I recently moved to a new place and my Mechanic neighbour insists that I use premium gas with a stabilizer on all of my small engines (snowblower, generator, weed wacker, chainsaw etc…). For 20 years I have never used anything but regular and add some stabilizer when storing. I have never had any real issues with my practices.
Am I wrong in the way I’ve been doing it or is he correct?
His advice is based on the myth that all premium gas is ethanol-free. It’s not. Some premium fuel is ethanol free, but it’s not universally true, at least in the U.S. The ONLY reason to use premium gas in a small engine is if you can’t find ethanol free regular gas and the premium gas is ethanol free.
Aside from the ethanol issue, there is NO upside to using premium. It’s a waste of money and does nothing to reduce problems with your engine.
It’s important to add fuel stabilizer to fresh gas because it doesn’t work on old oxidized gas. Also, it depends on the type of stabilizer you use. There are two types of stabilizers, prevention and remediation. Prevent stabilizer try to prevent the fuel from oxidizing and forming gum deposits. The remediation stabilizers do that plus they deal with fuel that has absorbed water due to ethanol. See this article on how the stabilizers work