The new gas sucks!!!!

[BigBill]

Have you noticed that the new gas we have today doesn't last as long as our old gas did?

My local buddy has a power equipment shop and he told me that two stroke mix with the new gas today only lasts about one month. After that we need to mix it fresh again. I have noticed that in my stuff thats been sitting for a few months even the straight gas smells funny already too. I guess that only leaves us either running everything out of gas or draining it when its not in use.

I have also noticed that the new gas eats the older rubber gas hoses too on the power equipment too. They just melt apart.

[Merk]

We have have differ blends of the same brand fuel depending on the season where I live. Winter temps can be -10 degrees and summer temps can be 95 degrees. I can tell the difference running winter gas when the temp is 85 degrees.

At the beginning of each month I take any gas(2 cycle mix and straight gas) and pour it into my truck. I've been doing this for 10-12 years now. My small motors preform at their peak level all season long. The key is not to buy no more fuel than you will need.

Buying name brand fuel that cost a few cents more than the cheap stuff makes a big difference too. I had poorer performace, gas mileage and spark knock on my pick up. I have a truck that has 2-20 gallon gas tanks. I would put the good gas in one tank and the cheap gas in the other tank. I would go on a 200 mile round trip pulling a 5000 pound trailer. The cheap fuel averaged 5-6 mpg with spark knock and the name brand fuel averaged 7-8 mpg with no spark knock. The truck is a 1977 Chevy C-20 with a 350 motor, auto trans and 4.10 gears. This test was done several times and both tanks had the cheap-good fuel in them.

Products like Staybil will help. The 2 cycle mix that I'm using now has Staybil in the oil.

[Snotzalot]

I have a Troy Built Roto Tiller that probably gets used a few hours a year. I used to drain the tank and let it run out of gas but I still would end up with dirt in the carb, etc. I now use Stabil gas additive in every tank of gas I purchase. Thsis past fall I parked the tiller in the barn and forgot to drain the tank. This spring, I pulled the rope, fired it and haven't had a bit of trouble.

[Don McCombs]

I use Stabil in all the gasoline for my small engines, Cubs included. It also goes in the 60 gallon tank in my boat.

[PKS]

Stabil with each fill up? It sure makes sense after reading the back of the bottle though still necessary if your are likey to use the fuel in a relatively short period of time?

[gitractorman]

Sta-bil is the way to go. Also, the old trick of running the engine out of gas before storage (snow blower or tiller, etc.) is now NOT recommended. Turns out that you can never run all of the gas out, and what gas is left works with the oxygen and really gums up the small parts in today's engines. For years now I have been running sta-bil in my last can of gas before winter, through all of my equipment, just before winter storage. Lawn-boy 2-cycle mix has sta-bil in it, so it stays good for a long time.

[Snotzalot]

Stabil with each fill up? It sure makes sense after reading the back of the bottle though still necessary if your are likey to use the fuel in a relatively short period of time?

Yup every tank! Rumor has it that gas starts to go bad in about 30 days, many of us probably have found that, and you never know IF that 5 gals you purchase just might sit there for a few more than 30 days. Cheap insurance IMO.

[BigBill]

We would use stabil in our motorcycles over the winter months and in the spring by the second tank full of new gas they finally would start to run good again. Maybe the gas affects the stabil over time? Or should i say the gas goes bad or a little sour in a few months even with stabil in it.

I been draining a lot of bad gas lately too. I just mix it in with new gas to burn it up. I add one gallon of bad gas to a tank full and it seems to run ok so far.

I store 5 ... 5 gallon cans of gas just incase i need it but now with the new gas so bad i won't do that anymore. We need to go back to burning alcohol again? Maybe we should grow corn to make it? The old tractors did start on gas and switch over to alcohol.

[Snotzalot]

Most of the gas you buy these days has SOME ethanol in it. The switch over at some stations caused lots of grief with water in the gas.