straight gas treatment is red, or at least that is what they are selling in my area at present.

This is NOT a rant against ethanol laced gas (too late for that) but there are precautions that need to be taken if you store your gas powered equipment for long periods of time without use with ethanol gas in it. BEST way to store it is drain the gas completely after winterizing. Also use caution when using websites that advertise the locations of stations that sell ethanol free gas. They depend on consumers to put that information up, and some folks either don't know how to read, or tell if what they are buying is really free of ethanol if that is what you want.

[sam]

Avgas has more than 2x the lead of the highest octane pump gas you could ever buy. If your engine doesn't run hot enough to burn it off, in time it will lead foul the plugs. I've used Avgas in high compression auto engines on the track and on the street and have experienced lead fouling if it wasn't run hard enough. Just sayin....

Not quite sure it is 2x, but it is leaded. My low power equipment experiences no problems. My largest consumption is my pleasure boat, no trouble with it either.

[krazy karl]

100ll

The 100LL Avgas is low lead(LL), at least for the aircraft industry. I don't know how much lead it has but it is lower than what used to be sold. I am not sure but I think that 100LL is the only Av Gas that can be sold here in Calif.

I worked for a company that overhauled and restored radial aircraft engines. One part of my job was to tear them down and clean the parts. Between the leaded fuel and non-detergent oil(there are no detergent oils approved by the FAA), pistons and combustion chambers would have major deposits requiring hours of bead blasting. Seven radial cylinders would take me two days to blast and most of the time spent on the top of the combustion chamber. Radial cylinders are one piece like old Mercs. Personally I won't use av gas in my race motor. I also read a report a few years ago that said testing showed Pennzoil and Redline 2 stroke oils produced the least amount of ash but all quality 2 stroke oils were pretty close to each other.
kk

[thepiranhabros]

I agree

Not quite sure it is 2x, but it is leaded. My low power equipment experiences no problems. My largest consumption is my pleasure boat, no trouble with it either.

Yes, I have to agree with Sam on this one. I've never ran into plugs fouling from my leftover AV100LL fuel. I even mix mine heavy (16:1) with YamaLube 2R and never have any problem. I have all Stihl 2-cycle equipment and chainsaws (except for one Echo string trimmer). Occasionally I'd even put this into my 4-cycle Toro lawnmower and Toro 4-cycle snowblower with the only evidence I was running it was a little white smoke coming out of the mufflers.

[David_L6]

Nothing at all with AV gas. I run or have run it in my C mod, D mod, and E mod motors, a 25hp 3 cyl. Yamaha, 30hp 3cyl. Suzuki, 50hp 3 cylinder Mercury, weedeater, chain saw, 2 CR250s, a KDX200, portable generator, and a 17hp Ka wasaki (on a John Deere). Never had a problem with it. In fact, AV gas is just about the only gas I ever run in any two stroke motors these days. I refuse to run gas with ethanol in a two stroke except when I absolutely have no other choice, which is very seldom. I also run nothing but AV gas in my portable generator (4 stroke motor).