On Fri, 16 Jun 2006 12:15:44 GMT, George
wrote:

I just bought a Stihl string trimmer, at a dealer. I'd read on the net
that Stihl engines require at least 89-octane, but hadn't seen anything
about that in the literature. So, I asked.

The sales guy said that they didn't _need_ high octane, but you should
_use_ "premium" gas ("93"), because it's "cleaner", that it's filtered
more, and that "cheaper" gas would gum up the carb.

I was a little surprised at this, but there's a lot I don't know. I
don't see where he had any reason to lie - I was already buying the
thing.

Does anyone know whether there's any truth to this?

Thanks,
George

On a well-tuned small engine regular gasoline works fine. I buy the
premium blends for all my lawn equipment, not because this was
recommended, but I have noticed a difference in the sound and usage of
gasoline. I can mow my entire lawn (half an acre) on one tank of
premium gasoline, but on lower octane blends I usually have to fill up
the tank again. I'm convinced the higher octane is better. You may
want to experiment a little bit.