Higher Ethanol content authorized for summer months:
Oh happy joy getting the gummed-up mowers and other machines to start! 
Iāve NEVER had a problem with any of my mowers or snow-blowers or pressure washer engines. One of the biggest neglected things is NOT running the engine dry of any gas if itās not going to be used for a while.
āTo lower fuel pricesā, any guesses on why fuel prices have gone up more than 50%?
I push the button that says no ethanol added. The jet on my generator was plugged as well as fuel pump problems on my mower. I have had no fuel related problems since I switched and use a stabilizer. The blower, generator, and washer, get the fuel emptied but the mower sits all winter with the gas in it. So who knows but work# for me.
Nevada will be angry and the boys will likely flag thi# topic.
I leave the gas in all my small engines, but they all have a shutoff valve from tank to carb. Before I put the small engines away for the season I start it up and then turn the shutoff valve until the engine stops because itās starved for gas.
Those of us with all electric powered outdoor equipment donāt care.
Agreed 100%.
I switched to all battery/electric lawn gear about 7 years ago, and Iāll never go back to gas.
Having said thatā¦ when I did still have gas-powered lawn equipment, I always used non-ethanol gas.
Battery powered lawn equipment really depends on your lawn and how big/small it is imho, I just bought a battery weed eater and overall it works, but nowhere as well as gas ones do/did, could just be the one I got but a battery chainsaw is no where as strong as a gas one, from my experience anywayā¦ Hedge trimmers the same, gas is just more powerful in lawn equipmentā¦ YMMV
But I will say, dang it is nice to just swap batteryās and go with less mess/clean upā¦
Definitely. My smallish lot works well for my 56V eGo mower (just enough for one charge when itās a heavy growth) and 18V Ryobi trimmer/edger and leaf blower. The mower battery also powers an eGo chain saw, which is fine for cutting up broken branches up to 5" or so. It wouldnāt work for cutting larger stuff for firewood, etc. The Ryobi batteries are starting to lose some of their capacity after 12+ years.
My neighbor owns a Luba robotic mower.
Some of my lawn equipment is so old it doesnāt have a shut-off and I still donāt have any troubles with starting in the spring.
My old weedeater is showing age and itās pretty loud and Iām tired of my ears ringing every time I use it. Iām ready to try a battery powered one. What did you buy?
You sure itās not tinnitus?
That was a serious question, not an insult or a joke
Iāve had it for quite awhile and thereās no shame in it, as far as Iām concerned
I use Ryobi 40V equipment. Have had really good luck with it, no problems.
I bought a 20V Craftsman one on sale 1/2 off the other day, mainly for the battery lolā¦ All my battery shop tools are Craftsman, I have been impressed with them so farā¦ The weed eater came with a 2mah battery, but I also have 4mah batteryās and for my acre lot it took a little more than one 4mah battery to do the yard, but you do have to go slow in the thicker stuff vs just blasting through itā¦ But again, could just be the basic $100 one that I boughtā¦ Now my chainsaw uses different batteryās (cheap Amazon find, but works great for what it is)ā¦
Yeah, thereās that too, but I am able to just tune that out. A lifetime of driving around with the stereo volume at ā11ā and a career in the shop with air hammers and impacts with no hearing protection have probably affected my hearing.
So letās say that my old weed eater is so loud that it bothers even me.
Iām looking at a 40V trimmer, I believe that should do what I need it to and will probably have sufficient battery time. Maybe that will be my Fatherās Day gift.
With the gasoline equipment I had, I used ethanol free gasoline. I am down to just a 2 stroke snowblower, so I buy canned ethanol free fuel at Walmart. Itās expensive , but it saves the frustration of hard starting. My driveway isnāt very long, so a can of ethanol free 50:1 mixture lasts an entire winter season.
With my battery powered lawnmower, leaf blower and weed eater, I try to.use power only produced by solar panels. I worry about carbon being in the kilowatts generated by coal fired power plants, moisture being in the kilowatts produced by hydroelectric power, and the speed of the kilowatts generated by windmills with a strong wind. I donāt want the motor windings messed up with carbon particles, or moisture on the windings from hydroelectric generated power, or the electrical connections loosened by wind generated power when there is a strong wind. Seriously, with my smaller lot, I find the battery powered equipment very convenient. I replaced a gasoline mower I kept in service for 35 years with a battery powered mower and I prefer the battery powered mower.
Most of my small garden devices are battery including the pole saw. I bought an 80 volt weeder and chopper but man is it heavy. They had an ego at the hardware store. I think it was approaching $5000 and new batteries were $1 to 2,000. I bought an electric cultivator too and I donāt have to worry about gas. My chain saws are gas though and you donāt cut an acre of grass with electric power and store them inside the garage. You donāt pull trailers and dethatchers and grade with a battery.
I didnāt think to do that. I just put the recommended amount of Stabil in the gas tanks after autumnās last use.
Did the shutoff thing.
Machines took 20 tries to start, and the lawnmower would motor-boat: v-r-r-OOOOmm-v-r-r-OOOmm, as I cut the first lawn of April. On the low end of that motorboating it would almost stall over a high patch of grass.
Iād take it to the small engine shop 5 minutes away, the charged me $150 to āfixā it, and it still motor-boated a little.
The same shop that told me to use premium (91-93) fuel in my machines.
The leaf-blower would run good for about 5 minutes, then slowly lose RPMs, stall, and would not restart again until I needed it again in a week to blow grass off the front walkway.
Incidentally, my nephew in the Philippines says 93 is ālowā octane there. 95 to 100 octane is regularly available, and he asked me āwhatās Ethanol?ā
Get a set of the welders torch clean out devices and use those to clean out the main nozzle. Sometime the hole has to be slightly drilled out using micro drill bits. Not much, just a little.
ā¦to spill out the old fuel, add a pint of new fuel, remove the air cleaner and squirt carburetor spray in the throat of the carburetor.
Carbureted engines can be difficult to start with old fuel. I prime the carburetor, start the engine and use up the old fuel.