I recently bought a couple quarts of Truefuel50 to try in my Kawasaki string trimmer and edger. Interesting stuff, a bit on the pricey side, but Lowes and Home Depot in my area have been selling it for less than $5/quart. I dumped my previous mixture of 87 pump gas with Mobil One Racing 2T at 32:1 into one of my quads and poured in Truefuel50. 50:1 is the recommended mix ratio for my equipment. I noticed that the engines seemed to run a little bit rougher and didn't have that snappy acceleration I was used to with the mix I was using. I like the pre mixed form this stuff comes in and the absence of ethanol, but I wonder if I should try the Truefuel40 even though Kawasaki recommends 50:1?
Truefuel50 in Kawasaki string trimmer and edger
- Thread starter ccdhowell
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Maybe the stuff you bought was old stock? I "think" it has a two year shelf life. Check the date code.
Otherwise, I don't know why the 40:1 would work any better.
Otherwise, I don't know why the 40:1 would work any better.
Maybe you need to readjust the carbs?
Other than that, I would guess you got an old can. All of my two strokes run great on Trufuel 50 and 40. I just wish the stuff was cheaper.
Other than that, I would guess you got an old can. All of my two strokes run great on Trufuel 50 and 40. I just wish the stuff was cheaper.
Kind of curious of the Truefuel, is this pure non ethanol gas with a 2 stroke mixture? Reason is with the Shindaiwa trimmer there are some days when 3+ gallons of fuel are used, non stop and the engines gets hot, very hot. This is with ethanol fuel but the 2 stroke fuel mixture are rotated quickly being it doesn't sit in a can more than 2 weeks worst case scenario.
I just wanted to comment on the new EPA engines being it gets hotter than previous engines....this happens on a commercial level when engines are run WOT for so many hours drinking gallons of 2 stroke mixture. I also believe the ethanol 2 stroke mixture may have some play with the spark plug(especially on a commercial usage) versus non ethanol that's just from experience I've noticed. Reason to check the plugs with ethanol fuel more often versus non ethanol fuel.
Why not use fresh gas and 2 stroke mixture. For home usage the hour usage dwarfs commercial usage...don't think home usage hours are going to have a significant damage to an engine. Most common home usage problem is leaving 2 stroke mixture in the fuel tank corroding lines and seals. Reason the fuel doesn't rotate quickly enough unlike on a commercial usage.
I just wanted to comment on the new EPA engines being it gets hotter than previous engines....this happens on a commercial level when engines are run WOT for so many hours drinking gallons of 2 stroke mixture. I also believe the ethanol 2 stroke mixture may have some play with the spark plug(especially on a commercial usage) versus non ethanol that's just from experience I've noticed. Reason to check the plugs with ethanol fuel more often versus non ethanol fuel.
Why not use fresh gas and 2 stroke mixture. For home usage the hour usage dwarfs commercial usage...don't think home usage hours are going to have a significant damage to an engine. Most common home usage problem is leaving 2 stroke mixture in the fuel tank corroding lines and seals. Reason the fuel doesn't rotate quickly enough unlike on a commercial usage.
Originally Posted By: Mamala Bay
Kind of curious of the Truefuel, is this pure non ethanol gas with a 2 stroke mixture?
Yes, it's an ethanol free fuel.
Quote:
Why not use fresh gas and 2 stroke mixture. For home usage the hour usage dwarfs commercial usage...don't think home usage hours are going to have a significant damage to an engine. Most common home usage problem is leaving 2 stroke mixture in the fuel tank corroding lines and seals. Reason the fuel doesn't rotate quickly enough unlike on a commercial usage.
A lot of equipment will be fine using fresh gas and dumping the fuel out of the equipment when it sits, but taking ethanol out of the picture completely could still help extend the life of some equipment. Whether in use or not, if ethanol is present in the fuel system it's going to start deteriorating things. For example, I have a Weedeater Power Edge edger that is known for the fuel tank and lines basically disintegrating after a few years. By using Trufuel in it, I am hoping to avoid that. On the other hand, my two stroke scooter (knock off Ardisam Earthquake engine) has been run on carb cleaner, starting fluid, and various fuel mixes using 87 pump gas, sometimes mixed by eyeballing it in the scooter's gas tank...still runs fine.
Kind of curious of the Truefuel, is this pure non ethanol gas with a 2 stroke mixture?
Yes, it's an ethanol free fuel.
Quote:
Why not use fresh gas and 2 stroke mixture. For home usage the hour usage dwarfs commercial usage...don't think home usage hours are going to have a significant damage to an engine. Most common home usage problem is leaving 2 stroke mixture in the fuel tank corroding lines and seals. Reason the fuel doesn't rotate quickly enough unlike on a commercial usage.
A lot of equipment will be fine using fresh gas and dumping the fuel out of the equipment when it sits, but taking ethanol out of the picture completely could still help extend the life of some equipment. Whether in use or not, if ethanol is present in the fuel system it's going to start deteriorating things. For example, I have a Weedeater Power Edge edger that is known for the fuel tank and lines basically disintegrating after a few years. By using Trufuel in it, I am hoping to avoid that. On the other hand, my two stroke scooter (knock off Ardisam Earthquake engine) has been run on carb cleaner, starting fluid, and various fuel mixes using 87 pump gas, sometimes mixed by eyeballing it in the scooter's gas tank...still runs fine.
The 2 year shelf life for Tru-Fuel is after you open the can. Some changes have been made to Tru-Fuel over the past couple of years. I bought some about a year ago from Bailey's and it was ethanol free but was only 89 octane, not the advertised 92+ octane. All the new stuff I have bought recently is 92+.
You do have to tune your equipment to the fuel. All my ported chainsaws get 40-1 Tru-fuel and did require a little carb. tuning. My stock saws run just fine, as does my other OPE equipment. Great stuff IMHO.
You do have to tune your equipment to the fuel. All my ported chainsaws get 40-1 Tru-fuel and did require a little carb. tuning. My stock saws run just fine, as does my other OPE equipment. Great stuff IMHO.
I use trufuel 50:1 in all of my 2-stroke equipment (they recommend 40;1) and it works great, they start easier, run better than on regular pump gas with 2-stroke oil. Plus, the exhaust smells much nicer, almost fruity.
Ok I see...anals on Bitog uses the best on the market. It does boil down to how one value his/her equipment.
Originally Posted By: Mamala Bay
Ok I see...anals on Bitog uses the best on the market. It does boil down to how one value his/her equipment.
Are you saying that you do not value your equipment enough to use $20-$25 dollar per gallon gasoline in them????
Shame on you.
Lets see, hmmmmm, at work I use 10 to 20 gallons of 2 cycle gas per year. Ouch!
Ok I see...anals on Bitog uses the best on the market. It does boil down to how one value his/her equipment.
Are you saying that you do not value your equipment enough to use $20-$25 dollar per gallon gasoline in them????
Shame on you.
Lets see, hmmmmm, at work I use 10 to 20 gallons of 2 cycle gas per year. Ouch!
Commercial user chest beating doesn't mean much. It's a completely different usage pattern from residential use.
My Power Edge has a known fuel system weakness, and I don't use it much. Why not use a better fuel in it if it could prolong the life of the machine?
I don't use Trufuel in everything, but it does have its place, and I do use it in equipment that is more likely to have issues. I don't see anything wrong with it, especially for regular residential users who just want the thing to work five years down the road.
BTW, some of my equipment is used "commercially."
My Power Edge has a known fuel system weakness, and I don't use it much. Why not use a better fuel in it if it could prolong the life of the machine?
I don't use Trufuel in everything, but it does have its place, and I do use it in equipment that is more likely to have issues. I don't see anything wrong with it, especially for regular residential users who just want the thing to work five years down the road.
BTW, some of my equipment is used "commercially."
If I were in any kind of buisness that used 10 to 20 gallons of fuel a year I wouldn't use Tru-Fuel either. The good thing about that kind of fuel usage is that the fuel mix is not setting for more than 30 days at a time. A good synthetic oil like Stihl Ultra and a good fuel stabilizer is all you need. If you have ethanol free gas in your area that's even better.
It's the dthanol I'm running from. I treat for it in my quads and lawn mower, and previously in my 2stroke equipment, but Truefuel eliminates one potential problem in 2 pieces of equipment.
I didn't think to tune the carb a little for the Truefuel, I'll try that next time I pull out the string trimmer and edger.
My cans say they are 92 octane so I believe them to be fairly recent products. I live in the town it is made in so I'd hope for the freshest product, but I know that isn't the case; my cans went through the Lowe's supply chain to get to me.
I didn't think to tune the carb a little for the Truefuel, I'll try that next time I pull out the string trimmer and edger.
My cans say they are 92 octane so I believe them to be fairly recent products. I live in the town it is made in so I'd hope for the freshest product, but I know that isn't the case; my cans went through the Lowe's supply chain to get to me.
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Commercial user chest beating doesn't mean much. It's a completely different usage pattern from residential use.
01rangerxl, I understand your use and logic.
I hate the "commercial use chest beating" syndrome and certainly agree that residential use is way different than commercial. Just as bad as guys saying you get what you pay for and therefore everyone should buy Snap On tools or a $6,000 dollar lawn tractor.
My apologies if I came across in a way that I hate others doing. I was really more interested in poking fun at Mamala Bay, who I think is a commercial user.
On another point, knock on wood, I have not experienced the ethanol problems that so many others speak of or worry about. Some of my equipment sits for months between use, AND, I only use 87 octane that's available in our bulk tank. Knock on wood, again. Stihl oils have stabilizer in them.
Commercial user chest beating doesn't mean much. It's a completely different usage pattern from residential use.
01rangerxl, I understand your use and logic.
I hate the "commercial use chest beating" syndrome and certainly agree that residential use is way different than commercial. Just as bad as guys saying you get what you pay for and therefore everyone should buy Snap On tools or a $6,000 dollar lawn tractor.
My apologies if I came across in a way that I hate others doing. I was really more interested in poking fun at Mamala Bay, who I think is a commercial user.
On another point, knock on wood, I have not experienced the ethanol problems that so many others speak of or worry about. Some of my equipment sits for months between use, AND, I only use 87 octane that's available in our bulk tank. Knock on wood, again. Stihl oils have stabilizer in them.
Sorry, I didn't mean it to come across as critical of your post. It was more of a general statement. No worries about how you came across!
I do value the input of commercial users very much since they definitely put a lot of hours on their equipment and use it very frequently, but there is also a lot of great input on this board from non-commercial users. A lot of the commercial guys do seem to forget that what's right for them might not be right for everyone. Buying Trufuel might not be so silly for a piece of equipment that is used infrequently and might not even go through a gallon in a season. For a commercial user to spend a fortune on Trufuel wouldn't make much sense though.
It's kind of like the million mile Econoline. That van had some long (mileage wise) OCIs on the engine and trans, but still made it to 1M miles because it was in use all the time and the actual time intervals for the changes weren't that long. The mileage intervals for that van would not work on a church van that gets used once a week. Likewise OPE that is used commercially gets used so much the fuel never has a chance to degrade and gum up the carb, so why bother with something like Trufuel?
I do value the input of commercial users very much since they definitely put a lot of hours on their equipment and use it very frequently, but there is also a lot of great input on this board from non-commercial users. A lot of the commercial guys do seem to forget that what's right for them might not be right for everyone. Buying Trufuel might not be so silly for a piece of equipment that is used infrequently and might not even go through a gallon in a season. For a commercial user to spend a fortune on Trufuel wouldn't make much sense though.
It's kind of like the million mile Econoline. That van had some long (mileage wise) OCIs on the engine and trans, but still made it to 1M miles because it was in use all the time and the actual time intervals for the changes weren't that long. The mileage intervals for that van would not work on a church van that gets used once a week. Likewise OPE that is used commercially gets used so much the fuel never has a chance to degrade and gum up the carb, so why bother with something like Trufuel?
I use commercial grade equipment at a research institution, so it does not get used daily, or even weekly. Sometimes it sits for 2 - 3 months unused (saws, pole pruners, blowers, trimmers).
So far, no problems over 30 years, with the ethanol change over happening about 7 years ago.
No carb problems. No rubber break down. Maybe the Stihl oil with stabilizer in it is that good??? I only drain and run equipment dry if it will sit unused for 6 months or more. If lazy, I just dump the old fuel, refill with fresh, run it a bit, and put it back in storage. The old fuel goes into a vehicle.
I am now going to acknowledge the OPE gods and ask their continued blessing.
So far, no problems over 30 years, with the ethanol change over happening about 7 years ago.
I am now going to acknowledge the OPE gods and ask their continued blessing.
Could be the Stihl oil, but it could also be that it's better quality equipment. Most modern equipment is designed to handle at least E10 in the fuel system. Lower end equipment or very old pre-ethanol equipment might be more prone to problems.
And your schedule of draining fuel if it will sit for 6 months is good and is probably going a long way towards preventing problems with your equipment. The biggest problems come from the fuel sitting in the gas tank for a long time. That's when things really get messed up.
I'm actually not that good about dumping fuel. My Homelite trimmer usually gets used enough for it to not matter, but one time it had the same gas in the tank for a year. It became hard to start, but with fresh gas it was fine. The scooter has a huge tank (from an 11HP wood chipper), so some of what's in there is probably pretty old.
And your schedule of draining fuel if it will sit for 6 months is good and is probably going a long way towards preventing problems with your equipment. The biggest problems come from the fuel sitting in the gas tank for a long time. That's when things really get messed up.
I'm actually not that good about dumping fuel. My Homelite trimmer usually gets used enough for it to not matter, but one time it had the same gas in the tank for a year. It became hard to start, but with fresh gas it was fine. The scooter has a huge tank (from an 11HP wood chipper), so some of what's in there is probably pretty old.
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I use trufuel 50:1 in bith my echo string trimmer and leaf blower. Really like it, easy starts, no mixing, and they seem to run very well. Usually go thru 2-3 cans per season.
Originally Posted By: ccdhowell
It's the dthanol I'm running from. I treat for it in my quads and lawn mower, and previously in my 2stroke equipment, but Truefuel eliminates one potential problem in 2 pieces of equipment.
I didn't think to tune the carb a little for the Truefuel, I'll try that next time I pull out the string trimmer and edger.
My cans say they are 92 octane so I believe them to be fairly recent products. I live in the town it is made in so I'd hope for the freshest product, but I know that isn't the case; my cans went through the Lowe's supply chain to get to me.
Lowes did not sell it last year, as I worked there and suggested they get it. So at Lowes it would surely be fresh stuff.
I have seen the stuff at Walmart with rust on the top of the cans so I assume its last years. People who shop Walmart may be too cheap for the stuff.
It's the dthanol I'm running from. I treat for it in my quads and lawn mower, and previously in my 2stroke equipment, but Truefuel eliminates one potential problem in 2 pieces of equipment.
I didn't think to tune the carb a little for the Truefuel, I'll try that next time I pull out the string trimmer and edger.
My cans say they are 92 octane so I believe them to be fairly recent products. I live in the town it is made in so I'd hope for the freshest product, but I know that isn't the case; my cans went through the Lowe's supply chain to get to me.
Lowes did not sell it last year, as I worked there and suggested they get it. So at Lowes it would surely be fresh stuff.
I have seen the stuff at Walmart with rust on the top of the cans so I assume its last years. People who shop Walmart may be too cheap for the stuff.
All people have to do, is check the date stamp on the bottom.
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