OT Mr. Gene Bender Sir

I noticed you answered my "pun" remarks about the alcohol produced for ethanol getting side tracked.

In your answer you said that it had been available in your area for 25 years.

I have had something happen in my fuel line on my boat, which could very well have been caused in the fuel line on a tractor that has me stumped.

Between the tank and the engine I am using a grey silicon OEM Mercury fuel line with an OEM squeeze priming bulb and it is about 5' long; some vertical runs and a short length lies flat after it comes out of the tank. It is slick on both the inside and the outside, and upon examination, had not deteriorated on the inside. The tank is Crosslinked polyethylene built by Moller (spelling); apparently a figure in the business.

I recently had my fuel line plugged with somewhat soft, caramel colored particles, that had a circular back side, the same shape as the inside of my 5/16" line. They were about 1/8" square and were individual but packed most of the line.

The line is 10 years old, gets fresh gas with a little Sea Foam often enough to stay fresh. Ethanol hasn't been introduced around here till the last couple of years and I never had this problem before......but it could have been developing during that time. The inside and contents of the tank are pristine clean. The fuel outlet is covered with a fine mesh screen

Have you or any of your friends/associates had anything like that in any of your fuel lines in that 25 years of availability in your area you mentioned?

Thanks,
Mark

Sounds like the line was left open and paper wasps built a nest in it.

Gene

That's a pretty close analogy except the material is not fibrous like a honey comb, it's smooth in texture and semisoft. The line is sealed from the tank, through the engine.

We have plenty of them down here. Dirt dobbers everywhere, I mean everywhere and 100's of them; inside your tool box, inside your air filter inlet on motor vehicles, under the cowl of your outboard, everywhere they can crawl into. Make their nests out of mud and then it dries hard. Yellow jackets not so bad, but we have a large (1 1/2" yellowjacket...wasp) that likes to find a hole in something sitting in tall grass or the like, very close to the ground, that has the sting of a Bumble Bee....and we have our share of them too, and wood eating bees.

Thanks for the reply,

Mark

I have been using ethanol for 37 years, used to make it, was 1 of the first to introduce it to Iowa. Have participated in hundreds of thousands of gallons in testing, granted I got out of the business over 20 years ago. I never seen anything like that in all the testing we did.

My Bayliner says not to use it so i dont. Its a 1989. I totaly agree some of the rec type engines dont want you to use it. But all the cars and pick-ups ive had since it came on the market yrs ago i have used it with never any problems. My old tractors havent had any problems either some mow lawns some go on extended tractor rides like 75mi per day. It appears as though some states do have problems which goes back to why dont the gas we buy be the same all over instead of each state demands different blend and so forth. Look at all the money it costs. Interesting statement a Texas oil wheel said other day if we had the same fuel everywhere in his opinion gas would be 1.00 cheaper. Its like if the Bio-fuel was bad why does John Deere have it in their new tractors when they leave the factory and that came from a spokesman for them.

Thank your for your reply sir. Not what I wanted, but thanks anyway.

On a nationwide mix, will never happen, especially where large cities are involved as there are different requirements and regulations and they will be/are different.

Mark

Ethanol blended fuel will cause problems for equipment not designed for it. General aviation (small airplanes) are having real concerns with fuel. The current fuel for general aviation piston aircraft is 100 low lead (100 octane), low lead aviation fuel has much more lead than automotive gas ever had. Due to cost, lead content and having to keep the small volume of aviation fuel segregated from the large volume of automotive fuel there is a move to eliminate it. You can have your airplane modified to use auto gas, it requires replacing the stuff the ethanol will dissolve, corrode or otherwise mess up.

Sounds like it could possibly be the o rings inside the bulb. There is a check ball in there to keep the fuel from running back to the tank. You should replace the bulb every year as they will deteriorate and sometimes crack leaving you stranded (BTDT). That's why we always carried an extra on our boats after that happened to us. Just my thoughts, Keith

go to JD and get a tractor Brochure and they recommend no more than 5% bio...