Buh Bye Glug-Glug Jug

Since I completed today's yard work earlier, I thought I would do a post on gas cans. ALL of my yard and snow removal power equipment is gas powered, either 2 stroke or 4. I had my fill of battery or electric powered yard equipment. First off, my Dad was horrible with gas powered equipment his entire life. Old stale untreated gas, dull blades, never changed oil, never understood starting with a choke or primer, etc. During the gas shortages of the 1970's, he bought a Toro electric plug-in lawmower with a 100'+ extension cord. What a pain in the ass to mow our yard! You would get to the end of a cut, turn the mower and get lined up for the next cut, and flip the long lever that held the cord and flipped it out of your way. We still ended up chopping up the cord, getting it wound around the blade shaft and having to splice it back together. They sucked so bad, I can't even find a description or photo of it online. Of course, it wasn't self-propelled and the bag would fill up fast requiring it to be dumped every couple of passes. I have about 1/2 +/- acre of property around my house to mow. Using my Honda self-propelled walk behind mower as a mulcher doing a normal length maintenance cutting, I can do the entire 5 sections of yard in the same amount of time it took us as kids to do just the front and back yards with that piece of shit.

Anyway, back to the gas cans. I have a pair of 2 gallon Blitz non-vented gurgle cans that would ALWAYS spill more gas than you could imagine. I use them for the lawnmower, snowblower, power washer, or sometimes to top off the generator or bike. Anything that needs straight 87 octane gas. The label is still intact on one of them showing the STUPID (but supposedly environmentally friendly) spout arrangement. Tell me again how spilling gas on the ground is better than allowing a vent to the atmosphere, which actually sucks air in to displace the gas? Oh, that and the "safety" factor because idiots were either killed or badly burned pouring gas out freely trying to light a campfire. I have used gas a few times to light fires, but I toss small quantities of gas from a cup at a distance, and you NEVER let your fire wood sit soaked in gas. It will blow up in your face when you walk up to light it.

From a seller on eBay, I purchased a gas can retrofit/repair kit. These are VERBOTTEN here in Kommiecticut, and are unavailable from retailers like Cheaper Than Dirt. They make you input your zip code to see if they will ship to you, or others will rebrand them as "water spout kits." For $25 and free shipping, I got five of these kits in a package. I have two complete kits left.

Spout, cap, two different size retention collars, a screw type vent cap, and a vent retrofit cap

I turned a difficult to use messy gas jug into an easy pour version that has yet to spill a drop.

Pop open the yellow vent cap and spout cap, and pour away easily

 

The yellow vent cap installation requires drilling. I put it on the flattest spot on top, and used a slightly under-sized drill bit for a tight fit. Make sure the jug is empty and dry before drilling, so you can easily remove any plastic pieces that fall inside. Use the black or yellow retention collar that fits your jug.

Next up, a pair of older Scepter gas jugs; a 2 1/2 gallon and a 5 gallon that are for usage on my generator. As long as I can purchase gas somewhere during an outage, I just refuel the generator and then refill these jugs without tapping into my emergency supply.

The 2 1/2 gallon jug already had a good flexible spout. The vent cap was split needing replacement

 

The 5 gallon Scepter jug had a stiff plastic spout. I bent it to fit the gas tank fill of my truck too many times and it split down the sides. The new flexible spout fits and works perfect. Its original vent cap was also split requiring replacement.

All my emergency gas containers are tagged with the date and station name. Yes I am that anal.

All my gas is stored down in my barn, 100' away from the house. The chance of fire is minimal, since there is no permanent electricity down there. I run a heavy duty outside extension cord to the barn when I want power. The barn is wired for outlets and lights, and there is a male 3-prong cable on the rear exterior to plug the extension cord into. It becomes our clubhouse when we have bonfire parties.

My now illegal gas jugs, on top of my equally forbidden Jerry Cans. The 5 gallon jug on the left is already the old style I got from my Dad. Cleaned out first, of course.

I do have one old metal "Stan Can" brand gas can that has all its original parts that I mix my 2-stroke gas in, but it is in great shape. I use a universal mixture called Optima 2 in all my stuff and have for years. One pouch of Optima 2 to one gallon of gas (I use 93 octane only) and it works regardless of mix ratio. Its a little more expensive than standard 2-stroke oil, but not as expensive as pre-mix tool fuel.