John Deere ride-on, what petrol to use?

The important thing to note with all occasionally used petrol driven equipment is that the fuel should be drained before storage. At the bare minimum, turn off the fuel cock and run the carburettor dry. For longer term storage drain the fuel tank too.

Hi agin folks and thanks for all the input.

I filled up with 98 and mowed away yesterday afternoon.

Thanks again.

would have thought 91 would be the go in a mower

98 generally has some sticky additives and the extra octane does jack in a low compression engine.

make sure you run the carb dry if not used really often IME

I must do everything wrong. The only concession I make is that I try and not leave much fuel in the tank at the end of each mowing session and always put a fresh splash in immediately before the next time I use it. Estimate the amount I'll use and put that in. That way there's mainly fresh fuel being drawn in just after starting. Even when parking it up for the season. Always starts OK and runs fine. Bit more cranking on the first start of the season, but that'd happen from dry anyway. Maybe the Kawasaki engines are more tolerant?

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Originally Posted by DiscoClax

Including E10...

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Originally Posted by 87County

Probably quite right - BUT, I think from memory, that in JD caution about using anything with ethanol in their current models.

I use so little petrol these days I just get 98 when required, even for the mowers.

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Perhaps it varys with model and vintage. I have an X340 which is about 9 years old now (and still looking a million bucks!) and for all of the X3## series in my JD book they recommend the following fuel:

Regular grade 87 octane unleaded fuel - I don't think our fuels go that low.
Ethanol blended fuel up to 10% - cheapest pump fuel we have.
MTBE Reformulated fuel up to 15% - I think this is a US fuel.

Just run it on the cheapest pump fuel you can get. I also tend to think not to run it on premium because of the increased toxicity of the fuel and keep in mind its an industrial motor, not a performance motor that responds to changes in octane. .

since the rest of the toys at home are running 98, i would also run 98 in the mower. ease of logistics. it wont hurt.

Totally agree with Swaggie, recently retired from Small Engine Mechanicking after 35 years doing it and I would never put anything with Ethanol in a small engine. I know Kwaka says E10 is OK (having just bought one) but local distributor told me that is a legal requirement and strongly advised to stick to 91 RON. 95 or 98 won't hurt anything, just cost more for no advantage.