Ethanol fuel and storage??

[Ben Selby]

What are you doing when you store your 6x6 or don’t use it for more than a few months? I use ethanol pump gas. Should I just add some stabil 360 and run it through and call it good? Or should I drain the tank and carburetor?

[racerone3]

stabil is never a bad idea. I use some 2 stroke oil. enough oil for 1 gallon of premix, but put it in 5 gallons of gas. it has some fuel stabilizer and keeps things lubed to avoid corrosion. I'm sure it isn't the perfect soulution but never lets me down

[Laird]

Fuel containing ethanol draws moisture from the air. If you have no fuel in the tank or carb or fuel lines there is far less chance of corosion occuing. Some claim fuel stabilizers work,others claim it doesn't work. I have cleaned a lot of small engine carbs because someone got over zealous with the stabilizer and have cleaned a lot of carbs and replaced carbs because fuel with ethanol was left in the machine. Because I use a lot of gas and have the knowledge, experience, and equipment to clean carbs etc, I use standard pump gas. For anything that I don't use regularly, like my chainsaw, I use a high test gas-oil mix. The argo gets standard fuel as I have been running it a lot right now. The rider, push mower ,tiller all get standard pump fuel which is left in for the winter. I believe that it is at least 10% ethanol. I personally don't run a stabilizer and probability never will. We were told at Briggs school that standard pump gas has a shelf life of 28 days before it starts to deteriorate. They also recommend use of a stablizer.....Briggs brand of coarse. Echo 2 stroke oil contains a stabilizer in the formula. If you run nonethanal fuel, chances are you will have a lot less problems. My experiences anyway. Best to do the research and come to your own conclusion.

[Grizzly10]

Startron enzyme fuel treatment or k100 fuel treatment. Are excellent choices for treating fuel and they work. Put a little in your fuel system and that Argo will start with no issue in a few months or more. I’m not a fan of additives but I know these work.

[jeffery9076]

I have had a mowing biz 15 years now never use any stabilizer. My mowers sit from october till march and usually fire up no problems except battery in previous years now i just take them out and trickle charge them here and there. My 6x6 has set for over a year and only have had to prime the carb. Yes i use ethanol fuel. My biggest problem seems to be 2 stroke stihl is what i use in my blowers and weed wacker. Then figured it out. Every time it rained the gas can spout filled with a little water and played heck with my weed wacker mostly. Please tilt your gas can and dump water out of spout first before using. New gas cans suck today with the vent in the spout. Cap them if you have them. Also be careful with these cans the like to swell in heat. I picked mine up to fill up weedwacker and set it on metal plate i made for filling up equipment spout was closed but can was swelled and pressure blew out in my face and right in my eyes. Eyes were messed up for over a week/// Luckily i had water and flushed my eyes out. And i did have safety glasses on went under them

[Noel Woods]

I've used Startron for years with good results. When I first started using it I was a skeptic, so only used it in select machines and equipment. The fuel treated with Startron always cranked, even when sitting for long periods of time. The ones that were treated with Stabil or with untreated fuel were the ones I had to keep rebuilding carbs on.

I agree with the earlier post that modern gasoline breaks down quickly. For that reason I run all my small engines at least once monthly. When I'm done they get some fresh fuel.

[plott hound]

i only use costco premium gas with a bit of my home brew seafoam in it.no problems whatsoever in any of the small engine machines that i own.damn rototiller sits for a year and starts right up spring after spring.the costco premium gas has no ethynol in it plus its the same price as regular at the other gas stations.

[JWW]

Everything has ethanol in it around here, closest non ethanol is 50 miles away. Hate the stuff, anyway I have a home brew using ATF and MMO that I and my SIL use that has helped prevent problems. Plus I never leave a fuel tank partially filled, always topped off after any use even if only for a minute or two.

[ARGOJIM]

Startron has been working for us and I am bad about running iffy gas. I used to always run 2 stroke gas through everything at the end of the season.
The best thing is to run everything out of gas if it will sit more than a week, I have started adding fuel shut of valves in everything so it does not sit in the carburetor.

[trevorakm1]

the issue isn't sitting in the winter for us northerners it's sitting through the hot summer. as a northener there tends to be many used inoperable snow blowers for sale late fall. People can't get them to run. I always grab them as it is usually a gummed up carb. Fuel wa never drained and it sat that way all summer. Briggs and Stratton used to sell a great fuel stabilizer a few years back, proprietary I think. The local shop doesn't carry it anymore sad. never had fuel issues with that stuff. All the rest of the fuel stabilizers I have found to be hit or miss in effectiveness. Drain the fuel out of the carb before storing.

[plott hound]

taryl does some youtube videos on this subject. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDT59ckjxko