“My son just bought his first house, and I want to give him some advice on safely operating gas-powered equipment.”
— Brendon Anderson, Grayslake
Most home gardeners work with gas-powered equipment while maintaining their gardens. Be sure to keep in mind that the fuel is a toxic, very flammable product that can harm you, the environment and your equipment if you are careless.
Start by filling your equipment’s gas tank before you begin using it. Avoid filling a hot piece of equipment and never add fuel to any machine that is still running. There have been severe injuries sustained while fueling a hot piece of equipment because of the gas igniting after being spilled on a muffler or other hot engine component. In a situation where the gas ignites, you may be burned before having time to react. If you have been using the equipment, let it cool down before refueling.
Gas can kill plants and contaminate the soil if it spills, so it is best to fuel the equipment in an area where any gas spilled will not harm the surface. Avoid overfilling your equipment and gas can, as the fuel tanks need room for the gas to expand in hot weather. It is a good idea to leave the neck of the tank or container empty.
The gas expands more during hot weather. Take care to remove the filler caps slowly during warm weather, as pressure can build up inside the tank or gas can. It is safer to release this pressure slowly to avoid getting any spray on you or in your eyes. Wear safety glasses while fueling to add another measure of safety.
Fill up your gas cans with the can on the ground and not in the bed of a truck. Vehicle fires can occur when people are filling metal gas cans placed on plastic surfaces. This type of fire usually involves a gas can in the back of a pickup truck with a plastic bed liner.
Gasoline tends to carry a static electric charge, and this charge can build up on the can as it is being filled. If the can is sitting on concrete or the ground, the static charge can safely flow away. Since plastic is an insulator, the static electricity can build up. A spark can then occur between the gas can and the fuel nozzle and ignite the gasoline vapor near the open mouth of the can if conditions are right.
I like using No-Spill gas cans for my power equipment. They come in 2.5-gallon and 5-gallon sizes and have an easy-to-use thumb button to pour the gas, which makes them ideal to use for small equipment, reducing the chance of spilling fuel. You simply insert the nozzle into your fuel tank and press the button to begin fueling.
It’s a good idea to label your gas cans as mixed gas and regular gas. Two-stroke (two-cycle) engines require you to mix oil with gas in exact amounts so the oil acts as a lubricant for the crankcase. Four-stroke engines take oil and gas separately. Leaf blowers and weed whips are generally two-stroke, so they require mixed gas. Some snowblowers have two-stroke engines too. You will ruin the engine of a two-stroke engine if you do not use mixed gas.
For more plant advice, contact the Plant Information Service at the Chicago Botanic Garden at [email protected]. Tim Johnson is senior director of horticulture at the Chicago Botanic Garden.