To help your lawn mower do its job and give you a clean and healthy looking lawn, you need to make sure that it starts. The lawn mower will need gas to start. Once it runs out, you will need to refill the gas tank to keep on with your work. Many people wonder whether lawn mowers can use the same kind of gas that their cars do.
Lawn mowers do use the same type of gas as your car. This makes it easy to find the right gas because it is already found at the regular gas station that you use each day. You can use unleaded up to E10 and it will work safely in your lawn mower. Avoid anything that has too much ethanol in it or it may end up ruining the engine in your mower.
Let’s take a closer look at the different types of gas options that are available at your local gas stations and figure out which one is going to provide you with the best results when you are ready to mow your lawn.
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Do Lawn Mowers and Cars Use the Same Gas?
You can use the same gas that you put in your car to help start your lawn mower. They have a similar engine, though the one in a mower is often a lot smaller, so they can run on the same kind of gas. You do not need to go with something that is fancy when it comes to putting gas in the lawn mower. The regular unleaded gas is going to be enough to help you get started and to get the lawn mowed in no time.
Be careful about the type that you use. If you like to use a specialized type of gas for your car, then you will not need to put this into your mower. Specialty gas and any that has too much ethanol in it is not going to be good for the mower. The regular unleaded, or any that goes up to E10, will work well in the mower.
To get the gas for your mower, you can use one of the recommended gas canisters. There are many of these available at your local gas station or you can purchase from various automotive stores. You can walk up to the gas station and fill up your canister.
Many homeowners do this at the same time they are filling up the gas in their cars to make things a little bit easier and to save time. Make sure that the lid is on top of the canister before leaving to prevent anything from spilling out in your car.
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Can I Use High Ethanol Gas in My Mower?
While there are some cars that do well with higher ethanol types of gas, your mower is not designed to do this. It is best to stick with some of the normal types of gas rather than the ones that have a ton of ethanol. Yes, there are benefits to the higher ethanol content in some of the gas brands out there, but they are designed for specific types of cars, not to your mower.
Not every engine is designed in a way that it can handle fuel that is high in ethanol. E15 gas should only be used in a vehicle that is considered a FFV or a flexible fuel vehicle. These cars are able to help burn off either a gasoline-ethanol blend or traditional gas. They are newer and you will not find them in cars or trucks that are older than 2001.
However, a mower is not designed to handle this kind of gas. You can go with a traditional gas that is E10 or lower and it should not cause any problems at all. It is not recommended to go with something that has a higher ethanol content in it because of the way the mower engine is designed.
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Due to the fact that the ethanol fuel is able to absorb water right from the atmosphere and then retain it in the same area, you will find that ethanol can be really hard on the carburetors of a small engine. This allows a lot of water to sit inside the engine and cause rust and other problems, which is not good for your mower.
Another problem is that most E15 gas has more alcohol content inside. This alcohol content may not be that big of a deal to the right kind of vehicle out there, but it will be more corrosive to the small engine’s fuel lines compared to the normal gasoline, or the E10 that you may purchase.
When choosing the right type of gas for your lawn mower engine, it is best to stick with something that has less ethanol so that it can work properly and will not stop working on you. Regular E10 is fine because it does not have enough ethanol inside to ruin the engine like the higher varieties do. It is inexpensive and found in most gas stations so it should not be hard to work with and is easy to fill up your gas with. Traditional gas will work too.
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Do I Need Special Gas for My Lawn Mower?
Most of the lawn mowers on the market are going to use the same kind of gas as. Your car. You can just go to the fuel station and fill up your little container with regular gas. This will work just fine in your lawn mower and can have that grass on your lawn cut in no time. However, if you have purchased a specialty type of lawn mower, you may need to consider getting a different type of gas to help get it started.
The exact type of gas that you will need in your lawn mower will depend on the type of engine that is found inside. Most of the four-stroke engines will need unleaded gasoline. It is best to use the kind that has an octane rating of 87 or higher. It is possible to use gas that has ethanol in it, but you should never use a kind of gas that is higher than 10 percent ethanol or you can ruin the engine of the lawn mower.
Mowers that have a two-stroke engine in them will use the same kind of gas as well. But you do need to remember to add in some high-quality two-cycle engine oil to help clean it out and keep everything running smoothly. You can read the owners manual to figure out exactly how much oil and gas ratio you should work with.
One note to make is when you plan to store the mower. If you just store it for a few days, no added steps are necessary. But if you plan to store the mower away for the winter or for more than 30 days, then you should add a fuel stabilizer to the full tank of gas. This will help to keep the gas from breaking down during that time and breaking the engine or the carburetor of the mower.
What Happens If I Use the Wrong Gas in My Lawn Mower?
If you have several types of lawn mowers and they use different types of gas, or you put the wrong gas nozzle into the container at the gas station and fill your lawn mower up with it, it is possible that you can put the wrong gas into your lawn mower. Often the first sign of this is when you try to start the machine and nothing happens.
When you do end up using the wrong gas for the lawn mower, the engine components can be exposed to more damage. There are different fuels with different amounts of ethanol. And as we mentioned before, too much ethanal in the fuel will cause it to damage the spark plug of the engine and ruin the engine. It is also possible that some harmful emissions will be produced by burning through the wrong type of gas in your lawnmower, which can ruin the grass in your yard.
If you notice that you put in the wrang gas to your lawn mower, either from the emissions or the mower will not start, then it is time to remove it. Follow the steps on your owner’s manual to figure out the best way to remove the gas and clean out the machine before adding in the right gas for the mower.
Choosing the Right Gas for Your Lawn Mower
There are different types of gas out there, but for the most part, you can use regular gas for the lawn mower, just like you can do with your car. If your lawn mower needs a specialty type of gas inside, it will list it out on the owner’s manual for you. For most of the lawn mowers that you will purchase at the store, traditional gas will do the work and can save you time and money from looking for something special.
