$38 for one US gallon marketed by Stihl.

$25 for one US gallon marketed by Tru Fuel.

Yes, high quality, high octane, stable blend. Being a former fuel additive engineer, I know enough about fuels to notice. Perhaps not care.

But, $4 per gallon for pump fuel -- 5X the cost for the convenience of mixing the two smoke oil therein?

So, I created my own. $22 for a two gallon can with a reasonable spout. $5 for two Stihl oil bottles. $8 for ethanol-free fuel from WaWa. Aside from the "capital" of the fuel container, $13 for two gallons. So, the convenient one gallon can at the local Ace Hardware Stihl dealer is 5X that cost.

And I cannot believe gas containers are that expensive either. Blowmolded PP and a spout?

This is me being judgemental (gasp!) but I suspect the following:

1. People are too stupid/lazy to mix their own fuel.

2. People are gullible enough to believe the hype, particularly as to "use only Stihl fuel in your Stihl equipment."

Lastly, it may be that I've just been exceptionally lucky, but I've NEVER had a problem using properly mixed E10 fuel in my two-stroke equipment. I use OPTI-II synthetic oil and leave last year's fuel in the tank and everything starts and runs fine in the Spring.

Also, I grab every old-style fuel container I can find and stash them. I'm a rebel, I don't care! I put gasoline in blue kerosene containers if need be.

“Put two things together which have never been put together before, and some schmuck will buy it.” - George Carlin

People will pay a lot for convenience.

From reading about it in other posts, I thought this was some super special gas that never went bad?

For some, it simply cost too much in gas and time (convenience?) to justify driving to where you can actually purchase ethanol-free 'pure gas' to make it worth the effort.

Every time somebody posts about 'Pure Gas' I check, and sure enough, nope, nothing's changed...It's simply not sold anywhere near me. I buy the Husqvarna XP+ Fuel at Tractor Supply, which only a few miles from my home.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
From reading about it in other posts, I thought this was some super special gas that never went bad?

It does have a longer shelf life than mixing your own from pump gas, but not nearly enough to justify the hefty cost.

Premixed fuel claims to last 5 years unopened, and 2 years opened.

2 stroke fuel mixed from ethanol-free pump gas will last 6 months or so, with no other additives.

2 stroke fuel mixed from ethanol pump gas will only last a month or two.

So spend a few cents more to get ethanol free fuel to use in your mix, provided it's available within a reasonable distance around you.

And if you're that concerned about longer term storage (over 6 months), a bottle of Sta-Bil is around $5 and that bottle will treat up to something like 20 gallons. So a gallon of 2 stroke fuel mixed from ethanol free gas only needs about a quarter's worth of Sta-Bil to last over a year.

Or Sta-Bil even sells little bottles of 2 stroke oil with stabilizer already in it to combine with your pump gas, for one stop shopping.

So $4/gallon ethanol free fuel + $2-$3 worth of oil and stabilizer = $6-$7/gallon for 2 stroke fuel that will last nearly as long as an opened can of that $25-$40/gallon premix.

Heck, you could just toss the gallon of homemade 2 stroke fuel every 6 months and totally replace it, and still come out ahead compared to the premix with its 2 year shelf life but 5X+ cost.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
2 stroke fuel mixed from ethanol-free pump gas will last 6 months or so, with no other additives.

It lasts, and works just fine, for a lot longer than that.

Yep, the cost of premixed alkylate fuel sucks.

Our family has felled/bucked/trimmed trees for decades on our ranch land. I started running a chainsaw in my early teens. For a long time we used regular pump gas, adding our own 2-cycle oil. I got tired of the smell of burnt fuel lasting in my nose for a day or two. And we had a number of carb rebuilds, due to the issues of alcohol & water in pump gas.

I later switched to using non-alcohol gas, then adding 2-cycle oil. Much less burnt fuel stink, no more carb issues, and our saws ran better.

I later tried a gallon of premixed alkylate fuel, when the non-alcohol gas station was out of gas. Almost no burnt fuel stink, and its the best my old Stihl saw ever ran. It started easily when hot, cold, or in between. Ran well at high altitude. Had no issues with winter, summer, or transition seasons. Our family now uses premixed alkylate fuels for all chainsaws.

Yep, the cost sucks. I got to believe the fuel companies are laughing all the way to the bank. But in the overall scheme of our cost of doing chainsaw work, it's not that bad. I document my saw use, as part of tax & work records. I felled & bucked 57 trees in 2023, 118 in 2024, and so far its 123 trees in 2025. I burn a few gallons each year.

I don't use enough premixed 2 cycle fuel to care about the cost. I have to get a small one gallon gas can that has the nozzles that flow a drop at a time and then measure out the proper amount of two stroke oil.

I'd rather buy six one quart cans and know I can leave them in the lawn shed for a long period.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
2 stroke fuel mixed from ethanol-free pump gas will last 6 months or so, with no other additives.

It lasts, and works just fine, for a lot longer than that.

That's been my experience.

I bought a can of 40 to 1 and a can of 50 to 1 probably 12 years ago.
They make perfect mix cans.
It was cheap back then, and since I mix my own it's cheaper!

I have a Stihl powerhead that I use for leaf blowing, trimming and weed whacking. That is the only device I own that requires pre-mix. Stihl sells bottles that contain enough oil for one gallon of gas. I also own a 1 gallon gas can the predates the EPA non-flowing spout. It does not require many functioning brain cells to prep the pre-mix. I do use 93 octane gas for that one gallon. Overkill? Perhaps but it's worked for years and I can afford the extra cost for one or two gallons a year.

FWIW, when the Stihl dies, I am going all electric. I have an EGo mower and will stay in that system. My yard is small enough to make this feasible.

I have an Eagle 5 gallon can for my lawn tractor and mower. It contains 91 octane Ethanol Free gas and appropriate amount of StaBil. I have a 2 gallon plastic can with modified nozzle (no spill, no leak no mo) with the previously mentioned gas, 2 bottles of 2 cycle oil mix for my 2 stroke stuff.

I did purchase a new container, and the spout works very well. I can close off the flow before pulling the spout away from the engine fuel tank. The EtOH-free fuel and the cheaper Stihl oil worked well.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
2 stroke fuel mixed from ethanol-free pump gas will last 6 months or so, with no other additives.

It lasts, and works just fine, for a lot longer than that.

That's been my experience.

Mine too. I pour the little orange bottle into some mid level pump. I don’t buy 92 or 93 octane but I do buy 89 or whatever. And it isn’t ethanol free either. Fill the 1 gal container up with the pump gas. Pour orange bottle/oil into it. Swirl it around. Then I don’t think about it again. 1 gallon lasts me 18 to 24 months. Never had an issue. Only the Stihl blower uses the shit. My weed eater, that I use for edging, uses fuel only as the oil is separate. So just the blower is a 2 smoker. I change the oil in the mower and weed eater before mowing season every year which is March through November. Air filters and spark plugs probably every 3 years.

My God in Heaven, I so can’t wait to move to my rural land. Just trees and mulch, no grass, and I’m not planting any. I’ll either sell my yard equipment for peanuts, give it away, or use it for target practice. I just mowed at dusk, with barely any light left at all. By the time I was blowing the grass clippings back onto the lawn it was dark. And it was 94 degrees. I used to enjoy mowing and taking care of the lawn 20 years ago. But with a neighbor who doesn’t maintain theirs very well, and the shit grows into mine, I’m just past done with it. This year and 2 seasons after that and I’m done. I’m counting the days.

All the videos I have seen show that the premixed stuff is garbage with large losses in RPMs.
Especially the TRUFUEL.

All I have seen shows Echo Red Armor 2 stroke oil is the best. I mix it with ethanol free from an ethanol free only pump/nozzle as I only do a gallon.
Add a little Startron and it lasts me a year or so before I need more.

quote:

Originally posted by SPWAMike0317:
I have a Stihl powerhead that I use for leaf blowing, trimming and weed whacking. That is the only device I own that requires pre-mix. Stihl sells bottles that contain enough oil for one gallon of gas....

I once bought a 6-pk of those little pre-measured bottles of Stihl synthetic oil when I bought a Stihl saw because doing so doubled the warranty. I keep using those bottles for convenience after refilling them from a gallon of synthetic 2-stroke oil.
The Sheetz I drive past sells 90 octane, non-ethanol, gas for 10 cents over their 93 gasohol so I just use that in all my outdoor power stuff.

I've never bought premixed, though I did get a free can of Stihl fuel with my new weedeater. I'm aware of only ONE seller of ethanol-free gas in the Albuquerque area now. WTF.

I also need it to make mixed fuel for small engine implements.

Since I moved to E-tools, the only 2 Stroke is the old chain saw, having a can of this available makes sense in that I don't use it much, the electric chain saw does most of the work,

Really don't need another can of fuel mix that will go bad in the amount of time between use, and, nothing else to put it in I'll end up with a can of unusable fuel once it starts degrading.

At Summer's end, I dump the unsed mix gas into the minivan. I figure less than a half gallon of 50:1 in with at least 10 gallons unmixed gas won't hurt anything.