Jon Gansen said:
Andy, I cant believe (I do thou) you have had problems with the 10% blend. I am mandated by the state to use it at Highland (municipal). I have had no problems. 1970 John Deere all the way down to the weed eaters.
I use it in my snowmobiles, motorcycle and everything gas at home no problem.
The first day we switched, we had issues with fuel filters and fuel pumps in our fleet of Ford F-250 and Ranger trucks. Some needed multiple repairs before they were fixed. Although we have filters on our tanks, the ethanol cleaned the tanks on the truck releasing the built up sediment. Other makes and models weren't affected. It's also caused issues in our two cycle equipment. Ring issues, fuel lines getting soft and bursting and lots of fouled plugs. The ethanol allows the water to blend, instead of settle out. We have lots of humidity in Florida, and a half-full tank is asking for trouble. We were treating our two cycle mix fuel tank with an ethanol treatment before switching entirely over to non-ethanol. We had no choice at the time as our supplier quit carrying the conventional fuel. We had to switch suppliers to get rid of the ethanol.
I run, because I have no other option, ethanol in all my stuff at home as well, including my boat. The difference is the amount of use. At work, our equipment runs non-stop, all day long. At home, we might use something for only a few minutes. I don't think we would notice the issues as quick simply due to this fact. Being in Florida, marinas have kept the non-ethanol around as it is much better to run in a boat than the ethanol, but charge excessively for this.
Trust me, I know first hand about the corn prices. I am a stock holder in a company that owns several banks in Ames, Des Moines, Story City and Boone. My stock dividends have increased. I can't complain. A good year for corn is a great year for me.