No more straight gas in Skagit?

[Imachimper]

The Elger Bay Grocery on Camano still has 92 Ethanol free on Friday 3-8-13

[Keppelj]

Avgas is leaded.

[HighwayChile]

Any chance you knew John Karelson? ( RIP) a close buddy from years back, died testing in eastern wa, held a number of world records, really a great guy, I can still hear his laugh.. his dad Ed built the Bardahl, Bud etc..

Iworked (free) on Sunny Jim crew 40 yrs ago, they needed a skinny kid to crawl under the cowl to change oil lines, greasy dirty job, if we made a good show ( yr U-95 came out) they were going to let my brother and I drive the boat trailer etc to Detroit, I reminded them I didnt have a license, they didnt care, figured I could drive the flat boring stuff. engine blew, bad showing, no $ for trip.

boat was rented from Bothell junk man Ed Gilliam at 405/Bothell ev hwy junction, now its some tech plant. amazing place, dozens of WWII, V-12 in crates still, 427 side oiler fords laying about w/ blowers, huge place , motor heads dream
great flick on unlimited , "Madison" even if you arent into unlimited, if anyone hasnt seen it, rent it .

Originally Posted by tod701

Nope, I only raced in gas classes.
Specific gravity limit of 770 and ionic charge limits too.

Some other classes run methanol, I don't think there are any open fuel inboard classes left. The 98 cubic inch class is long gone and I think that 7 litre Div I is dead too. Even though they could, not too many people ran nitro in their 7 litres. Even running just methanol, the men that drove these boats around Green Lake had massive balls.

[tod701]

Originally Posted by HighwayChile

Any chance you knew John Karelson?

Yup, sure did.
I remember getting a call the night he died. As I recall they were testing without a chase boat (not uncommon in those days) and Ed had to go get John out of the water himself. Had to have been heartbreaking.

I crewed on boats in the 280 and 7 litre class from 1971 to 1985. We often raced against boats that Ed built. Even a few that John's uncle Dave built. I crewed part of a season on a 280 that Ed built, but most of the time our boats were built by Ron Jones Sr. Tried my hand at driving a 1 litre for a couple of years after that, but even with a borrowed boat it was well beyind my budget at the time.

Here is a much younger and thinner me getting to take the 7 liter out at Lake Tapps during a test session.

[tod701]

Originally Posted by Keppelj

Avgas is leaded.

Avgas 100 can usually be purchaced in either low lead or no lead formula.

[bscman]

Originally Posted by IpponDuro

I rode through the Cook Road 76 station this morning, all the pumps now have the sticker "contains up to 10% ethanol"

Most of the Heavy farm equipment runs on Diesel, Non-taxed Red Diesel Dyed so The IRS can check your tanks and fine you for having it in your street legal vehicle. The Local farmers will usually have BSCMAN deliver the red stuff direct to the farm so they don't have to "road" the tractors to town.

Yep, talked to the a driver working at the outfit that delivers to said 76 reminding him to leave stickers.


The Skagit Farmers behind Skagit Powersports is the only on in Skagit County I'm currently aware of with Ethanol free gasolines.


HOWEVER! I'm hearing grumbling from Conoco Phillips that they may introduce a 91 octane ethanol free gasoline to satisfy many of the local boaters and powersport enthusiasts that have been voicing their discontent. This is nothing official, but it is being looked into...don't hold your breath, though!


As for the non-taxible "ruby red liquid gold" the farmers use...there have been a couple local skagit/island county outfits that have been dinged for running non-taxible fuel on the road in the last 18 months or so...one was cited for over $10k!


I'll keep you posted if I come across any others in Skagit Co with real gasoline.

[kwisn]

Thanks for the info bsc. I filled up there yesterday and my truck likes it! I did get the stinkeye from random log truck driver though.

[IpponDuro]

Originally Posted by kwisn

Thanks for the info bsc. I filled up there yesterday and my truck likes it! I did get the stinkeye from random log truck driver though.

Just tell em ya know Ipponduro They'll leave ya alone. they're like a bunch of little girls really. That station can be gossip central for the Log Haulers on weekdays between 3 and 5 p.m. Some of them get fuel, park there trucks out of the way and just "hang out" swapping stories about other drivers mistakes, coffee stand girls and whatever else truck drivers talk about.

[kwisn]

I filled up there last night and 2 drivers were yakking away when I got there and still going when I left.

[brianjonesphoto]

As of at least Tuesday the 76 station in Marysville at I-5 and 116th no longer has straight gas either. It's not listed on pure gas anymore and there are 10% signs on the pumps. Major bummer!


Typos and nonsensical words courtesy of fat fingers on a make believe keyboard.

[peterman]

Originally Posted by Keppelj

Avgas is leaded.

works great in an old KLR!
[edit] old airhead beemers too!

[logging road rider]

I used to get straight gas at the truck stop west of I-5 at Island Crossing. I asked the guys there awhile back if they knew anything about a crackdown on ethanol free gas. They said they'd heard nobody would be selling it in the near future. I noticed more recently that they no longer have the straight stuff. That was my go-to place for saw, bike, and mower gas.

Originally Posted by brianjonesphoto

As of at least Tuesday the 76 station in Marysville at I-5 and 116th no longer has straight gas either. It's not listed on pure gas anymore and there are 10% signs on the pumps. Major bummer!

I stopped there for beer tonight and to see if they still have ethanol free gas. The guy said nobody can get it from the refineries any more.

The last place I saw straight gas was the Co-op in Snohomish. That was two weeks ago.

I've heard rumblings that the ethanol content might go up to 15%, which would void the warranty on a lot of vehicles. WTF!

There should at least be a source of good stuff for small engines even if it's at a bit of a premium.

[bscman]

Originally Posted by logging road rider

I stopped there for beer tonight and to see if they still have ethanol free gas. The guy said nobody can get it from the refineries any more.

Not true, there is still one refinery on the west side carrying all three grades of ethanol FREE product.

Just an FYI on how many stations work...
Certain branded stations can only sell certain branded fuel.
I.E. Shell gasoline stations can't sell Chevron gasoline...So shell stations must be gasoline refined by Shell. Arco can only sell Arco fuel. Texaco and 76 gets theirs from Conoco Philips.

This limits name brand gas stations to buying fuel from certain refineries.

Further more, many stations will contract a carrier to supply them with fuel. This locks in a certain supplier for a length of time (usually mult-year contracts). If you lock into a contract with a carrier that only hauls from one or two refineries, you get the fuel they are able to deliver. If they don't happen to get fuel from a refinery that offers ethanol free, then you don't can't get ethanol free without breaching your contract.

Now, places like Coscto, Fred Meyer, and many of your unbranded "mom and pop" type fuel stations will get a Generic blend gasoline. Every refinery offers a generic blend. This is not a bad thing, it just means you don't get the "name brand" additives such as Techron. These are still fuels additized for cleanliness, and are just fine. What this does mean, though, is a "Generic" branded station isn't locked in to using one type of fuel from one specific refinery group.

The long and short of it...if anyone in Skagit Co or the surrounding area is going to have Ethanol free...it's most likely not going to be a "name brand" station.

[tommybelvedere]

Thanks bscman for all the great info! I filled up bike, truck, hot rod and all my cans at the Skagit Farmers cardlock the other day and only seen one log truck in there. Oh yeah also got some off rd diesel for the tractor at way cheeper than over the rd stuff.
I hope that real gas will be there for awhile since i have a skagit membership and ethanol is hell on bikes,quads, and small power tools carb systems.
TB

[MillCreek]

Bscman, Costco may use generic gasoline, but they use a proprietary gas additive package: http://www.calcupa.org/presentations...e_additive.pdf

A friend of mine works as an automotive department buyer for Costco, and he told me that a corporate goal is for the Costco gasoline to be rated as better than Top Tier gasoline. The Costco gas additive is added at the station by an automatic metering system.