Shoulda known it....I filled up my tank, yesterday morning....

[Big Muddy]

Gas hit $1.81 gal., today. :pissed

[DeputyDog]

We've been dropping too, but it's still at $2.29. The lowest we've hit in years was earlier this spring when we got down to $1.89. Of course it shot up real quick and hasn't gotten closer than this since. It's still a lot better than the $2.99 it jumped to last month.

[Big Skyz]

Man, I wish they'd get the word to drop prices in Montana. It's still $2.65 here. :(

[Bwana]

$2.59 here but still WAY better than the $4.00+ we have been at not too long ago.

[Thumper]

I hit a couple of estate sales this morning and when I was ready to head home, realized my dang low fuel light was on. I filled up for $2.00/gal. ... on the nose ... at Wally World.

AFTER I filled up, I saw it for $1.99 at Citgo. :(

[Big Muddy]

A young couple, who owns a real nice convenience store on the south end of Lake Chicot, finally decided to install a non-ethanol fuel pump, down on their marina dock....everyone on our end of the lake was excited about it because it would save us from making the 10 mile boat trip to get gas at the only other marina on the lake, or to ferry it from town, down to our own boat docks.

After their pump installation was completed, back in March, local fuel prices were still pretty high at that time, and non-ethanol fuel was around $3.19 gal....so, when the couple priced their dock fuel at $3.99 gal., it wasn't too big a deal because it was such a convenience.

Well, I boated over there for fuel, last weekend, and their fuel was still priced at $3.99 gal....wtf???....just the day before, I had 300 gals. of non-ethanol fuel delivered to my farm shop for $2.49 gal.

I was hoping to not have to any longer ferry fuel over there, or boat the 10 miles....and, I don't mind paying a little more to support local merchants, but dayum, $3.99 is just asking too much of customers, and I politely told them, as much, and did not buy any of their fuel.

I'll just toss my two 14 gal. nurse tanks in my truck, and ferry it down to my boat dock, like before, and put the extra $ bucks in my pocket.

[Thumper]

It's a convenience store ... that's their "convenience fee"!! ;)

[Big Muddy]

Yeah, but dayum....my boat usually will hold about 30 gals., after a weekend of pulling the kids, skiing and tubing.
At present prices, that's the difference between $120 bucks and $75 bucks....we can eat a nice supper on that $45 savings difference. ;)

[Buckrub]

Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri ain't got the memo yet.

[No-till Boss]

Why would you buy 300 gal of non-ethanol gas ?

[Big Muddy]

Why would you buy 300 gal of non-ethanol gas ?

I run non-ethanol in every small gas engine on my place....Rangers, Atvs, lawnmowers, chain saws, leaf blowers, weedeaters, trimmers, log splitters, water trailer motors, small jon boats, etc., etc.....also, I live about 10 miles from a decent service station, so I got a bulk tank for convenience...that might sound like a lot of fuel, but it'll last me about two months....consumption will increase with hunting season approaching, too, especially when the grands are here with their Atvs.

It didn't take me long to figure out how harmful ethanol is to small engines....it ruined a nearly new Atv engine....I run it in my vehicles which are designed for it's use, but not in anything else.

[No-till Boss]

I run non-ethanol in every small gas engine on my place....Rangers, Atvs, lawnmowers, chain saws, leaf blowers, weedeaters, trimmers, log splitters, water trailer motors, small jon boats, etc., etc.....also, I live about 10 miles from a decent service station, so I got a bulk tank for convenience...that might sound like a lot of fuel, but it'll last me about two months....consumption will increase with hunting season approaching, too, especially when the grands are here with their Atvs.

It didn't take me long to figure out how harmful ethanol is to small engines....it ruined a nearly new Atv engine....I run it in my vehicles which are designed for it's use, but not in anything else.

I have all those things and I've never bought 1 gallon of non ethanol gas....

[Big Muddy]

You beez one lucky dude....every mechanic down here loathes the stuff, and does NOT recommend it in any small engines....especially, four stroke boat motors....the instructions for my Tahoe boat with 4 stroke 220hp Mercruiser I/O, specifically states to NEVER use ethanol gas, unless an absolute emergency situation.

I think a couple of other fellas here at GH have had issues with it, too.

[No-till Boss]

You beez one lucky dude....every mechanic down here loathes the stuff, and does NOT recommend it in any small engines....especially, four stroke boat motors.

I think a couple of other fellas here at GH have had issues with it, too.

The ONLY fuel trouble I've ever had in my life was bio diesel. I have waaaaaaay too much stuff that uses gas to just be lucky, I don't buy into the hype of non anything.

[Thumper]

Yep, we had a big discussion here a while back. I think ethanol was blamed for Bucky's 4-wheeler taking a crap or sumpin'. My experience has been the same as NTB's ... no issues/problems whatsoever. I've never bought so much as a cup of non-ethanol gas. Lawn/garden equipment, boat, cars/trucks and 4-wheeler ... they all get whatever they pump at Wally World. I don't pay a bit of attention to fuel, but I do know is there's a picture of a cob of corn on the pump. ;)

My biggest surprise was when I went to sell my 4-wheeler ('99 Honda Fourtrax). It had been parked in my shed for 7 years under that HOT Florida sun and never started. I finally decided I should sell it and KNEW I'd have to go through the carb and clean the tank/fuel system. I aired up the tires, rolled it out of the shed, stuck the jumper cables on her and she turned over about a half turn and fired right off. She smoked a little bit at first, but I added some fresh ethanol and all was fine after running a few minutes (smooth idle and all). My mechanic buddy from the Toyota dealer bought it, he's still using it almost daily and has never had an issue. (He lives waaay out in the sticks and even rides it to his mailbox)

I've had no more fuel issues than I ever had in the pre-ethanol days. As far as boats are concerned, I've had a half dozen outboards. All were 2-strokes ... mostly 10-15 HP kickers, and one old 115 HP Mercury. My Cuddy Cabin had an I/O drive with a small block Chevy.

[DeputyDog]

The ONLY fuel trouble I've ever had in my life was bio diesel. I have waaaaaaay too much stuff that uses gas to just be lucky, I don't buy into the hype of non anything.

I'd never paid any attention to all the hype either. I'd been told that the ethanol gas will ruin the carbs on my PWC's and any other small engine over time. I thought that what I's save in the price of the gas would make up for it in case I ever had any problem.

Never did until this year. My Yamaha Waverunner would start out running fine and then when it hit about 40 MPH, it would just bog down and I was lucky to get 20 MPH out of it at full throttle. Took it in, and guess what? The carbs were shot. They tested the gas and it was about 20% ethanol. About $700 bucks later, it runs great. Now it's nothing by ethanol free gas in all my small engines.

BTW, the Waverunner was about 10 years old, so it did take some time for it to happen, but it eventually did.

[No-till Boss]

We have 4 wheelers (Hondas) that we use daily during the summer, then they will set un-started from now until April and some of them are 10 plus years old. If the battery is hot, they're gonna start.

Yamaha Waverrunner;s are notorious for getting roll-over water in them, I would say if you got 10 years, you're lucky !

[Thumper]

Yep, I've heard it before and there has to be something to it. All I know is I bought all new lawn equipment when I moved back to Florida in '89, and everything has been running off of ethanol since new. Riding mower (bought a replacement about 12 years ago, but sold the old one, still running), weedeaters (been through two, first one broke and was cheaper to replace), edger, chain saw, leaf blower and prolly a few I've forgotten. When I had my business, I ran 7 pressure washers when I had employees, two when I worked alone and would run 'em 'til the engines blew up. But, in all fairness, they'd only last 2-3 years until I switched to 100% Honda (motors), then I'd simply run them until they were so darned ugly, I trade 'em in. I'm sure that stuff must do SOMETHING to SOME motors, I just haven't had one problem over all those years that could be attributable to fuel. If I were simply running a boat I was concerned with, I could maybe see looking for non-ethanol gas (I'd have to drive across town to get it here), but I'd have to do like Eddie and install a tank in my backyard to keep up ... especially when I had my business with trucks/equipment scattered all over town.

Interesting argument and I have no doubt there's something to it, but I just have NOT seen a hint of a problem in all my years of using the stuff, even hard, steady, commercial use.

[BarryBobPosthole]

Politics again rears its ugly head and makes it almost impossible to get an valid information. Much of the info about ethanol is flavored by whether the person providing the info is fer it or agin it.

Obamagas. Or Kenyanmuslimgaygas of you prefer.



BKB

[Thumper]

I also wonder how many problems are actually water related. I have a buddy in town who swears ethanol screwed up his riding mower. I was there when he pulled the carb and the aluminum was all corroded. What I saw was "water damage" ... all he saw was "ethanol damage". Who knows?

[No-till Boss]

Politics again rears its ugly head and makes it almost impossible to get an valid information. Much of the info about ethanol is flavored by whether the person providing the info is fer it or agin it.

Obamagas. Or Kenyanmuslimgaygas of you prefer.



BKB

Well, I've farmed for 30 years and never grew one stalk of corn. I've also never bought on gallon of non ethanol gas, nor have I ever had a failure that I thought was caused by ethanol. When fuel becomes a issuse for me, then I will start looking for answers. But like I said, I run ethanol in many thousands of dollars of stuff that HAS to work for me in my operation. I just don't believe all the pseudoscience news hosershit ......

[Chicken Dinner]

Deputy, that's the exact thing my ATV (a Yamaha) did at right about the 10 year mark. I'm glad it didn't cost $700 to get the carb rebuilt. I had to switch back to an electric trimmer/ edger as I was barely getting 3 seasons out of them because of the damn ethanol. My problem living where I do is that finding gas without it is a huge inconvenience.

[Big Muddy]

CD, when ethanol first hit the market down here, every fuel supplier converted to it, and you couldn't find a single non-ethanol pump....after folks got to complaining about the crap, more and more non-ethanol pumps were re-installed.

Now, it's everywhere down here, and there's about an equal number of pumps of each one at every service station....it might cost a few cents more, but I guess I'm just old-fashioned....give me the real stuff, not alcohol.

If it works for other folks, then by all means keep pumping into your stuff....I've had documented issues with it, and been instructed by some pretty smart folks, to discontinue using it....so, just like trucks, I drive Fords, Thump drives Yoyos, and some folks like Dodge, Chebbie, and Nissan....so, do whatever blows you skirt up!!! ;)

[Arty]

There is no question my boat loves the real stuff. Doesn't run worth a shit with ethanol gas

[Chicken Dinner]

The problem up here in the city you have to burn it in the warm weather months because of the air pollution rules. (I think that's right anyway.). I have to drive 30-45 minutes to buy gas hat doesn't have it and then storing any volume of it gets tricky in suburbia.

[DeputyDog]

I also wonder how many problems are actually water related. I have a buddy in town who swears ethanol screwed up his riding mower. I was there when he pulled the carb and the aluminum was all corroded. What I saw was "water damage" ... all he saw was "ethanol damage". Who knows?

This is from Tractor Supply's website regarding ethanol fuels. The problem I ran into was the pump was labled E15 but when the fuel was tested, it had just over 20% ethanol in it, so you don't really know how much is actually in the fuel you're getting. (If I was selling it, it would be as high as I could get away with due to it's effects on fuel economy.)


The Problems with E15
The Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) has advocated nationally regarding the damaging effects of ethanol-based fuels on small-engine equipment. These fuels, due to their corrosive nature, can seriously damage fuel systems that are not designed to handle them. E15 fuels burn significantly hotter, and as a result, they can cause a small engine to overheat. In addition, these increased-ethanol fuel blends can absorb a great deal of airborne water (which in humid or damp operating conditions makes the engine very difficult to start) and are hard to ignite within a carburetor during cold weather.

CD, I live in an area with over 100 lakes with several of them between 400-1100 acres, so it's easy to get here. Most of the gas stations have a pump with 90 octane ethanol free gas, as well as every marina having it. Actually several of the gas stations also have pumps with 50:1 just like the marinas.

[Thumper]

Well, actually this thread is almost a carbon copy of the one we had a year or so ago.

I guess it's like asking a room full of doctors whether or not I should worry about the filter in my vein! ;)

[BarryBobPosthole]

Here's what else OPEI has to say. Like I said, it's about 99% political bullshit.

BKB

Kiser is the president of OPEI.
“There’s a growing sense in Congress that EPA is an out of control agency, that it’s a jobs killer, that current regulatory efforts … are strangling manufacturers,” Kiser said. “If Republicans take control (in 2012) you might see some efforts to roll back the regulatory authority of that agency, and it might carry over to other agencies.”

[Buckrub]

Oh dear me.

I ain't even gonna read all this. Nope.

This is worse than politics.

[Thumper]

Gas is $1.95 here today. :)

[Buckrub]

Well.......I am NOT the Gearhead OR Mechanic that many of you are.........I freely admit that.

Remember the fishing trip we got stranded miles from the launching ramp? Just talked to my buddy to ask what the dealer/mechanic said was wrong. He said some diaphragm in the fuel system someplace was eaten away by Ethanol gas (he uses Non Ethanol, but bought the boat used and hasn't used it much), and had to be replaced. Replaced it and it started fine, and runs fine.

[Buckrub]

Oh, and on the 1500 mile trip, Diesel was anywhere from $2.99 to $2.12.

[BarryBobPosthole]

Man it'll sure allow me to buy a bit more beer on my Canada trip next week!

bKb

[Buckrub]

Got ticked at Flying J and Pilot. I'm a Good Sam member, and get a 5 cent discount there.........BUT........they charge that much extra to use your card. I mean, who carries enough CASH to walk in and pay for a tank of gas, especially on a trip where you fill up multiple times?? So, I refuse to stop there unless I have to. Or anyplace else that does this.

[Thumper]

The last time Lynn and I went to L.A, I was one pissed off MF'er! We had a rental car and we NEVER carry cash, but use a credit card for EVERYTHING ... I don't care if it's a burger at McD's. Well, whenever we stopped for gas, it was cash only! No choice between credit card or cash ... CASH ONLY. I was hot as a firecracker! And this was after we'd gotten onto Lynn's mom for carrying around so much cash (she's 80 years old!).

[Buckrub]

Wait, what???

Gas stations in CA are cash only??? Do you mean all of them?? Or were you just unlucky at a few???

[Thumper]

I don't really know Bucky. Her mom lives in Gardena and we couldn't find a station ANYWHERE in the area that accepted credit cards. Then when we went to turn in the rental at the airport (LAX), we topped off the tank and, again, couldn't find anything but cash only. Of course you also have to pay in advance which is a PITA if you have change coming back or are filling up and don't know how much you need. I questioned one of the managers and they said it's because the crime rate is so high. If anyone pumps their gas before paying, they drive off ... hence the pay in advance. If they pay with credit cards, most are bogus or stolen! I kid you not!

I seriously doubt that's the policy in Beverly Hills, who knows? We only gassed up in the general area where her mom lives.

[Buckrub]

Wow. I had NO idea. That's amazing!!

I doubt I'll ever go back to La La Land by choice, but I might..........good heads up. PLUS, at their prices, it'd take a Uhaul full of cash.

Wonder if any other state is this way? Learned from Foo that two states don't have self serve pumps, never knew that. This place is like Google.

[Thumper]

You know sumpin' Bucky. The more I think about it, I may be a bit confused. I do remember being constantly pissed off whenever I bought gas, but now I think it was because they all had cash/credit prices and all credit prices were higher. BUT ... if you paid by credit card, you couldn't scan it at the pump and had to take it inside, leave it with the attendant, pump your gas, then go back in and pay. Or maybe it was a combination of both, either they didn't take cards at all, OR they had no scanners if they DID take cards. Maybe that was it. Dang! I'm getting old and can't remember persactly now ... all I know is I'd get totally pissed whenever I had to buy gas! (at something BESIDES the asinine prices!)

It sucks getting old. :(

[Big Muddy]

Down to $1.76 gal., down here, today.

[No-till Boss]

I thought La la stood for Louisiana, guess I missed that one.....

[Thumper]

$1.95 is still the lowest I can find here today.