I thought I read somewhere that Minnesota requires a certain amount of ethanol in gas in certain areas of the State. Does anyone know if the Non-Oxygenated gas in the Duluth area is corn free? I was shopping for some non-oxy tonight (Shakedown cruise for the new walleye slayer tomorrow.) and all I could find was 91 octane. I believe the gas I was ordering in Cook County was 92 octane and was guaranteed to be ethanol free. Should I be concerned?

Oxygenated fuel has ethanol in it (up to 10% currently in MN.) Non-oxygenated fuel has no ethanol. I use regular unleaded oxygenated fuel in my 2000 Yammie 40 2stroke. Works just fine. I've tried the premium non-oxygenated and can't tell the difference. But every motor is different I'm sure.

the only no-oxy fuel available in MN is 91/92 octane. I have used this in ALL my cylinders (sled, auger, atvs, chain saw, etc. etc. except truck) with never a performance or ant other problem.

Check with your dealer. They should have the drop on it.

I just have a couple comments. There is little difference between 91 octane and 92. The number identifies the burn rate of the fuel and those numbers are close enough.

Nor would I worry about your fuel up there especially if its labeled non-oxygenated. I think the "enviro" fuels are targeted at us citified drivers. The fuel on the range has a different smell to it than ours down here. I notice it every time I go up. The smell of the fuel up there is more like what I remember from when I was a kid and gas was gas.

This of course is for what its worth.

Good luck with the new rig and congrats!

Wanderer,

I have put non oxygenated gas in my car, and gained anywhere from 15%-20% increase in mileage.

This is about the same % in mileage I lost when they went to "corn gas" in 1998.

I never claim to be the best math student in the world, but you burn more gas using 10% ethanol than burning the non-oxy stuff

And they don't want you to put it in your car!

Usually whatever the highest octane gasoline is that they have at the station is the non-oxy gas. The pump usually has a little blurb on it(I usually see it towards the bottom) about non oxygenate gasoline is for use in off-highway vehciles, snowmobiles, outboards... etc.

Like Wnaderer said, there isn't a noticable difference between 91 and 92 octane.

Yeah, and I came across a site from 2006, that stated the mandate was to increase to 20% Ethanol by 2020, so we may lose another 15-20%, or at that level, maybe more...let's see, down 30-40% in MPG, so how much is it that Ethanol is going to save???

I'll agree that with most older makes of trucks and cars that a reduction in mpg will decrease. The amount of drop off that has been stated that occurs might be a little more than actually happens in controlled testing sites.
The newer cars and trucks that are being built today at plants are more geared for running using a E10 mix of gas in there engines.
3 cars for example in a recent test running down interstate 29 in S.Dakota for 300 miles between exits 177 and 127 conducted by the Lake Area Vocational Technical Institute in Watertown, S.Dakota, using a Chevy Impala,Toyota Camry and a Ford Taurus showed a reduced mpg by 1.5% with E10, 2.2% with E20, 5.1% with E30 and a increase of 1.7% with premium E10 blend.
So lets give the good ole USofA a chance with todays engineers to give it in the end to the Oil giants of the Arab states.
Just my 2 cents on why we should not throw the towel in just yet with Ethanol.

Farmer

Thanks, FF. That's good data to have!

Kind of hard to tow a boat with a Camry, a Taurus, or an Impala.

Who would want to try pulling a boat with one of these?
How about a Chevy truck, would that do?

Iowa State University recently had a Chevy Silverado at the Iowa State Fair which I attended in which they changed pistons to raise compression and some timing modifications which resulted in a 3-5% increase in fuel mileage with e-85 from traditional gasoline motors.

MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center's engineer's are currently working along side Ford Motor Works to implement an ethanol-injection system in future truck models also.

Saab is currently selling a turbocharged engine that when ethanol is used the boost is able to be raised which results in substantial power gains. 20%hp and 25% more ft lbs with ethanol vs gasoline with no loss in fuel economy. This technology also won Popular Science "Best of what's New" award in 2005.

But heck let's send our money to Osama and his buddies for gas derived Oil, instead of keeping it here in America. Engineer's are finally in the development of motors and injectors for them that will run ethanol at no more expense than gasoline.

I was just trying to show some that might care about keeping money in the USA, that ethanol is not the "all mighty evil" that some tend to think it is.

Farmer

I would love to see the technology applicable to current models, or to be able to inexpensively turn my ford truck into a lean mean ethanol burning machine. I dont see that happening.
I thought my truck was going to spit the motor out the tail pipe when I thought I'd burn a tankful of e85 just for the heck of it.
it didn't run right until I had all of that out of it's system. but after it was gone, there was a noticeable improvement in performance.
not sure what that was all about.

I am all for using home grown resources, but if the price of corn skyrockets because ethanol is in such great demand, then the farmers will be sitting in the same position as the oil executives.
food products jumping in prices right in line with the high costs of corn. we've seen that already.

I am hearing now that we can make more or better ethanol per acre from grass hay turned into ethanol than corn based ethanol.
any truth to this?

I figure the BIG-BIG MONEY that is oil companies will have their money invested in ethanol anyway, so we will still be under their thumb, no matter the source of fuel we choose.

were so screwed

You got that right!!!

Keep your eyes open gentlemen, on food prices over the Summer, it's starting to cause major turmoil World-wide, and if it continues at this pace, we will all be in big-time trouble...

China is turning it's attention to producing Alcohol fuel from fermented rice, and this has resulted in it's big import retailers like Wallyworld, limiting how much rice a consumer can purchase at some of their stores recently...not that I'm much of a rice-eater, but it is an indicator of how fast things can change...

Until we get the US, Canadian, and Mexican, companies that supply 75%, of total US usage, to break from selling to us at full World Market prices, were toast...

A huge oil find was just announced off South America, theoretically it is second largest known Resevoir in the World, but even after it's up and running in 8-10 years, you can bet there will still be a million excuses why this doesn't help ease prices...

The out going President of Exxon Mobil, I think it was, while on Charlie Rose program, about one and one half to two years ago, when asked when gas would go back down under $2 a gallon again, gave the most intense evil look, and stated firmly with a smug smirk, "You will never see gas under $2 again'...and I never have...

I've only seen one other guy, with that smoldering look in his eye, and he was another power Manipulator, masquerading as an Angel of Light...

Is 6 dollar corn going to change your mind?

Corn based ethanol is one of the biggest scams in human history. It takes about 400 pounds of corn to make enough ethanol to fill a 25 gallon gas tank. Think about that. And thats if you just so happen to have a flex fuel vehicle and can actually find E85. Things really start to look bad when you account the amount of fossil fuel generated power that it takes to grow, harvest, and then refine ethanol. And worse than that, when the government decides to take our food and convert it to fuel, world food prices soar. And to top it all off, corn based ethanol wouldn't even exist without huge taxpayer subsidies, because its not profitable.

There may be a future in cellulosic ethanol that can be produced from wood waste products, grass, and algae. But corn based ethanol is a crock and I wish it would go away.