Northwest Fishing Reports

This is an FYI or I'm the last to know. After spending 30 min. trying to get my weedwacker started on Saturday and deciding it was bad gas about 3 months old I checked for spark it was good and installed a new plug I was looking on line at both ECHO and Stihl web sites and they now offer 32oz. cans of pre-mix fuel with non ethanol gas that is 93 octane gas and is supposed to be good for two years. For someone like me that has a hard time using up a gallon of mixed fuel in a season this is the way to go. It is a little expensive around $9.00 a can but it beats a trip to the repair shop. Another good thing is you don't have to do the winterize thing of draining the fuel tank and running the equipment out of gas. I have been running ECHO Power Blend 2 stroke oil in my Stihl weedwacker for about three years that has a fuel additive in it but it still goes bad in a short time. I hope this helps some of you out I will be buying some on Monday and let you know how it works.

I used to have the same issue with small engine equipment equipment. I would run them out of gas on the last use and expect everything to be peachy in the spring, or in the winter when it came to my snowblower. It didn't always work that well. A small engine repair shop told me to stop running the fuel out. He said it left small amounts of fuel in the system and allowed that fuel to easily turn into gunk in the off season. He told me to put seafoam treatment in the fuel when I mixed the gas with 2 cycle oil, and then add a little more to the 1 gallon can at the end of the season. I have been doing that for about 6 years now. Ever since, all my small engine equipment starts up fine after the off seasons.

It works for me.

I've been running mine dry for years. OB at the beach house starts on the third pull every year. The last step is to pull the choke and get it to pop one more time. I always use Marine Stabil in the gas to keep the ethanol in suspension for all my small engines. If I only had a 2 stroke weed whacker, I'd for sure buy the little cans as I'd use about 2 cans a season which would save me playing with gas cans and bottles of oil and stuff. Another trick some of the model guys do is use white gas and bump it with a little octane booster. Works fine in a 2 stroke but absolutely not in a 4 stroke.

2S or 4S I never run mine dry, chainsaws, brushcutter, generator, pressure washer, kicker, lawn mowers, nothing. Problem with small engines is the small orifices in the carburetors. Just because the engine stops running it does not mean the carburetor is dry, there will still be fuel to congeal especially on the jet/s.

I dump season end 2-stroke fuel into another vehicle and run it. A gallon or so of mix in 18 - 20gals in your car or truck won't hurt a thing. Beginning of next season I start with fresh mix and use the same stabilizer for it as my outboards since I purchase in quarts.

Works for me and everything always starts right up.

After dismantling carbs that were still gummed up in the spring even when I ran them dry in the fall, I switched over to using Marine Stabil in the boat, mower and generator - and NOT running them dry.

I dont have any problem using up the fuel for my mower - I only keep a 1 gal can for it and its not pre-mix. The generator is more of a hassle because it holds 10 gallons (not premix) and I often go more than a year or even 2 without needing to run it. I end up having to drain it every other year so I can pour that fuel into a can and run it out on my truck.

Oh - I also only run non-ethanol in everything but the trucks and cars.

What a different good fuel makes. Today I got out the weedwacker and drained the bad fuel out and filled up with ECHO Power Fuel it is kind of a reddish pink color so I pushed the primer bulb about five times until I could see the new fuel was coming up then one pull on the rope with out the choke even on and the motor roared to life. My Stihl weedwacker is six years old and it now runs like it did when it was new. I'm sold.