Posted: 9/21/2008 5:45:45 PM EDT
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If you get regular 5 gallon gas cans, fill them up, and put them in the garage... how long can you expect the gas to remain "perfect", and then usable, before it would be idiotic to use? Yes, I know you should rotate through that gas... 
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If the fuel contains Ethanol, general rule of thumb is 30 days the fuel will be stale enough to cause problems in air cooled 2 cycle engines. Ethanol is used to oxygenate the fuel to make it burn leaner. This oxygen in the fuel causes it to stale quicker. Ways to make it last longer... 1. Use an air tight can. 2. use a fuel stabilizer. Can add an additional 30-60 days. 3. test for the presence of ethanol at various stations around you and buy fuel with no or the least amount of ethanol. |
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I rotate my gas treated with Stabil every two years. I believe Warlord have used his gas stock that's Y2K vintage and did not have any issue. I would stay away from plastic containers. I use Eagle brand safety metal gas cans that self vents when the can's internal pressure goes up and has a fire screen. The key would be stable surrounding temperature. |
| A 32oz. bottle of Stabil runs about $14, or about 44 cents an ounce. At 1 oz for 2 1/2 gallons, that's 4 ounces for a double dose 5-gal gas can which adds about 35 cents a gallon to your base fuel cost. Gets mighty expensive if you start rotating through it on a < 2 year basis. |
I've done the same BUT, gas has changed because of that ethanol crap. I thought any gas with it had to be labeled as such at the pump. But apparently not anymore. My chainsaw dealer advised me (via written form) not to store mixed 2 cycle gas more than 4 weeks. Chain saw and logging forums say up to 6 weeks is ok. Still a lot shorter time frame that I had always used. Reason is the oxygen breaks down, as in separates, the mixture. Regular gas that I store is treated with PRI-G. |
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I've used 1.5 year old gas with 10% ethanol in my 4 wheeler with no stabil or any other stuff in it. Was stored in the 4 wheeler. Ran just fine. I'll vote for: it's hit or miss, try it out and see. ETA: and the 2 year old gas/oil mix that initially had 10% ethanol ran just fine in my stihl farm boss chainsaw too. |
| I have been storing STA-BIL treated gasoline for years. I recently used a can that was 18mo old in my lawn mower with no issues. I try to rotate treated gas at least once a year. In my car the closer to one year old gasoline costs me about 1mpg in loss of performance but no issues with function. I use surplus, German steel fuel cans with a good seal. |
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As you can see - there is no real consensus on this question. I asked it myself a while ago and got the same results. I decided to just buy some gas and go. I have 4, 5 gal plastic containers. I rotate them through my car. None are stabilized. It isn't too big of a deal to do this. I kinda like being able to pull up to any pump no matter what side it is on since I'm only filling up the cans. I have let cans sit for 3 months with no problems. This winter I might just let them sit for 6 months to see how they do. I have now purchased a device that will help me to better track the gas - a clipboard! So, I'll be labeling the cans and tracking fill date. This will give me some actual data to work from. I think the best advice on here is to store the gas in as close to a constant temperature environment as possible. Other than that, use Stabil for long (> 6 months, in my opinion) periods. The comments regarding lessened fuel economy make sense, but I don't measure that. I don't care if my generator can only output 1.5 KWH for 9 hours instead of 10 as long as I have power. |