Chainsaws won’t work in the heat

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I run several 261 saws and have trouble in the summer with this issue.

Refineries mix fuel in a lighter blend in the winter to be thinner and volatilize more quickly due to the cold.

Opposite as well, in the summer they mix it thicker to slow the evaporation.

So in the spring when we get some of those summer temps and the fuel station still has a tank full of fuel that was blended for the winter the fuel will vapor lock much quicker than mid summer when fuel is being blended for the heat.

This is especially so for 91 grade fuel that usually doesn't get sold as fast as the 89 fuel.

Stations will tend to have this 91 winter blended fuel on hand longer than 89 since fewer people use it.

As was mentioned, open the fuel cap and let them fume off and rid that vapor lock.

Sometimes I need to hot start them. (Hate to do it, too dangerous)

Thats my 2 cents!
 
Canned fuel is not the final solution. I only run VP in my saws. Also I should have clarified that my 261Cs all have latest solenoid, fuel filter, etc.
VP is the best fuel you can get imho. I put some in a jar and it didn't even change color after 18 months. I don't know what they put in it but it lasts like nothing else. I tell people to run that in generators that sit a lot.
 
You should say in your opinion VP is the best canned fuel instead. I'm fine with Echo Red Armor 50-1 and experience no hot start issues with it but I won't ever say it's the best because that is entirely an opinionated view.

What Works fine for me but may not work fine for you. I do know one thing and that is, corn squeezed pump gas sucks in hot weather, especially in chainsaws where the fuel tank is so close to the heat source (the engine) because it boils and vapor locks the motor. Not so much with engines with remote tanks like my pressure washer or or the zero turn. The farther away the tank is from the heat source, the less chance the gasoline boils and none of my 4 strokes seem to mind corn squeezed weasel pee at all either. I do watch the ethanol content of it as 4 stroke air cooled engines don't cotton to pump gas over 10% corn alcohol.

Why my one lawnmower is a diesel. No issues with diesel.... yet.
 
You should say in your opinion VP is the best canned fuel instead. I'm fine with Echo Red Armor 50-1 and experience no hot start issues with it but I won't ever say it's the best because that is entirely an opinionated view.

What Works fine for me but may not work fine for you. I do know one thing and that is, corn squeezed pump gas sucks in hot weather, especially in chainsaws where the fuel tank is so close to the heat source (the engine) because it boils and vapor locks the motor. Not so much with engines with remote tanks like my pressure washer or or the zero turn. The farther away the tank is from the heat source, the less chance the gasoline boils and none of my 4 strokes seem to mind corn squeezed weasel pee at all either. I do watch the ethanol content of it as 4 stroke air cooled engines don't cotton to pump gas over 10% corn alcohol.

Why my one lawnmower is a diesel. No issues with diesel.... yet.
nothing wrong with that stuff either.
 
Non-ethanol, WaWa 89 works fine here in florida, along with Red Armor or Amsoil Sabre 44:1 and a tuning screwdriver. Typically 90 and above. If I run a tank of fuel out of a saw, I grab another fresh saw and let the last used saw cool down, readjust chain if needed and refill oil and petrol. No issues.
 
Carbed engines have more trouble with this.
Had a few offroad motorcycles that were bad for this. One time I was riding my KLR 650 allong a river bank and ended up stuck on a silt bar. With the bike spinning and working hard without generating any air flow, and the fuel tank sitting right overtop the engine, long before I got the bike back to firm ground it quit idling and gas started bubbling out the keyhole in the fuel cap. I thought I'd pull the cap to relieve the pressure but a big geyser of gas started shooting about 4' in the air, had to slam the fuel cap back on. Great... I've still got an overheated 400lb bike badly stuck on a silt bar, and now I'm low on fuel and completely covered in gas as well!
 
Had a few offroad motorcycles that were bad for this. One time I was riding my KLR 650 allong a river bank and ended up stuck on a silt bar. With the bike spinning and working hard without generating any air flow, and the fuel tank sitting right overtop the engine, long before I got the bike back to firm ground it quit idling and gas started bubbling out the keyhole in the fuel cap. I thought I'd pull the cap to relieve the pressure but a big geyser of gas started shooting about 4' in the air, had to slam the fuel cap back on. Great... I've still got an overheated 400lb bike badly stuck on a silt bar, and now I'm low on fuel and completely covered in gas as well!
Damned EPA causes all kinds of problem with that **** gas! Did it hit you in the eyes?
 
Apologise to the OP for the derail, but you can get pretty gnarly on a KLR too. Not a U-tuber, but I did post this video a few years back, just to prove it could be done.


Thought my old XR600 was a pig, lol, funny how the faster you went the more stable it got. Did surprisingly well over fast sand whoops.
 
Impossible to disagree. yet a thumper has a great playbike powerband. I Remember riding a KTM 620 and being impressed by the suspension and braking (Marzocchi,Ohlins,Brembo) and wanting it now.
 
Thought my old XR600 was a pig, lol, funny how the faster you went the more stable it got. Did surprisingly well over fast sand whoops.

Yeah, we have a beach around here where the sand is fine like icing sugar. You pretty much have to get the bike started in the in the water, hit 3rd gear, then pop out onto the loose sand. Its a wide open beach without many people on week days... I've hit the top of 5th gear out there and it feels just like pavement.

Alot of guys have trouble riding that beach even on dirt bikes... kinda fun showing them how its done on a KLR.
 
wasn't really sure what was in it to be honest. I think it is great stuff but people usually cheap out and buy regular pump gas. I tried the vp and it worked so well I kept buying that stuff for things that I have sitting before I put them away.
 
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