Farmall Cub

I am probably gonna get hammered for this but what the hay ...

• . Don't empty the carb. That will do more damage due to oxidization than leaving gas in it and it may dry out the gaskets and such. I don't run Ellie after I shut off the fuel anymore simply because of that. Keep fuel in the circuit.
• . If you are concerned with moisture being picked up by the ethanol use Sea Foam in the gas or in a pinch use Stabil. (I prefer Sea Foam over Stabil. Used both, Sea Foam seems to perform better)
• . If you do a search on the history of fuels, you will notice that ethanol/alcohol was used as a fuel before gasoline. Gasoline became the standard due to Mr. Getty and a few others in the Oil business. Henry Ford's creations ran on alcohol or mixtures in the beginning. Also after the Great War in Europe, ethanol/alcohol/methanol were all used as fuels. Carburetors can handle them.
• . My big beef with ethanol is the fabrications used to market ethanol plus the removal of vast amounts of farm food production lands in favour of gas production. There are far better sources for ethanol/bio diesel etc. And I am not happy with them adding ethanol and still charging the same price per litre. Nah ... doesn't sit too well with me at all. Nothing I can do about it though.
  
• . Bottom line - and I never thought I would be saying this cause I didn't want to use ethanol, is that it will burn properly in a Cub without modifications. Also a Cub with a steel fuel line doesn't have the problem a lot of yard equipment has in the degradation of the rubber or plastic fuel lines. This is an issue that can be solved with using the newer fuel lines.

With that out of the way ... there is no good reason to fear ethanol.

I remember when I was a boy and unleaded gas came out, completely replacing leaded regular and "hi-test." That was the end of the world too. We have been running whatever they have in the pump which is usually 10% ethanol with absolutely positively no problems. The Cub has set all winter, from say October to March, with ethanol gas in the tank, and then cranks right up in March. I have started putting a little Seafoam in the gas when spring rolls around, more as a "tuneup in a can" than anything else. Maybe it's an isssue with chain saws, weed eaters and so forth but we have had no and I mean no problems with it in the tractors.

IMO the whole "fuel instead of food" argument is bogus because the corn used for ethanol would have most likely ended up as animal feed. The by-products after ethanol is made can still be used for feed. I do agree there are better things to make it out of in terms of efficiency.

Ricky racer I have heard the same thing about the old two cylinder John Deeres. Apparently if it smells strong, a two cylinder will burn it!

Al

I go to tractor junk yards all the time, its amazing that the gas tanks on tractors you look in that have obviously been there for decades ( before ethanol could have been used in them) look great, even though the outside looks awful from being weathered. but the ones( recent one on the lot) you look in where the outside looks good and the inside is full of rust and green junk growing in there.

I went to pick up a Cub hood that I forgot I had in a shed that was abandon years ago. Its now on my Cub and the inside looked like new even thought the outside took a lot of work.

Now I know a lot of you boys say you never have had trouble with ethanol gas and think its a non issue, and I am glad for you. It works fine in my cars with a close system. but in my boats, tractors, small engines it's junk and I am old enough to remember when we kept leaded gas in cider jugs all summer for push mowers and such and it never went bad.

At a local old gas station when they where replacing the tanks they found an older tank that had been unused for years they dug it up and the old boys around here burned that gas and it was fine and decades old, try that with ethanol.

If you like it thats fine but do you like it enough to start using E85.

rexxon wrote:I go to tractor junk yards all the time, its amazing that the gas tanks on tractors you look in that have obviously been there for decades ( before ethanol could have been used in them) look great, even though the outside looks awful from being weathered. but the ones( recent one on the lot) you look in where the outside looks good and the inside is full of rust and green junk growing in there.

I went to pick up a Cub hood that I forgot I had in a shed that was abandon years ago. Its now on my Cub and the inside looked like new even thought the outside took a lot of work.

Now I know a lot of you boys say you never have had trouble with ethanol gas and think its a non issue, and I am glad for you. It works fine in my cars with a close system. but in my boats, tractors, small engines it's junk and I am old enough to remember when we kept leaded gas in cider jugs all summer for push mowers and such and it never went bad.

At a local old gas station when they where replacing the tanks they found an older tank that had been unused for years they dug it up and the old boys around here burned that gas and it was fine and decades old, try that with ethanol.

If you like it thats fine but do you like it enough to start using E85.

E85=completely different animal from what I have read. Our '09 Ford Escape has a label inside the gas tank door saying basically not to use it in that vehicle. I expect it could cause problems in old tractors too. The "sorry gas" we normall get is fine. As much as it costs now, I'm not going to buy enough to sit around very long anyway! Folks need to find something else to worry about....


Al

I keep E10 gas in cider jugs all summer long and it doesn't go bad on me any more than the old gas did.

The record is my Farmall Super H. Gas has got to be 5 years old in it, and most certainly has 10% ethanol. Just a week ago last Sunday I was out to the folks' place. I hooked up the battery and hit the switch. Fired right up and ran fine. Didn't even have to choke it.

There's more to the problems than just the ethanol, but ethanol is a convenient boogeyman to blame, so the myth will live on until the next boogeyman comes along.

I don't know if any of you know Scott Madsen, from Madsen's service, he is a Cub Cadet Dealer that will bend over backwards to find parts the Cadets. He has been in business for years and is a great knowledgeable source. He stated that from what he has seen working on everything from Cub Cadets to the big IH tractors, to the small rotortillers, lawn mowers etc. that he has seen the Ethanol ruin parts. According to him he has seen carburetors being gummed up badly to the seals being eaten up by the ethanol. In my opinion, I buy gas from Fleet Farm here in Wisconsin and their mid grade gas is ethanol free. It is a tad bit more expensive than the 87 octane, but I don't like ethanol. I put the ethanol in my 169 Cub Cadet and the fuel shut off failed, leaked all the fuel out of the tank. It was brand new... I can't honestly say that the ethanol caused it, but it is strange that it failed after I put the ethanol in it. Before it only had the ethanol free gas.

BTW, this seems like a new "what is the best oil for my Cub" debate... Or should I put Hytran or regular 30 weight oil in my touch control lift? LOL!

I don't know if any of you know Scott Madsen, from Madsen's service, he is a Cub Cadet Dealer that will bend over backwards to find parts the Cadets. He has been in business for years and is a great knowledgeable source. He stated that from what he has seen working on everything from Cub Cadets to the big IH tractors, to the small rotortillers, lawn mowers etc. that he has seen the Ethanol ruin parts. According to him he has seen carburetors being gummed up badly to the seals being eaten up by the ethanol. In my opinion, I buy gas from Fleet Farm here in Wisconsin and their mid grade gas is ethanol free. It is a tad bit more expensive than the 87 octane, but I don't like ethanol. I put the ethanol in my 169 Cub Cadet and the fuel shut off failed, leaked all the fuel out of the tank. It was brand new... I can't honestly say that the ethanol caused it, but it is strange that it failed after I put the ethanol in it. Before it only had the ethanol free gas.

BTW, this seems like a new "what is the best oil for my Cub" debate... Or should I put Hytran or regular 30 weight oil in my touch control lift? LOL!