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I just purchased a new Hustler Raptor SD 54", it should be delivered this week. Had a question about the fuel to use in the mower. This will be my first new machine and I am not sure what octane gas I should be using and if I need to treat the fuel in any way before running the unit. Any input on this will be much appreciated. This is a big step up from my 1979 John Deere 316 and don't want to mess up the Raptor right out of the gate.

regular unleaded 87 octane is fine and is outlined in your manual. I run 89 in mine only because I buy for my Stihl products. As for treating your fuel, I always put stabil in all of my yard equiptment gas. It is a cheap bit of insurance.

Hope you enjoy your RSD. I have had mine since April and have loved it so far! :thumbsup: Cheers!

MPW

Garden variety "regular" gas with no more than 10% corn squeezins. Almost impossible to find completely ethanol free gas. No need to spend the extra dough on premium either as I am sure the manufacturer knows what they are putting in the manual.

I also like a bit a Stabil now & then...

Ddog823 said:

I just purchased a new Hustler Raptor SD 54", it should be delivered this week. Had a question about the fuel to use in the mower. This will be my first new machine and I am not sure what octane gas I should be using and if I need to treat the fuel in any way before running the unit. Any input on this will be much appreciated. This is a big step up from my 1979 John Deere 316 and don't want to mess up the Raptor right out of the gate.

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You can run what ever you want. I use 93 octane in everything, mowers, all hand held equipment and I've never used any stabil or any of that stuff in my gas. It's a waste of money for me.

Ric said:

You can run what ever you want. I use 93 octane in everything, mowers, all hand held equipment and I've never used any stabil or any of that stuff in my gas. It's a waste of money for me.

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I used 93 in my Bass boat it's entire life because the manual said so. I remember reading here somewhere that these small motors were tweaked for lower octane gas. Is that just a load of crap?

RetiredGuns said:

I used 93 in my Bass boat it's entire life because the manual said so. I remember reading here somewhere that these small motors were tweaked for lower octane gas. Is that just a load of crap?

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I used 93 in my bass boat also because the manual said so. The octane rating of a gasoline is a measure of its resistance to knocking. Using a minimum of 87 octane by the antiknock index is recommended but you can use any octane which is higher. Every manufacturer is different, Stihl says run 89 or higher, Echo says 87 is fine for there **** Listen to your engine and it will tell you what it needs for gas, if it makes knocking noises or uses more gas than it should switch to a higher octane.

i run reg. 87 octane mixed with the blue stabil in all my small enigines. havent had any problems.

I use premium in all my small engines, but that's just me and low consumption. In the lawnboy 2 stroke motor I can tell a difference. premium also seems to store much longer. I treat everything with PRI-G and a little seafoam.

I'd use lower ratings if I was using a lot of fuel, as in mowing lawns professionally.

RetiredGuns said:

I used 93 in my Bass boat it's entire life because the manual said so. I remember reading here somewhere that these small motors were tweaked for lower octane gas. Is that just a load of crap?

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I always recommend what has worked for me. Prior to ethanol introduction, I used 93 Octane Amoco Premium in "everything"(vehicles, boat and small engines). Since introduction of 10% ethanol, I use premium ethanol in my car and truck....but ONLY use 89-91 Octane Ethanol-free gas in my boat and small engine equipment. There are 68 gas stations listed for Illinois on the website below. You may be able to locate one near you that you didn't know about if you want to use it in your boat and Hustler!!!

Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada

djdicetn said:

I always recommend what has worked for me. Prior to ethanol introduction, I used 93 Octane Amoco Premium in "everything"(vehicles, boat and small engines). Since introduction of 10% ethanol, I use premium ethanol in my car and truck....but ONLY use 89-91 Octane Ethanol-free gas in my boat and small engine equipment. There are 68 gas stations listed for Illinois on the website below. You may be able to locate one near you that you didn't know about if you want to use it in your boat and Hustler!!!

Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada

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Well that's a pisser. Closest station is an airport community 12 miles from me. They have 100 octane pure gas though!

Fuelers at airports have 100 octane LL as in low lead fuel. The octane rating of AVGAS is determined by a different formula than auto gas and because of this, the effective octane compared to auto gas ratings is somewhat higher than 100. AVGAS use in engines that are not designed for this type of fuel can suffer as the "fire" in the combustion chamber happens much later and the still burning mixture can go out thru the opening exhaust valve and into the exhaust system and this is not a good situation. This in addition to the fact that if an airport fueler is caught by the FEDS dispensing AVGAS to a non aircraft customer, there are some serious fines involved.
As for fuel additives, I store my equipment in a closed trailer which gets hot inside. I have found that using 89 or higher fuel is better for all of my engines and I use Star Tron enzyme fuel treatment in everything and for the fuel/oil mix engines I ad a carbon softening additive, something that I have done since the 60s when I was a marine mechanic.
Mad Mackie in CT, Sgt1st Class US Army Retired:laughing:

Attached are the carbon reducing products that I use along with Star Tron fuel treatment, this as long as the correct pic uploads!!
Auto Gas with ethanol has a higher evaporation rate and stored in a hot area with open vents causes quicker fuel deterioration. The Star Tron enzyme additive slows down the deterioration rate. I try not to store very much gasoline, but during slow mowing periods, I have had untreated fuel start to go bad in three weeks. Then I had to use Sea Foam fuel additive to quickly clean up the fuel system to get the engine back to normal operating condition.