Stihl leaf blower reached the end of the road

[The Heretic]

I put fuel stabilizer (PRI-G) in my 55 gallon drum that I often use to fill up the tanks of my tools, so maybe that helps. But I used to have a number of motorcycles and a lawn mower that I didn't do that for and never had problems even though they would sit with a full tank (or at least carb) for months in the winter.

 

[gmerkt]

Oh there is some real life stuff here.

I am at the time of my life that I could finally move to a rural property of my dreams. It's also the time of my life that it would be a struggle for me to maintain such a place

Some people spend most of their working life, toiling away, dreaming about "life after work." They yearn to leave populated areaa for a more bucolic life in the country. Just about the time they start to have health considerations. You don't want to be too many miles from a medical facility that can take care of your problems.

Don't even get me going on the mice

Where there are woods, there are rodents. Lots of them. That's something I have to keep after year round.

Biggest issue is being young and not a lot of expendable income

Go back up to my first quote. "Some people spend most of their working life..." Once again, timing. You work all those years, get the money for that place in the country you want. But wait... now you're old.

Getting old sucks.

 

[Pete F]

OK, how about this. A 1961 Sears David Bradley 21" bar. I got it in a trade for a Angus Bull. I got three Heifers and the chainsaw. I used it to cut wood during the summers in High School, lent it to my Dad for 5 years of cutting up wood for his stove. He finally had to replace the reeds in the carburetor - try finding those these days. It still runs good, but since I got my Stihl Ranch I haven't used it much. It weighs a ton, cast iron case and cylinder. Manual oilier too. Needs some cleaning

 

[po18guy]

Autolite makes an Iridium plug for such machines. Faster starting and should last the life of the machine. Most likely a gooey carb, as the fuel evaporates and leaves gunk behind. If you don't feel up to re-habbing the carb, ask around - they're not very complicated. Oh, and some Sta-Bil 360 in the gas is a definite help even if fuel is left in it all winter.

 

[Oregonhunter5]

To those that never use non ethanol fuel, you are lucky enough to buy a lotto ticket.
Anything with a carb should run non ethanol. All my old rigs get the good gas. Ethanol gas shouldn't even exist. Cost of creating that crap is worse on the environment all day long.
You want to smell something sweet, run 110 octane. $10.00 a gallon. Dirt bikes love that stuff.

 

[JohnnyMac]

OK, how about this. A 1961 Sears David Bradley 21" bar. I got it in a trade for a Angus Bull. I got three Heifers and the chainsaw. I used it to cut wood during the summers in High School, lent it to my Dad for 5 years of cutting up wood for his stove. He finally had to replace the reeds in the carburetor - try finding those these days. It still runs good, but since I got my Stihl Ranch I haven't used it much. It weighs a ton, cast iron case and cylinder. Manual oilier too. Needs some cleaning

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I hear ya man! My father in law used to log in Oregon and at about 75 years old, he gave me his old Pioneer saw. I think it had a 24" bar but it felt like 48". That thing was a beast and would cut down a building, but by the time I got it started, I was so frickin worn out I had to take a break with it running until I caught my breath (and hope it didn't die on me....lol). I run a little Husky 14" now and it's light, easy to start and sips fuel. Probably won't last nearly as long, but gotta weigh the pros and cons I guess. Next time I have to cut a car in half, I'll break out the Pioneer....

 

[Mikej]

OK, how about this. A 1961 Sears David Bradley 21" bar. I got it in a trade for a Angus Bull. I got three Heifers and the chainsaw. I used it to cut wood during the summers in High School, lent it to my Dad for 5 years of cutting up wood for his stove. He finally had to replace the reeds in the carburetor - try finding those these days. It still runs good, but since I got my Stihl Ranch I haven't used it much. It weighs a ton, cast iron case and cylinder. Manual oilier too. Needs some cleaning

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And that saw weighs about 1/2 what one of them heifers weigh!

 

[CoastRange57]

I recently re-examined my desire to buy a secluded piece of property with big trees. At a barn/estate sale the owner said he was selling everything - house, shop and acreage.

I asked him how much he wanted and his response was, "Let me ask you something first. Just how much time and energy do you have for cleaning, trimming, cutting, gathering and burning? I spend ALL my time just maintaining this property, and then I start over, all year every year. I'm done with it!"

Anyhow, back on topic... Be it motorcycles or lawn/garden equipment (especially 2-strokers), I've often found that a fresh $5 sparkplug works wonders. If that doesn't make it right, then I have to decide if I want to go through something piece by piece - which may or may not fix it...

I can echo that sentiment. I had 5 acres bottom ground south of Forest Grove. It was great when I bought it at 30 years old, managed to build my construction business out of there, started a nursery and had wide open space for the kids. Fast forward 20 years, no longer had the construction business, the nursery was done as well, and I had all this set up to take care of. No big trees, but 5 acres of grass to mow for fire hazard, and pruning, the gdamn pruning was unreal, the weed spraying and all I spent over 20 hours a week after I quit working full time taking care of this place, and then 20 hours of part time work for expense money.

When our kids moved to Central Oregon we visited them and thought this looks pretty good. We went on a 2 year clean up and reset of our property, got it suitable for sale. When we were done, it was a lot more manageable for care and looked pretty good, but still was way more work than we wanted and we still had a mortgage on it. We had bought 2 acres in Crooked River ranch in 2016, and in 2019 we sold our valley home, moved over here, paid cash for everything. I have a couple more projects to do, but 2 acres of juniper and grass are a hell of a lot easier to take care of than 5 acres of valley farm ground.

When we had our nursery a friend came out to buy some photina bushes for a hedge, and some other plant materials that were going to require a fair amount of pruning and care. We were talking, and I asked him, " Do you like to hunt and fish?" "Oh hell yeah, love it spend every week end most of the year doing it. " I said well good, because with all the work you just bought that time is going to get reduced greatly.

I now have 2 acres of juniper all limbed up, sage brush is gone, house is built, sprinkler system in, some landscaping done. I need to finish my shop, a couple of deck rails to build and we are done. I can get all my yard/ property work work done in about 6 hours a week and the rest of my time and money can go to fly fishing, high lakes fishing, and then exploring for photography and video content work in nature. I loved my valley farm ground, and how great it was for the kids and running my business's, but there comes a time when less of that work is better, and I could not be happier right now.

 

[Pete F]

And that saw weighs about 1/2 what one of them heifers weigh!

All you have to do is lay the saw on the log and the saw does the rest - gravity sucks.

 

[ZigZagZeke]

I have owned probably hundreds of the smaller engines. I finally ended up with Stihl about 15 years ago and stayed there. Running non ethanol is pretty key. I also liked using a synthetic 2 cycle oil at 50: 1. I bought a new Stihl chain saw, blower, trimmer with brush head about 2 years ago.

I no longer use them for paying work, and these are my last units. Since I built out my place in Central Oregon, I used the saw hard all summer, the blower blowing snow a couple times. I tried mixing my own gas with ethanol in it. Miserable failure, ended up dumping it all. Tried non ethanol, but could not get above 87 octane. I started buying that real expensive sh*t in the can branded Stihl, and have not had a problem since. Everything starts on second or third pull and it runs strong, and I get a lot of cuts out of a tank on the saw.

I think I bought 3 of those one gallon cans ( $ 30 eah) over the summer, and limbed up and condensed 47 juniper trees as well as cut down and buck to 4 foot logs about 13 other juniper trees, some pretty good size 35 foot plus. The ease of starting every time was worth every dollar.

I run nothing but Clear Premium ethanol free gasoline in my off road engines, including my 8N Ford Tractor. It's 92 octane. Everything starts right up after sitting all winter. It's available at several places in most towns.

Pure-gas.org - ethanol-free gasoline in the U.S. and Canada

Pure-gas.org is the definitive web site listing stations that sell pure gasoline in the U.S. and Canada.

www.pure-gas.org

 

[The Heretic]

Low compression engines (most two stroke, chain saws, weed eaters, etc., are not low compression) should not run 'premium' high octane fuel - it will produce less power on high octane fuel. Run regular (lower octane) fuel in a 4 stroke lawn mower or an older tractor.

 

[Mikej]

Low compression engines (most two stroke, chain saws, weed eaters, etc., are not low compression) should not run 'premium' high octane fuel - it will produce less power on high octane fuel. Run regular (lower octane) fuel in a 4 stroke lawn mower or an older tractor.

Problem is, it's very rare to find 87 octane non-ethanol. Or impossible.

 

[The Heretic]

Problem is, it's very rare to find 87 octane non-ethanol. Or impossible.

True, but like I said, I have had no problems with fuel that has ethanol in it. YMMV

 

[WAYNO]

I have some experienced opinions regarding ethanol fuel and small engines.

Seems two-stroke engines are more tolerant to the stuff than four-stroke. And there's a couple reasons.

And a disclaimer...Since ethanol-free fuel is now widely available, none of my small motors have seen ethanol for a couple of years. And as always, I understand there are exceptions to every study. My comparisons are for similar components used on both 4-stroke and 2-stroke machines. Apples to apples.

Ethanol fuel is hygroscopic. Water in a fuel system or carburetor causes corrosion. Rust in a fuel tank, or even corrosion on non-ferous metal fittings ends up throughout the fuel system and carburetor, and eventually changes the jetting characteristics in a carburetor. Water within the carburetor itself also causes oxidation which migrates to the jets. Start plugging jets, and at first, the machine will be harder to start. Eventually, it may not start at all.

In my experience, this is far less likely to happen on a two-stroke motor. I very recently gave an old Mac chainsaw away that I've owned for over 40 years, and it still ran wonderfully in spite of almost no maintenance performed of any kind on the fuel system.

The common denominator(s)? Oil in the fuel, and stabilizers included in most modern two-stroke oil.

The slight bit of oil in the gas on a two-stroke machine causes the entire fuel system and carburetor to be coated with oil. That keeps air from being in direct contact with metal components. No air (oxygen), no corrosion.

And although I'm not fully convinced that fuel stabilizer isn't snake oil, just maybe it is more beneficial than I give it credit for. Most modern two-stroke oils have fuel stabilizer built into the product. I cannot argue with success. My two stroke machines always start, and always start easily.

My four-stroke machines not so much. My Honda HRX mower is a bear to start. Often it requires starting fluid. I took it to Stark Street Mower last Spring. They took my money, but it still is difficult starting.

I also have an Ariens rider with a Kohler engine. Also difficult to start and often requires starting fluid. I completely cleaned out the carburetor last year, including the jets, and voila! it started as it should. A year later, I'm back to using starting fluid.

A feller might say since I'm no longer using ethanol mixed fuel, I can't blame the fuel. But these machines did see ethanol fuel in their younger years. The corrosion and contamination is long lasting.





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[The Heretic]

Most modern two stroke small engines like weed eaters and chain saws now have plastic tanks. My pressure washer (4S) and lawn mower have a plastic tank. My genset and 2 wheel tractor have metal tanks.

 

[WAYNO]

Most modern two stroke small engines like weed eaters and chain saws now have plastic tanks. My pressure washer (4S) and lawn mower have a plastic tank. My genset and 2 wheel tractor have metal tanks.

Plastic tanks are a distinct benefit. But there are almost invariably, metal components, throughout the system. And even brass and aluminum will emit contamination when corroded.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I have the exact same problem with one of my Stihl machines except mine lasted for almost 20 years. But it was a weedeater. It was the same deal I worked on it for years keeping it running and then one season it just would not crank. I went out and bought the newest model and still have the dinosaur...