Kerosene in the gas tank...

[Jerico]

My dad managed to put kerosene in the gas tanks of his chipper & tiller. He drained all of it he could, but can't get it all drained. Can anyone tell me, if he tops them off with gas with a small amount of kerosene still there would that be dangerous or damage them?

Quick replies would greatly be appreciated.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Kerosene in the gas tank...

Well it will sure clean out the sludge. If he has drained the tanks and then re-fills with fresh gas .... you should be fine. There is going to be a ton of smoke at first but it should be okay.

 

[Jerico]

Re: Kerosene in the gas tank...

Thanks for the reply. Both pieces of equipment probably have less than an hour on them combined, so there shouldn't be any sludge or buildup in 'em. That's half of what's got him so worried. I didn't think it would hurt, but figured who better to ask than the experts here.

 

[WizeOne]

Re: Kerosene in the gas tank...

Not a problem in the least. It would be less of an affect than running a full on 50:1 two stroke mixture and even that would not be an issue except for the smoke.

Actually, the kerosene would act as an upper cylinder/valve lubricant.

 

[mthieme]

Re: Kerosene in the gas tank...

It won't hurt it.

Funny, I had an old Farmall which could run off of either kerosene or gas although the carbs were different. Seems the compression was only 5.33:1.
You could almost run off of cheap beer!