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Running saws on alcohol .

Started by saltydog, July 23, 2012, 07:56:34 AM

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saltydog

Anyone ever done it? can you do it on a everyday pro work saw and will it hold up?I know they used to run 2 stroke dirt bikes on it in south America .125s ran like 250s.(i was told by a friend that raced down there) if thats the case that is a huge power gain.do they use more fuel?
Proud to be a self employed logger.just me my Treefarmer forwader Ford f600 truck 2186 Jonsereds 385 and 390 husky and several 372s a couple 2171s one 2156  one stihl 066  Hudson bandmill Farquhar 56"cat powered mill.and five kids one wife.

Cypressstump

Don't know how feasible it would be in a chainsaw. I use to race outboard drag boats, still have and play with one. I ran gas mixtures and a bit of Nitrous in my class, M/E. There is an alcohol fuel class, those guys run almost twice the fuel requirements of a gas burner, thats pressure and volume.
Alcohol itself is very corrosive. The 2 strokes rely on the fuel to carry the lubrication oils to the bearing and that can be an issue. The racers run a gas/heavy oil mixture after the race to get the residual alcohol off the bearings because it washes off the oil.
Stump

Timberking 1220 25hp w/extensions -hard mounted
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Makita 6401 34",4800 Echo 20"er, and a professional 18" Poulan PRO , gotta be a 'pro' cuz it says so rite there on tha' saw..

Cut4fun

Ran alky nitro saws, only 3 cuts at a time.  Work saw no way, to finicky and corrosive, destroys rubber seals etc.

This muffler 3120 was running alky and about 12-15% nitro  and 12T sprocket. This video was way to many cuts and put to much heat to the motor. Never did that many again.

http://youtu.be/8S-GqEFirBk

Ianab

You would need to rebuild the engine from scratch to get it to work properly - that's what the race engine guys do.

Alcohol produces less energy than petrol per gallon, so you are going to burn more. But it has a higher Octane rating, means you can increase the compression ratio and end up getting more power. The race engines blow up because the compression and rpms are increased (more power), not simply because of the fuel they are running. The alcohol simply allows them to run higher compression without blowing up instantly. If you built one to put out a normal amount of power it would run as normal, apart from using maybe 20-30% more fuel.

But running it in a standard engine is likely to cause all sorts of problems with corrosion, and rubber / plastic parts breaking down, lack of lube etc.

Ian
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Al_Smith

I've heard it takes about 40 percent more methanol per volume than gasoline to produce the same power .Oh properly set up they'll crank the power but this isn't a good plan on a work saw ,it won't make it until coffee break .

I've never heard the figures but base it on the old go-karts that basically ran about an hour or two of actual running time between rebuilds .

shelbycharger400

not shure of what compression ratios you need for a chain saw, but i do know that you need a minimum of 12:1  on a 4 cycle engine to start making the potential with the fuel.    this crap at the pump with now 15 percent ethanol.. JUNK   ,  e85... i here it works in tuner cars.  bring back the M 85... then you can make some real power.
Methanol is wayyy better than ethanol.
Methanol is sourced from coal
ethanol is from corn..   by the way 40 percent of corn produced in us goes to fuel.   WHAT A WASTE.

alchy fuel systems almost all have to be constructed of special plastics or stainless steel.

Al_Smith

FWIW the original Ford in 1903 was made to run on alkie .Simpley because it was more readily available as gasoline .Fact being the Wright brothers had to have shipped in to the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk some gasoline when they made the first flight of an air plane.

In this day and age all things considered and to be practicle about it  methanol with nitro methane is a racing fuel and should be taken just as that .It's not something that should be used in a work saw unless you have a desire to buy a new one once a week .What goes extremely fast does not go extremely long.

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