Anyone here using modified factory fuel?

[Brent Nowell]

when I say factory fuel I mean stihl, husky or tru fuel cans pre mixed at 50:1 with a little extra oil.
If you do the math the 946ml bottle at 50:1 needs 10ml of oil to make it 32:1

This is more expensive but there is a clear indication to me that this fuel is different than my standard pump gas. It smells much different when burned even when I use husky 2stroke oil in my regular gas the smell is much different. It tells me that what they say about the fuel may be true, they may have cleaning agents to keep carbon build up down, and they truly have no ethanol.

Not a fan of the 50:1 but adding my own oil in there seems like a good idea. Does anyone else do this?

I started using this fuel cause I bought a 562 and didn’t want to associate any running problems to my fuel and mix I use. I started with one can of husky fuel and it really is running absolutely perfect *knock on wood*. I’m on my second can and when I get to my last and third can, I’m gonna try 10ml more oil. If that works out I may or may not continue using it depending on how this thread goes. These auto tunes are finicky, for me at least, this one may run just fine on regular gas. Even if it does the pre packaged fuels seem like a good idea for keeping the engine clean of carbon and keeping the carb in good condition.

Thoughts?

 

[Andyshine77]

It's expensive, but I have to say everything run much better on the stuff. I've bought the canned fuel with no oil in it and mixed my own. It's just too expensive and it doesn't come in five gallon pails.

 

[HaveTwo]

Homeowner here with a 562xp to clear out trees on a few (6) acres. I have long used both pump and pre-mix fuel (True Fuel on Amazon was the cheapest I could find) based on how much I expect to burn. Occasional saw use? Just put in some pre-mix. Recently I've been using my auger, trimmer, and saw a lot, so I add oil to pump gas.

I just run at the spec'd ratio, 50:1, and call it good. If the fuel is more than a month old, I dump it and get a new gallon. Cheap compared to rebuilding a carb. Going on a year of buying the 562xp, using it most every month for a few tanks, just run it dry when I'm done with it, and get to haul what I cut by hand to a burn pile. Only time I have had issues were once when the decomp valve stuck open, and twice when the bozo putting the chain back on didn't look at the direction the teeth were facing.

I'm not exactly wearing out saws over here, I sit in an office most every day. But if anything sitting is harder on equipment that running a lot of times. Ask the 3 bikes in my shop! (but don't ask my wife...)

 

[Ted Jenkins]

In the real world nobody would buy premixed fuel. For those who do not cut as a routine buying premixed fuel is probably an easy choice. When I cut I burn two to three gallons a day. In the past twenty years the premixed fuel will be in a can for up to two weeks so storing fuel with alcohol has not been any concern for me. If you are not comfortable in adjusting your carburetors then you should reconsider what you do with your fuel. Do not mess with it. At 50:1 your fuel mixture will be at a certain percentage while adding oil you will risk engine failure because of a lean fuel percentage. If you are cutting at least two to three times a week you will notice how your motors are running and instinctively know when you have a lean or rich condition. If you run once a month then changing ratios not a great idea. The premixed fuel likely does not have any alcohol in it and can shelf a long time. Thanks

 

[Moto Vita]

If you feel the need for more oil in your fuel and want to use canned gas buy the straight gas and add oil rather than mix two different oils by adding yours to whats already in there, there could be compatability issues between the two oils.

 

[HaveTwo]

In the real world nobody would buy premixed fuel. For those who do not cut as a routine buying premixed fuel is probably an easy choice. When I cut I burn two to three gallons a day. In the past twenty years the premixed fuel will be in a can for up to two weeks so storing fuel with alcohol has not been any concern for me. If you are not comfortable in adjusting your carburetors then you should reconsider what you do with your fuel. Do not mess with it. At 50:1 your fuel mixture will be at a certain percentage while adding oil you will risk engine failure because of a lean fuel percentage. If you are cutting at least two to three times a week you will notice how your motors are running and instinctively know when you have a lean or rich condition. If you run once a month then changing ratios not a great idea. The premixed fuel likely does not have any alcohol in it and can shelf a long time. Thanks

I've turned a few people onto pre-mixed fuel for their occasional use yard implements. One when I loaned him my auger, and a can of TruFuel, telling him just to use it, not whatever old garbage he had laying around. The people are mostly sold due to it lasting longer, and having less of a chance of gumming up carbs. The first time someone who isn't familiar with it has to rebuild a carb, it's annoying and time consuming at best.

I'm amazed when I talk about vehicles, car/bike/truck, that people seem intent on using whatever old nasty fuel is in a system, rather than disposing of it, dumping fresh fuel in, and having at least a reasonable confidence they aren't going to have to fix more garbage shortly due to fuel issues.

 

[Andyshine77]

In the real world nobody would buy premixed fuel. For those who do not cut as a routine buying premixed fuel is probably an easy choice. When I cut I burn two to three gallons a day. In the past twenty years the premixed fuel will be in a can for up to two weeks so storing fuel with alcohol has not been any concern for me. If you are not comfortable in adjusting your carburetors then you should reconsider what you do with your fuel. Do not mess with it. At 50:1 your fuel mixture will be at a certain percentage while adding oil you will risk engine failure because of a lean fuel percentage. If you are cutting at least two to three times a week you will notice how your motors are running and instinctively know when you have a lean or rich condition. If you run once a month then changing ratios not a great idea. The premixed fuel likely does not have any alcohol in it and can shelf a long time. Thanks

Canned fuel does not have alcohol in it that is the main point of canned fuel. Changing fuel oil ratios between say 50:1 and 32:1 has little effect on tuning, and in my experience more oil adds to the combustion process, so i actually end up with a richer tuning and having to slightly lean the jets out. Hypotheses don't always end up correct when actually applied, and this is what I have observed.

 

[Andyshine77]

If you feel the need for more oil in your fuel and want to use canned gas buy the straight gas and add oil rather than mix two different oils by adding yours to whats already in there, there could be compatability issues between the two oils.

I played around a bit to see if different two cycle oils would mix with each other, and so far they all mixed just fine. That said I agree with you.

 

[Moto Vita]

I played around a bit to see if different two cycle oils would mix with each other, and so far they all mixed just fine. That said I agree with you.

I agree that many oils will mix just fine, but I know that some won't. Since the OP is adding oil to his gas anyway there's no reason to find out.

 

[Andyshine77]

I agree that many oils will mix just fine, but I know that some won't. Since the OP is adding oil to his gas anyway there's no reason to find out.

Mostly just the castor oils won't mix, everything else is fine IMHO. But again I agree better safe than sorry.[emoji111]

 

[Colt Marlington]

Nah. I use Trufuel sometimes, and have used VP in the past, but don't add anything to it. It definitely seems to have more energy, as I've poured a few drops on my campfire to get it started and it really flames up quick and evenly with just a few drops.

I usually mix my own. Lately 0-ethanol high test gas with something between 40 and 45 to 1 Red Armor.
I use the squeeze bottle and go a little over the line for a gallon. Or a small bottle with a little less than a gallon. But don't have an exact measurement.
Then separate the gallon into four used trufuel cans.

For my bigger saws I might add a drop or two of oil when filling the saw though.

 

[BlacknTan]

I've started doing this. Recently bought a 550XP Mark ll and bought 3 quarts of the XP + fuel mix to break it in. But, I added 1 ml of XP+ mix oil per quart to get to 45:1. I was very impressed by the performance of all my saws with the canned fuel.
Just bought a case of 4 gallons of VP 4 cycle fuel from the local NAPA store, and mixed my own with one bottle of XP+ mix oil, plus 4ml of oil per gallon to get to 45:1. Yeah, it's too expensive if I made my living running a saw, but for what I do, the performance is very impressive!
We not only avoid the ethanol, but all the other additives and oxygenators that are added to pump gas... The canned 94 octane fuel makes the equipment run like dynamite!

 

[andy]

This past spring my neighbor gave me 5 gallons of Motomix when he moved out of state(minus one tankful he bought a saw, fuel, etc... but it did not get him interested).

I used some to mill with 3120 adding one ounce of Yamalube 2R to one gallon motomix. The math works out to 36:1.
I'm through the first two gallons with that mix.... The saw ran great.

I did a visual test before using it. Mixed the gas and oil in a glass jar...stirred and observed for separation overnight.... non to be seen.


I usually run 40:1 No-E gas with Yamlube or 40:1 Truefuel in that milling saw.
I'll probably burn up the rest of that motomix in a newly acquired 241c. Once it's gone I won't buy more.

My faith is higher with Truefuel for storage... the Stihl Motomix gas smells funny and so does the exhaust.
Others have mentioned the same and my Stihl Dealer says that he feels there is a short limit to the Motomix shelf life once opened.
Probably tinfoil hat stuff but whatever.

 

[milkie62]

We have a race track near me and one gas station sells different grades of race fuel from 94-112 octane. Approx $6.50-7.00/gallon. I usually buy a 5 gallon can of it and mix it 50/50 with local 93 octane non-ethanol. Seems to work in my saw great and fuel lines do not harden.