gas

ethanol or no ethanol for older tractors. which do you use?

friend of mine has sold me on white gas for weed eaters, chain saws, which have oil mixed with gas.
he says reduces carb problems. i agree with him.

There is no down side to Ethanol fuel. Just use it.
It can and will clean junk out of the system. Where do you want junk?
It has fine and proper octane for tractors and small engines (unless specified for higher octane. Be sure to determine what type of rating system is in use at the pump (usually R+M/2) and what is specified in the manual. It may be different.
I use it (and have used it in my 51 GMC for 20 years. and in all my other equipment. Jim

Defintely use the ethanol. Your old tractor will thank you.

I dump a little SeaFoam in it as a stabilizer. New gas goes bad pretty fast without it. My rule is that any gas that goes in a gas can gets SeaFoam added. Never had a problem with ethanol fuel since I started doing this.

I won't use ethanol-gasoline blend on old tractors nor small engines. Not in old tractors because it can be tough on fuel system soft parts built before ethanol was even thought of being used in fuel. Then too, If there's dormant crud laying around in the fuel system having done no harm over the last 60 or 70 years, why break it loose now? I don't use it in small engines because fuel for then often sets around in cans for some time and the ethanol can evaporate away. I guess the same could be said for fuel for use in old tractors too, come to think of it! I've heard that SeaFoam is mostly alcohol, but don't have a can of it to check that out If so, why use it when I'm of the no-alcohol religion anyway. Oh, by the way, I use nothing but ethanol blend in my newer over-the-road vehicles.

I don't want to offend my corn farmer friends but I would not use ethanol gas in anything that isn't used frequently and I never put it in any of my old tractors or small engines. I burn it in my cars, except the Corvette which needs higher octane, because it's the law in MN. I have never needed to buy Seafoam when I don't use ethanol gas and I no longer need to rebuild my small engine carbs every year. Try another experiment. Fill your car with ethanol gas and check the mileage then fill it with non ethanol gas and check the mileage. I and my friends have done it several times and I always get roughly 10% better mileage with the non ethanol gas.

I've been using ethanol since it came into being in my tractor no problems, if you have problems with it swelling rubber hoses the hoses are 30+ yrs old and need to be changed.
GB in MN

(quoted from post at 03:47:01 05/11/14) I won't use ethanol-gasoline blend on old tractors nor small engines. Not in old tractors because it can be tough on fuel system soft parts built before ethanol was even thought of being used in fuel. Then too, If there's dormant crud laying around in the fuel system having done no harm over the last 60 or 70 years, why break it loose now? I don't use it in small engines because fuel for then often sets around in cans for some time and the ethanol can evaporate away. I guess the same could be said for fuel for use in old tractors too, come to think of it! I've heard that SeaFoam is mostly alcohol, but don't have a can of it to check that out If so, why use it when I'm of the no-alcohol religion anyway. Oh, by the way, I use nothing but ethanol blend in my newer over-the-road vehicles.

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There are no soft parts in the fuel system of the older tractors.

(quoted from post at 06:27:00 05/11/14) I don't want to offend my corn farmer friends but I would not use ethanol gas in anything that isn't used frequently and I never put it in any of my old tractors or small engines. I burn it in my cars, except the Corvette which needs higher octane, because it's the law in MN. I have never needed to buy Seafoam when I don't use ethanol gas and I no longer need to rebuild my small engine carbs every year. Try another experiment. Fill your car with ethanol gas and check the mileage then fill it with non ethanol gas and check the mileage. I and my friends have done it several times and I always get roughly 10% better mileage with the non ethanol gas.

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Well, I have a 2 year old lawnmower, a 2 year old garden tiller, a 40 year old Snapper lawnmower, and a 74 year old Farmall H. ALL were parked at the end of last mowing season with E10 in the gas tanks. ALL of those machines started easily and ran great this spring. In fact, I did not add any fresh gasoline to any of them until AFTER they all were used for the first time this year.

Cub 154
Cub Cadet 1204
IH 706
Farmall M
Farmall 450

All I run is E10 and I have run E85 in the 450 at times, I did have to turn the load screw out a little after it warmed up.

All of this equipment has sat in the shed since last fall and I didn't attempt to run anything until about 3 weeks ago, they all started right up like they had been run yesterday. This is Central IA.

Nate

(quoted from post at 08:01:25 05/11/14) Cub 154
Cub Cadet 1204
IH 706
Farmall M
Farmall 450

All I run is E10 and I have run E85 in the 450 at times, I did have to turn the load screw out a little after it warmed up.

All of this equipment has sat in the shed since last fall and I didn't attempt to run anything until about 3 weeks ago, they all started right up like they had been run yesterday. This is Central IA.

Nate

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I also have run E85 in my 1940 H and my 1940 M. Good results with both tractors, but maybe a wee bit more cold blooded than normal. I tried the E85 in my 1950 H. It started and ran, but the cold-blooded symptoms were much worse.

Around here, you couldn't justify the extra cost of the non ethanol to use it.

Ive used pumped gas for years, in everything, and have never, NEVER had an issue with "old" gas, nor have I had to rebuild a carb from using what comes out of the pump. Maybe Ive been lucky since, oh, when ever it was E10 was made mandatory, heck I cant even remember there ever being an ethanol vs non ethanol debate until the recent years, when the "know it alls" claimed there was a problem with E10. Seems to me, though, people highly confuse the use of E10 vs E85. BTW, E85 is higher octane than the 93 you pump into your Vette. Not saying you can use it, just letting you know, and Ive consistently use it in my working M, and rn a couple of gallons through the rest of my tractors shortly after pulling them out from hibernation, and have NEVER had one fuel related issue due to E85.

It seems every time I use ethanol in something that is going to sit for a long time I have issues the next time I go to use it. I do use it in my M,B,C,and H with out any issues with how it runs and I do not notice a power loss. I prefer not to use it in them however, example #1: this spring my wife tried to start the tiller and it wouldn't start, I dumped in a half tank of new gas and it started on the fourth pull. Example #2 last fall I filled my H with 10% ethanol and drove it 8 miles home over very hilly roads with no issues, this spring of wouldn't run unless the choke was 3/4 on. I dumped 5+ gallons of fresh gas into it and cleared most of it up. Example 3: I use only regular gas in my cheap Harbor Freight generator that only gets used once or twice a year and it starts within 5 pulls and runs fine every time. Example #4: I use 10% ethanol in my work van which is used daily and I have no complaints with it at all there.
Just my experience, I don't think it hurts anything just requires treating it a bit different.

I have been cleaning old gas out of fuel systems since 1955. Can't say that todays gasoline is any different in that respect than it was then. I have seen engine look like you poured tar in the intake from using stale gasoline. That was in early 60's. I do believe the Ethanol blend does have effect on some hoses etc before they were compatible.

Same here. Lots of 10% ethanol fuel over the past 15 years or so, and not a single problem attributable to the fuel.

Frankly I think the ethanol "problems" are due to the poor quality of the dinosaur juice that makes up the remaining 90% of the fuel you buy. I also have a suspicion that it's being done on purpose by big oil.

Ethanol raises the octane level in testing. This allows the oil companies to use a LOWER QUALITY gasoline in the mixture, and still make the grade.

Hmm, lower quality gasoline... Lower. Quality. Gasoline.

When something is 90% of a substance that is as volatile as gasoline, the other 10% really shouldn't make much difference. Especially, when it is also volatile.