Fueling a car is pretty easy. You just pull up to the gas pump and fill up. But what about your gasoline powered lawn equipment? Maybe you’ve heard you need to be careful of ethanol in your gasoline, or you’re wondering when you need to mix things like oil and stabilizers into your fuel. No worries. We’ve got your quick guide to fueling lawn equipment’s small engines right here.
2-cycle vs. 4-cycle Engines
Fueling needs differ between 2-cycle (also called “2-stroke”) and 4-cycle (or “4-stroke”) engines. There’s a big difference in how the two types of engines work, but since we’re just discussing fuel we’ll focus on that.
For a 4-cycle engine, you fuel it with straight gasoline the same way you would a traditional car. Also like in a car, the engine oil is kept separate from the gasoline and requires periodic changing. In contrast, you fuel a 2-cycle engine with a mixture of oil and gas. The engine oil is mixed in with the gas before fueling at a ratio recommended by your engine’s manufacturer.
Beware Of Ethanol
Whichever type of engine you’re fueling, you need to be careful about which kind of gasoline you buy. Fuel containing ethanol can seriously damage small engines by corroding metal and rubber. Ethanol absorbs moisture from the air, adding oxygen to the tank and making the gasoline go stale.
Fuels that contain up to 10% ethanol are safe to use in most small engines. But fuel containing 15% ethanol is now being sold in many U.S. states, including Texas. Unless the owner’s manual specifically states otherwise, assume that E15 fuel is never safe for use in small engines.
Keeping Fuel Fresh
E10 fuel starts to turn stale after about 30 days. Regular gasoline has a shelf-life of about 6 months. If you can’t use the fuel up before it will turn stale, you can add a fuel stabilizer.
If you know you can’t use the fuel up before it would go stale, you should add stabilizer when you purchase fuel. Alternately, you can add the stabilizer to fuel that’s already in your gas tank if you didn’t add stabilizer at first and now want to store the equipment without draining the fuel. Follow the directions on your fuel stabilizer to determine the correct amount to add.
Fueling How-To
If you have a 4-cycle engine, you’re good to go filling it with pure gasoline or E10 gasoline. There’s not even any need to worry about buying premium-grade fuel (it doesn’t provide any advantage in most power equipment). All you have to worry about is using fresh fuel.
For 2-cycle engines, you need to mix your gasoline with engine oil before fueling. Never put straight gasoline in a 2-cycle engine and always follow your owner’s manual’s instructions for mixing. To make things easier, several power equipment brands offer their own fuel specifically designed for small engines. These include Stihl MotoMix and Echo Power Blend. Both contain no ethanol and are pre-mixed with oil for use in 2-cycle engines. As a Stihl and Echo dealer, we can order these fuels for you if we don’t have them in stock.
