Aspen Fuel - Small Outboard

Steve_N said:
As part of the ethanol removal process, using measured quantities of fuel and water, you get to see how much ethanol there was in the fuel.
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Not this BS again .... Youtube madness strikes again.

This method of using water to extract Ethanol is actually most unreliable and Inaccurate - it only removes PART of the Ethanol ... not all as claimed by some.

As a fuel blender of many years till recent - I can only advise against such ...
 
My pal swears by Aspen. He’s very happy with it in his small 4-stroke motor. I think it is a tad expensive so I use Sta-bil fuel additive in my small 2-stroke motor and it too works wonders. The engine always starts even after very many months of resting.
 
I’ve never heard anyone who used it say bad things about it. Those who refuse to use it are equally convinced that their far cheaper fuel, treatment and/or carb emptying regime does as good a job. Virtually nobody is in a position to have conducted any real scientific testing on the same engine, same use, same storage over a long enough time to know if it really makes a difference, especially compared to a really careful routine with traditional fuels/strabilisers/etc.

I use it. And find that the shape of the can and their purpose made pouring spout/funnel are better than a typical green can from the local garage at not making a mess so that is a bonus. At current consumption rate it will last more than one season. i know many people will keep fuel indefinitely with stabiliser but I’ve had enough niggles in the past that I’d prefer not to do that and since I have no petrol car/ mower etc I am sure it’s less hassle too - of course I might just be being sucked in by marketing.
 
My soviet mobo with 20hp Mariner 2str on back uses a 20ltr can each jaunt .... OK - I'm not out every day in it - but cost is still a consideration.

If I was just running one of my small tender O/bds for to/from boat at a mooring - then cost is not a issue.

Overall - I have 3.5acres of grass to cut - that's Lawn Tractors on 95 gasoline .... petrol strimmers .... petrol chainsaws to 'service' the trees I have .. THAT causes a cost that needs care. Add to the mobo ....

I'll stay with straight 95 thank you.
 
Aquanaught said:
Since switching to Aspen not had any problems - o/b starts easily even after leaving for months and no issues if you forget to use up fuel in the carb. For peace of mind the small extra cost is well worth it if o/b only used occasionally.
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Small Extra Cost - I paid £25 for 5 litres at the lawnmower shop. Never again, mower is back on e10.
 
Mark-1 said:
£37 for four litres on Amazon. Too much for me.
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Flammable liquids are one of the few things that Amazon can’t compete well on! My local lawnmower place also sell gas bottles so this is a convenient time to get both. There is an alternative brand Husqvarna? Which is a little cheaper and if you can find stock, had some online stockists who were not under £25 delivered for 5L.
 
ylop said:
Flammable liquids are one of the few things that Amazon can’t compete well on! My local lawnmower place also sell gas bottles so this is a convenient time to get both. There is an alternative brand Husqvarna? Which is a little cheaper and if you can find stock, had some online stockists who were not under £25 delivered for 5L.
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You're right. My local garden centre are £5 a litre which is tolerable.
 
Been using Aspen 2 in my elderly Yamaha 4 outboard for the past 2 summers. Whilst it is expensive (I’ve been paying £23 for 5 litres this year) it has turned a baulky and difficult to start engine into one that starts first pull every time. That’s worth a good deal more than I’m paying, just in terms of not further damaging my already worn out arm…
 
Refueler said:
I am amazed that people will pay such for what is a gasoline blend component .....
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It is either a genuinely better product than the blended gasoline OR it is very cleverly marketed, either way low frequency users BELIEVE it is less hassle and so worth it. I notice both Stihl and Gulf are now offering alkylate fuel so if it is marketing hype it’s certainly gaining traction.
 
FWIW.
Have a new genny that has sits in a corner of the the garage for "emergencies".
Gets started once a year, just to see if it will.
Getting fed up attempting and failing to quickly get the thing going , decided to experiment.
Without exception was invariably a right pain to get the thing going with standard petrol.
After changing to the expensive stuff it " appeared" to start much more easily, quickly and with less effort , only faff, finding a forecourt with a pump that dispenses it.
🤞
 
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Chiara’s slave said:
Quite. Super unleaded and a dash of your choice of additive does the business at 1/3 of the price
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Well only if you amortise the cost of the additive across the volume - if you mean actual cash outlay first time it works out about the same!

Super Unleaded - £1.65/L x5 = £8.25
Sta-Bil preservative - £15.95 (120mL - you only need 15mL to treat 5L so for tender duties it will last years, until you lose the bottle!)
5L plastic can with spout = £6.00
===
£30.20 (or £24.00 if you already have a can)

OR

Aspen - 5L = £24.00
Pouring spout = £3.90
===
£27.90

So yes when you come to need a 'refill' you are looking at 24.00 v 8.25 - but the reason people buy Aspen is because they are very low volume users (you can even buy a litre at a time for £5.75 and probably don't need a spout) - so on actual cash outlay it is not as ridiculous as made out. I'd never have done it when I owned a rib burning 30L a day, but for an 2HP on a tender doing 100-150m a few dozen times a season its not so crazy. If someone keeps an o/b for 10 years, and uses 2L a year, you are looking at £55 v £100 - compared to the cost of the engine that is insignificant.

(You may be able to find preservative cheaper - that's the price my local Chandlery sells it).
 
ylop said:
Well only if you amortise the cost of the additive across the volume - if you mean actual cash outlay first time it works out about the same!

Super Unleaded - £1.65/L x5 = £8.25
Sta-Bil preservative - £15.95 (120mL - you only need 15mL to treat 5L so for tender duties it will last years, until you lose the bottle!)
5L plastic can with spout = £6.00
===
£30.20 (or £24.00 if you already have a can)

OR

Aspen - 5L = £24.00
Pouring spout = £3.90
===
£27.90

So yes when you come to need a 'refill' you are looking at 24.00 v 8.25 - but the reason people buy Aspen is because they are very low volume users (you can even buy a litre at a time for £5.75 and probably don't need a spout) - so on actual cash outlay it is not as ridiculous as made out. I'd never have done it when I owned a rib burning 30L a day, but for an 2HP on a tender doing 100-150m a few dozen times a season its not so crazy. If someone keeps an o/b for 10 years, and uses 2L a year, you are looking at £55 v £100 - compared to the cost of the engine that is insignificant.

(You may be able to find preservative cheaper - that's the price my local Chandlery sells it).
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Of course I’m spreading the cost of the additive, I use 50-60 litres of outboard fuel over just the summer, my mini ‘chase boat’ and main engine. Plus I don’t buy my additive at a swindlery😉
 
ylop said:
Well only if you amortise the cost of the additive across the volume - if you mean actual cash outlay first time it works out about the same!

Super Unleaded - £1.65/L x5 = £8.25
Sta-Bil preservative - £15.95 (120mL - you only need 15mL to treat 5L so for tender duties it will last years, until you lose the bottle!)
5L plastic can with spout = £6.00
===
£30.20 (or £24.00 if you already have a can)

OR

Aspen - 5L = £24.00
Pouring spout = £3.90
===
£27.90

So yes when you come to need a 'refill' you are looking at 24.00 v 8.25 - but the reason people buy Aspen is because they are very low volume users (you can even buy a litre at a time for £5.75 and probably don't need a spout) - so on actual cash outlay it is not as ridiculous as made out. I'd never have done it when I owned a rib burning 30L a day, but for an 2HP on a tender doing 100-150m a few dozen times a season its not so crazy. If someone keeps an o/b for 10 years, and uses 2L a year, you are looking at £55 v £100 - compared to the cost of the engine that is insignificant.

(You may be able to find preservative cheaper - that's the price my local Chandlery sells it).
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Does Sta-bil work, and crucially *how* does it work?

On the face of it it looks brilliant, someone like me could just use it for the last two months of the season so any dregs are still fine in spring.
 
Mark-1 said:
Does Sta-bil work, and crucially *how* does it work?

On the face of it it looks brilliant, someone like me could just use it for the last two months of the season so any dregs are still fine in spring.
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Seemingly not.


Having said that, it's only since they went to E10 that I realized I could get zero ethanol fuel at the pump and switched. Before that I used E5 for years and had no problems. My *guess* is a sealed tank preserves the petrol and the small amount in the carb usually evaporates.
 
Trying to work out, so I asked if you could use the little sashes off styll that are ready for 50/1 but people say it’s the wrong oil for marine I checked and they are different . But you guys are saying Aspen 2 which states it’s for land based two strokes is ok to use. Which is right.
 
Seastoke said:
Trying to work out, so I asked if you could use the little sashes off styll that are ready for 50/1 but people say it’s the wrong oil for marine I checked and they are different . But you guys are saying Aspen 2 which states it’s for land based two strokes is ok to use. Which is right.
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I use Oregon Chainsaw 2T oil in my two 2T Outboards and have done since 2015.

I'm mainly doing that to use up a ton of Oregon oil I bought by mistake and when that runs out I was planning on using the best quality 2T oil I could find in both tools and Outboards rather than marine oil.

I'm interested in hearing there's a difference between 2T oils, what is it?
 
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