If you do not know how to maintain and repair a small engine, this is a skill that can really help your self-reliance. You don’t need a fancy set of tools, as with modern vehicles, and a good work bench is all that’s required to make the chore simpler. Two excellent books on the subject are:
“The Small-Engine Handbook”, by Peter Hunn,
“Small Engine Care & Repair”, by Briggs & Stratton
I have read about converting small engines from gas to alcohol, but have yet to try it. There are two obstacles to running a gas engine on alcohol – rubber fuel lines can melt with alcohol and alcohol does not produce the amount of energy that gas does.
The first obstacle was discovered back in the 70’s during the gas crisis. Since then many manufacturers have switched to plastics that can handle alcohol. This is not carved in stone – you may need to replace fuel lines.
The second obstacle is overcome by boring out the ports in the carburetor to allow more fuel into the cylinder. The lower power of alcohol is compensated for by more fuel, meaning you’ll run through fuel faster. I have a couple of hanger queens around the place, and when time permits will experiment with gas to alcohol conversions, but for now this is untested by me.
Regards,
Pat