db4600

Well-known Member
Minnesota is legislating for a 15% Ethanol blend which is up
from the 10% currently in place. Ethanol is a viable green
energy option and the engine manufacturers are moving in
that direction, but there are those downside issues regarding
fuel systems for older equipment. There are many pros and
cons to the whole picture when looking at efficiency,
commodity pricing, production cost, emissions and effects to
equipment. The trend for ag power is to diesel, but there are
all those old gas engines we deal with.

What are some views and thoughts on ethanol fuel?
 

I own a 1940 Farmall H, a 1940 Farmall M, and a 1950 Farmall H. ALL THREE run just fine on E-10 and have been for 20+ years. I even experimented with E-85 in these tractors. They ran just fine, but were a bit slow to warm up. My local filling station does not offer E-15 (yet). When they do, I will try it.
 
It's not bad in a vehicle equipped to rum it.

Jumping up to E15 is going to set a lot of lean codes on the early OBD2 cars.

But trying to use it in the old carb equipped engines is going to cause storage problems, too lean if no adjustment on the main jets, attack on fuel system components not designed for ethanol.
 
Ive only had two issues with ethanol blends in older equipment. One is that it cleans out all the gunk from decades past. Better filtration before the carb solves this problem. The other problem I have experienced is the inconsistency of E-blends. E-10 is not guaranteed to be E-10, it can be a lesser blend. Just like E-85 may only be 55 percent alcohol. You can set a carb so it will run sorta with these blends, but can never have it right for more than one tankful. The only solution I have for this is straight gas, which thankfully is available at a local station for a reasonable price.
 
Here in Iowa I have mostly successfully used E10 for 40 years in everything except for the 2019 Polaris Ranger 500 in the hot summer months. The ranger will vapor lock on E10 if the temps are in the 90's. Polaris needs to get modern!!!! Everything else on the farm runs just fine and the fuel systems stay clean and dry. The famous oil pressure activated sediment bowl shut off diaphragm on some of the number series two banger Deeres will wrinkle and gum up if ethanol is used but ethanol resistant replacement diaphragms are easy to find today. I don't have any experience with E15 in old farm tractors but I don't see why it would give problems. E10 and E15 in my road vehicles does not affect gas mileage. E20 does appreciably drop the gas mileage in my Chevy Colorado compared to E10, E15 and non ethanol. With everything new we need to be open minded and be willing to adapt. Nothing is perfect.
 
Ethanol fuel can and will grow mold in the fuel system, I have been told. I have no problem using ethanol in a vehicle or what ever that is used on a regular basis. I don't like it for a seasonal motors. I believe shelf life is shorter with ethanol than fosil fuels. Ethanol comes from plants or living things.
 
Our local bulk plant/fuel supplier still sells some non ethanol gas for us 'old timers' who like our old tractors.It is a few cents higher in price. You can fill up your own container,or they will deliver a 100 gallon minimum.I have put ethanol gas in my tractors from time to time,but have not noticed any difference in running or performance.I like to keep 10 or 15 gallons of AvGas here for my ATV,lawnmower,chainsaw,etc. yes,it costs almost double of regular gas. But there are no issues with bad,rotten gas. Plus they just start and run better.And,my ATV can sit all winter and start in the spring like it was run yesterday.IMHO,well worth the extra money
 
Our ATV's and motorcycles sit all winter with E-10 in them and start and run just fine, been that way for years, and northern MN has pretty long winters! Our Honda 4-wheelers are over 20 years old and never had any fuel related issues.
 
My 3 nd 4 wheelers are from the early eightys. Gas sitting those old carbs frequently goes bad here over winters. Maybe it is because we are so dry here,have such low humidity.The guy here who works on ATVs says he can make a good liveing just cleaning up carbs left full of gas on the fall.It's the additives in the gas that cause the issues,not the gas itself.
 
Well right now I hate it. The e15 I put in my easy start 39H will not start. This is the reason. I hauled the 39H to my gand kid girl to her place so she could divery it like 5 blocks to school for AG day and bring in a tractor.this tractor has always started with like 2 or 3 turns and it is running. When I drove 70 miles one way so in this morning she could drive it to the school because the boys told her that girls can't drive tractors so she could show them up. My oldest boy now how to start the tractor and called me and said that it will not start no matter what he does. I at the stain down there put fuel in an smells bad and seen that the tag said e15. I know it's the fuel because this little tractor is turned up good and has never not started. My boy said that she was very upset and I'll never put it in a tractor of mine again.
 
People that make money directly or indirectly off of ethanol always say it's the best thing since sliced bread. Not so much for the rest of us.
As far as E15, my 2018 truck says specifically not to use anything over E10.
 
I burn E-10 all the time in 3 of my vehicles and my collection of JD's and small engines. Never had a problem. Started the pressure washer the other day after sitting close to a year with E-10 in it and it started on second pull. I burn E-15 or 20 in my 2000 Dodge Dakota when I am close to a station that sells it. Can't tell any difference in performance at all but is cheaper. I have run E-30 in it also and it ran just fine. Mileage went down but gas was cheaper so equaled out.
 
I burn E-15 when it is available. Ethanol has 2/3 the energy of gasoline. Supposedly E-15 has 2 percent less energy than E-10, but I don't notice any big change in fuel mileage. Is gasoline still a cheaper ingredient than ethanol?

Today the prices at the local Kwik-Trip are:

87 E-10 (90V-10E) $2.799

88 E-15 (85V-15E) $2.509

E-85 (65V-35E) $2.749 www.kwiktrip.com
This pricing does not make sense, but maybe E-15 is subsidized. I'll choose the best bargain.

Here in MN the corn farmers and ethanol producers are pushing E-15 much more than the enviornmentalists are. Every time someone suggests cutting ethanol subsidies or restricting corn fructose syrup in soft drinks the local corn producers put a stop to it.

Myself, I'd rather see the corn fed to livestock. Livestock production would be more profitable and we would be eating $5/lb T-bone steaks instead of $5/lb 80 percent lean hamburger.
 
Everything gas operated engine (excepting my 2011 Silverado E-85 flex fuel rated) that I have or bought as recently as December, says to limit your ethanol to E 10. If E 15 becomes popular and is the only option, I can see a good market for more "snake oil" sales to help the non rated engines cope. I burn gasoline in anything that isn't used on a daily basis other than the truck and Honda Element with E-10 rating. I figure the Honda's computer might get confused if I change types of fuel....besides it seems to tolerate it ok with a lot of sitting and some snake oil additive.
 
(quoted from post at 09:10:38 02/26/21) Our ATV's and motorcycles sit all winter with E-10 in them and start and run just fine, been that way for years, and northern MN has pretty long winters! Our Honda 4-wheelers are over 20 years old and never had any fuel related issues.

Bingo. Same down here in southwest Iowa. I've even run chainsaws and 2 stroke dirtbikes on E10.
 
This is what a brand new fuel pump looks
like from the 10% alcohol gas. It was only
used a week before I parked it. It sat for
5 years. I just pulled it out today. I hate
the stuff!!!!!!
cvphoto79783.jpg
 
When the E10 started I lost 2-3 highway mpg in the family car. I attribute it to the lower BTU.

It's pretty clear that it does not help the environment, primarily due to aldehyde type emissions.

Take notice that corn growers and truck transporters are not clamoring for ethanol powered rigs and are using diesel powered equipment for their business. That tells me a lot right there. It's so great and wonderful for everyone else to use though.

I say sell it as 100% ethanol and let the market decide. Price it per BTU, that's the real equalizer.
Stop mixing it with gasoline and creating something that is neither fish nor fowl.
 
I have a 445 JD mower that sat 2 months and the fuel pump looks just like yours. My F932 front deck quit, and the lines were bad so I replaced all ten feet of the rubber gas line with Gates hose. Two days later the line had dissolved into a black goo. 10 % corn. Take a baby food jar(glass) and put in an inch of gas and set it up out of the way. look at it in 30 days.
 

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