disposing of old fuel

[dbb]

I have just bought a second hand Stihl 024AV Super, and have old fuel in my fuel can - about a year old. Too old to run my new precious on I think.

Don't have a 4 stroke lawnmower to run it in.

Can anyone offer suggestions of how to dispose of it, short of pouring it on the drive and flicking a match at it?

Many thanks!

 

[Adkpk]

I have the same problem. I am going to use it my backpack blower. I will watch to see if there is any disagreement with this.

 

[chainsawjunky]

Can anyone offer suggestions of how to dispose of it, short of pouring it on the drive and flicking a match at it?

Well you took away my suggestion Except you could throw it on a brush pile instead of the driveway. I'm no longer allowed to burn on the driveway

Evan

 

[rreidnauer]

Pour it in a metal pail, along with a piece of wood, chuck in a match.

 

[West Texas]

Pour it in the gas tank of your pick up or jeep; it runs like a jewel and ads a little lube to the tubes in the engine.

 

[olyman]

as west texas said---

 

[Woodie]

Pour it in a metal pail, along with a piece of wood, chuck in a match.

There's your answer right there.

Do not put year-old mix in your vehicle.

 

[Lakeside53]

Take to a disposal station... or put it in the truck....


At the store it cost us over $3 a gallon to get it recycled...

 

[dbb]

Tin can, wood, match is the winner so far... Never heard of a disposal station in New Zealand.

One thing's for sure - it ain't going in my truck

Any more suggestions?

And while we're at it, how long do you guys usually let your fuel go for - a month, 2, 6?

 

[goof008]

If I have gas I need to get rid of, it goes in the boat or truck. If you add a gallon of premix to 20 gallons of gas in the tank, your running it at about 800:1, I think it'd be ok. I usually cut wood and use my weed whip enough that the 2 stroke stuff is no more than a month or two old at any one time. As for the tractor, at the end of the season is there is a lot left, in the truck it goes. If there is only a little left, i'll top it off with winter blended stuff for the snow blower....both 4-strokers. You can always use Stabil in it to keep it fresh. I think alot of the 2 stroke oils have a fuel conditioner in them now also, at least the Echo stuff does.
And if setting ablaze isn't for you, sneak over to the neighbors truck and pour it in...don't do it if he drives a diesel, unless you don't like him!!

 

[JoeCanuck]

Over the spring & summer I save bits of old fuel in a 5 gallon gas can and use it to help start brush piles when the burning restrictions come off in the fall.

It doesn't amount to an awful lot though.

Joe

 

[dbb]

Thanks goof, sounds like good advice. Should be alright in my 1.6l Suzuki Escudo (I think you Americans call them a Sidekick?) then? Outdoor fire restrictions pretty heavy in Christchurch, NZ, though it's the middle of winter here.

 

[Lakeside53]

Contact your city council and ask then how to dispose of old fuel/petrochemicals. Everyone has the same problem and there is a process to recycle it.

 

[goof008]

Good point Lakeside. My city has a 55 gallon drum that they accept waste oil in located at the DPW yard...it kills me to go there though, they take all the trees they cut that are too large to chip and when they get a load, they call in a drum grinder. They will let you take the chips home, but you can't go there and cut.

 

[computeruser]

I poured all my old gas in a couple cans and put the cans (complete with gas) on freecycle last night. That way I dispose of it by making it someone else's problem. Which is probably better than pouring it in the chipper from the rental yard.

Newer mix gets poured in the car when I refill the tank - a half-gallon of 40:1 + 14 gallons of gas seems like a harmless combination, from the car's point of view.

 

[andrethegiant70]

Along the same lines as the "match and a can" suggestion, there is actually a name for that, a "smudge pot." In Boy Scouts (sometime in the last century) we lined trails with these when there was an evening get together. The only modification we did use was the addition of three or four inches of sand. The sand acts as a wick, and provides some balast (tip protection). If it does tip over you don't get burning fuel splashing everywhere, its pretty much soaked into the sand.

I will say that we did this with coleman white gas and it was a pretty clean burn... the addition of two stroke oil does make it smokier, but it still works well, just don't let it waft into the house. On the other hand, putting my old fuel into my 91 Honda doesn't seem to hurt anything. I think you'd need something that looks more like a Howitzer to phase that car.

 

[Jim Mesthene]

Dispose of one gallon each time you fill your truck. If you're uncomfortable with that, dispose of a half gallon every time you fill your truck.

 

[dbb]

Cheers for the help guys, into the truck it goes.

 

[Lakeside53]

Pour it through a coffee filter.. too much junk in old fuel tanks..

 

[dbb]

Good advice, will do. Might use a bit of old t-shirt though, as I suspect trouble may occur if I'm caught sneaking out to the garage with the percolator filter...