Like a lot of guys, I tend to overestimate my abilities when it comes to home improvement and landscaping projects. This past weekend was no exception. After a few hours of intense raking, I started looking around for something bigger … something more serious to work on. A few hours later, I was standing in the checkout aisle at Menards with an axe, a branch-cutting "lopper" and a chainsaw: I was about to cut down a tree.
It was more like a bush really — an old, gnarly one who's time had come.
So I'm out in the garage reading the user's manual for my new gas-powered chain saw, and I discover — aside from the fact that chainsaws are about the most dangerous things on earth — that the manufacturer of the one I purchased, McCulloch, recommends/approves of the use of E10. That probably shouldn't have surprised me, but it did. Admittedly, I've always been a little unsure about the compatibility of ethanol-blended gasoline in small engines like chainsaws and lawnmowers, as well as boats and motorcycles. Yeah, I know a lot about ethanol, but there's so much conflicting information out there that it's hard, even for this Ethanol Producer Magazine editor, to separate fact from fiction sometimes.
I did a little research over the weekend and here's what I found out.
All the major ethanol trade groups — the Renewable Fuels Association, the American Coalition for Ethanol, the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council, the National Corn Grower's Association, etc. — say E10 is safe to use in small engines such as motorcycles, lawn mowers, trimmers, boats, personal watercraft, snowmobiles and ATVs. The RFA says all mainstream manufacturers of power equipment, motorcycles, snowmobiles and outboard motors "permit" the use of ethanol blends in their products, and the NCGA says just about every small engine manufacturer, "including Briggs & Stratton, Honda, Toro/Lawnboy, Kohler and Snapper," approves the use of E10.
For the most part, that's what my online research verified — with a few exceptions.
Most small engine manufacturers do, in fact, recommend or at least allow the use of ethanol blends up to E10 — but not higher (I'll come back to that). Like my chain saw manufacturer, Honda says its lawnmower engines are designed and certified to run on E10. "Honda engines are designed for good performance and efficient operation using gasoline containing from 0 to 10 percent ethanol," the company's literature says.
On the other hand, Briggs & Stratton stops short — way short, in fact — of embracing E10. "We DO NOT recommend the use of fuel that contains alcohol …," the company's Web site says, explaining that if its customers have no choice but to use E10, the fuel should be removed from the engine during storage. That sounds pretty disparaging, but consider too that Briggs & Stratton also tells its customers to use only "clean, fresh" gasoline that contains a fuel stabilizer and hasn't been standing still for more than 30 days — and that's for gas without ethanol.
So, yes, it looks like there's still some reluctance (or is it resistance) from one or more American mainstays like Briggs & Stratton. But manufacturer support for E10 in small engines is, on the whole, overwhelming. This is consistent with various tests completed on lawnmowers, chainsaws, weed trimmers and blower vacs that have shown that using E10 results in good performance, no engine failures and no unscheduled maintenance, according to the RFA.
And motorcycles? Well, virtually all major motorcycle manufacturers warranty or support E10. I know a handful of motorcycle owners — some of them die-hard Harley guys — and they all recommend (preach is a better word) avoiding ethanol blends.
They're wrong. The use of E10 is approved by all the major motorcycle manufacturers that I know of — and Harley goes so far as to advocate it! "Gasoline/ethanol blends can be used in your motorcycle if the ethanol content does not exceed 10 percent … Your motorcycle will run normally using this type of gas and Harley-Davidson recommends you use it when possible, as an aid to cleaner air in our environment."
Suzuki is equally supportive of ethanol, saying, "Blends of unleaded gasoline and ethanol … may be used in your motorcycle if the ethanol content is not greater than 10 percent … To help clean the air, Suzuki recommends that you use the oxygenated fuels."
Honda, Kawasaki and Yamaha stop short of campaigning for E10, but all three approve of its use.
Now boats.
For years, people in Minnesota have been using E10 in their boats with few complaints. Yes, boaters can and do buy ethanol-free fuel at "gas docks." But buying gas on the lake is frequently inconvenient, and always expensive. Many boaters will tell you they don't care to pay the outlandish prices that gas docks charge. And that will certainly be a factor this year with gas heading toward $4 a gallon.
The RFA says the results of extensive testing by Mercury Marine operating 30 different watercraft on ethanol-blended gasolines found that there were "no malfunctions or operational driving difficulties attributable to ethanol blends." In addition, multiple phase separation tests found that "no phase separation was noted." Honda, Kawasaki, Mercury Marine, OMC (Johnson/Evinrude), Pleasurecraft, Tigershark (Artco), Tracker and Yamaha allow the use of ethanol fuels in their products, the RFA says.
But some ugly concerns have arisen.
As ethanol use has spread to the coasts in recent years, there's been a rash of complaints about E10 causing an array of problems for motor boat engines. For years, critics of ethanol blends have claimed that it attracts moisture from the air and has a shorter storage life than regular unleaded. Those arguments are questionable. But new complaints are more serious, tougher to argue against, and more litigious. A California man recently filed a lawsuit — which could evolve into a class-action suit — against Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and eight other gasoline producers and distributors, arguing that the companies sold E10 at marinas without warning boaters of the consequences. The man is among several people who have reported that E10 ruined his boat's gas tank, and subsequently its motor, by dissolving the resin that binds the tank's fiberglass threads together. The resulting resin-fuel mixture, they claim, causes catastrophic engine damage due to dissolved resin entering the fuel systems.
Time will tell if this becomes a more pervasive problem nationwide. The good news is that something like 10 percent of boat gas tanks are made of fiberglass. The bad news is that, well … that something like 10 percent of boat gas tanks are made of fiberglass. At any rate, it sounds like a legitimate issue that needs further investigation.
Finally, as the Department of Energy, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and other groups research higher ethanol blends like E20 and E30, boaters and small engine mechanics are getting edgy. "If this happens, I think that you can take every problem that boaters are having now with E10 and multiply it by two," one critic said online recently.
The Alliance of a Safe Alternative Fuels Environment (AllSAFE) responded in March to the positive results of a year-long, in-depth study conducted by the state of Minnesota and the Renewable Fuels Association on the use of E20 in conventional gasoline-powered vehicles. The group said it believes it's too early to determine that E20 is safe, and insists more testing needs to be done. Everyone agrees.
The DOE is doing just that — and results of early testing shared with attendees of the National Ethanol Conference in February sounded positive (I was there). The DOE is holding back judgment, however, until further testing is complete. The agency will release the results of its small-engine tests this summer. I'll keep you posted.
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