Nelson Zandbergen
Farmers Forum staff
OTTAWA — From chainsaws to backup generators, the under appreciated small engines of the Canadian economy are choking on ethanol-blended gasoline now that Ottawa’s ‘Clean Fuel Regulation’ is boosting ethanol levels at the pump and making pure gasoline even harder to find.
While modern cars are designed to easily handle gas containing up to 15 % ethanol, small engines are not.
Although 10 % ethanol-infused gasoline has been standard fare at regular pumps for a couple of decades, premium gasoline at many retailers was still free of the corn-alcohol-based additive. Conscientious small engine owners avoided mechanical problems by using this premium fuel. But that’s a dwindling option since the Trudeau — now Carney — government imposed the 2023 regulation that aims to “decarbonize” inherently carbon-based fuels like gas and diesel as part of the same old obsession with controlling the weather.
The refining industry has reacted by blending more ethanol into all gas — including premium — as the easiest method of complying with the escalating early phases of the regulation, according to Canadians for Affordable Energy president Dan McTeague. He describes the regulation as a “second carbon tax” because it is raising refiners’ costs and prices ultimately paid by consumers.
But beyond price at the pump is the damaging fallout for small engines.
North Augusta small engine repair shop owner Owen Gallacher has seen it firsthand. It’s now “very hard to find” ethanol-free gas at premium pumps, he lamented, adding, “It’s hurting my business, and anybody with a small engine repair shop.”
The mechanic explained that customers are returning to him multiple times with recently repaired engines thinking the fix has failed. In fact, the only thing that has changed is the gas in the lawnmower or snowblower tank. After burning through some ethanol-free gas that Gallacher keeps on hand in very limited quantities, the customer brings the repaired lawnmower home, refills with regular retail gas — containing ethanol — and the problems begin. “My business is going downhill because of it,” said Gallacher.
Ethanol in gas draws moisture, he said, describing it as “rotten fuel.”
“It actually makes rust,” he added, rotting fuel tanks from the inside out. Even plastic lawnmower tanks and aluminum engine parts are susceptible to the ravages, according to Gallacher. He’s also seen fuel systems and engines “gummed up” with “gelled” ethanol fuel that sat too long.
A client’s side-by-side ATV needed a new fuel pump after sitting for only two months with ethanol gas in its system, he said. The product also attacks rubber fuel hoses and o-rings, he said.
Perhaps most striking, two-cycle engines — like those used in chainsaws and outboard motors — are more likely to be damaged when fueled with ethanol gas, according to Gallacher.
That’s because the necessary two-stroke oil that must be added to the fuel doesn’t mix properly with ethanol-blended gas, inhibiting lubrication. “Anything two-stroke is getting destroyed,” he asserted.
He worries that outboard motors won’t avoid ethanol gasoline at marinas this summer. Some boats, he predicted, could even be stranded on the water when their engines break down.
This does appear to be the first summer in which ethanol-free gas has become much rarer. Guy Fuels co-owner Chris Guy told Farmers Forum that his terminal suppliers informed him four or five months ago that he could continue to receive shipments of ethanol-free premium gas — but at increased cost — or accept the ethanol-blended version instead. After surveying his customers, he got the message back to stick with premium gas without ethanol, despite the higher price. Guy still offers it to motorist customers at his company’s Winchester cardlock pumps (you have to sign up) and delivers it to bulk customers (like farmers) who have their own tanks.
Guy said he expects the government will eventually outlaw ethanol-free gas or make it prohibitively expensive through regulation. He said that ethanol acts as a cleaner, which isn’t ideal for older equipment and tractors. “It’ll start cleaning all of the crud out of the tank and stuff, and that’s what everybody’s trying to avoid.”
In Williamsburg, Eastern Engines owner Dan VanGilst has also seen the effects of increased ethanol gas usage in chainsaws. They’re overheating and “showing signs of detonation and engine knock,” he said.
The government, he surmised, is trying to steer consumers toward electric chain saws, which are available with similar performance to their conventional counterparts but at substantially higher cost. The price of an electric and gas-fired saw is about the same, he said, but the electric unit will need four individual batteries, at $500 apiece, plus a $300 charger, to provide the same in the field performance as a regular saw.
A provincial rule also mandates an average of 11 % ethanol at Ontario pumps until 2028, rising to 15 % by 2030, according to Canadian Fuels Association spokesperson Dany Laferriere.
“As we approach these targets, some fuel retailers may begin offering E15 (15 % ethanol blend) to help meet evolving federal and provincial renewable fuel and low-carbon requirements.
However, to our knowledge, E15 is not yet being sold at retail stations in Ontario,” Laferriere said.
“Even with the introduction of E15 in the Canadian market, we expect that E10 and other options — such as ethanol-free gasoline — will continue to be available at select stations across Canada, including Ontario, for the foreseeable future.”
