I guess when in doubt, read the manual. I suppose I would be inclined to follow the manufacturers recommendations. With this mower, I have 2. Toro and Honda. As for fuel, Toro says Regular. Honda says Unleaded 89 Octane or Higher. With ethanol content no higher than 10% or 5% METHANOL. The Methanol gas must also contain "cosolvents" and corrosion inhibitors. Use of other types of gas can void the warranty. How do I know all that? : /

As for changing oil both Honda and Toro seem to recommend "First Month or 5 hrs" then 50 Hrs or once a year.

I still would be interested in any experienced thoughts. Thanks again.

89 octane rating is the norm with or without ethanol . 3-5 hrs running time with the breakin oil . Pick up a premium grade synthetic 10W-30 oil . If you intend on ethanol use fuel conditioner annually and Stabil Product during any long period of storage over 30 days . Happy Cutting .

Around here, I think everything might have ethanol. I don't know though about Premium. I think that is what the salesman was suggesting, that premium might not contain ethanol.

When you suggest conditioner, what are you referring to. Stabil or Sea Foam? Should I put some of that in every can of gas? If not, How often? The salesman was pushing Sea Foam and did say to put some in the gas at the end of the season then run the machine dry. He also, if I understood correctly mentioned putting some in, I think, without the gas, to let sit over winter.

As for oil, would that be any, Quality, 10-30 or is there a specific type I recall some mention in the manual about grades or something. I don't know what they are referring to.

In most areas all grades of gasoline contain ethanol. The EPA has a list of those areas not required to sell ethanol blended gasoline. A new Honda mower will be designed to run on ethanol blends, regardless of the mis-information given by the salesman.

Just refer to the owners manual which will likely say that 87 octane ethanol gas is recommended.

A gas conditioner is not needed unless you store gasoline for an extended period. If you are like most of us and buy a gallon or two for the season don't bother. It's a waste of money.

Thanks, that is kind of what I was thinking. I think most of the pumps here are labeled 10% ethanol. Except those labeled E85(?). I wasn't sure though about Premium. As you said, I will certainly be running the mower dry at the end of the season. I won't be filling it up all the way come sometime in October so that I can easily do that. Being that I will be using regular gas, I can just put any leftover in the car.

I wish I could have afforded one of the snow blowers that ran on regular. Now I have to find something that runs on 50:1 so that I can use that up during the summer. Leaf vac/blower, weed trimmer? Any thoughts? Don't have a lot of need for chain saws. I have a full gallon of Gas/oil mix left . Would that still be safe to use next winter ? I am not sure.

Murphy's law... Wash your car and it will rain. Bought my snowblower before the blizzard on February 2nd and used a full gallon cleaning it up. Bought a second gallon and no significant or plowable snow since.

Wmas: You answered your fuel question within your Apr. 1st Post . Hondas says 89 octane minimum . I concur that 89 is adequate . However I don't have ethanol fuel to contend with up North here lol . As for Oil Sae-30 (straight) was the norm for yrs . Recently most Manufacturer's spec out 10W-30 Synthetic Oil . I recommend Amsoil , however Echo , Pennzoil , Shell , Valvoline etc all have great Product. As for fuel treatment I there is two scenarios . Fuel cleaner / top end lubricant .which cleans the piston head combustion chamber from harmful carbon along with reducing potential for sticking rings I advise of annual (once yearly) upon start up 1 ounce to fresh fuel tank. The secondary fuel treatment consideration is that of prolonged storage "Stabilizer" . Stabil former marine grade which states for ethanol use or a New Product Star*tron . These are used when ever fuel is left for over 30 days . Some people believe that they can leave fuel over 3-4 mth when treated without adverse effects ? I don't advise this but it may be true ? As for 2-Stroke Oil recommendation 50-1 Optimal with most applications with Premium Grade Syn usage . Lawn Boy is a different animal where forum experts advise only lawn boy TCW-3 rate oils. As for your Snow-blower again 5W-30 or 40 dependant on local temp severity in Synthetic Grade is the Best .

Note: As a former Diesel Mechanic I have been repairing small engines (Saws , Trimmers , Blowers , Snowmobiles ) for over 30 + yrs . You can pay Now or Play me Later lol . All the Best Dude !

If the gas is stored in a good airtight container then it should be just fine next winter. By airtight I mean one with screwdown pour and vent holes that keep fumes inside. I store my gas over winter and it works just fine in spring. To be extra sure you could add stabilizer if concerned.

I have seen no study that shows gasoline treatments improve the performance and longevity of lawn mower engines. They are in my opinion a waste of money. For example I retired a 30 year old Toro with a Tecumseh engine about 8 years ago. The original owner and I did nothing more than regular maintenance on the engine and it was running strong at the 30 year mark. The mower was put out to pasture because a critical non-engine part was no longer available.

The owner's manual for my new Honda HRX says that you can use unleaded gas with an octane rating of 86 or higher. Recommended oil is 10w-30 with 5-30 also acceptable along with straight 30 if the temperature is over 50. I think the bottle of oil that came with it is 5-30.

My mower was already assembled so I didn't get a bottle of oil. I did look the other day to make sure that they put oil in it before selling it to me. I don't have the manual in front of me but I remember them saying 10-30, 30 and 5-30. Here in Chicago I guess I am good with the 10-30. Also there was mention of some different grades. I didn't know if there is anything unusual about them or if they were ordinary types of oil. Sounds like they are normal oil?

The Honda owner's manual doesn't specify synthetic or regular oil, but seeing as how the mower cost a lot I'm going to use synthetic for the first oil change. I believe the original bottle was only 12 ounces so picking up a quart of synthetic will still be cheap.

I noticed earlier posters were saying the Honda engines need at least 89 octane, but the manual for current models (190 engine on the HRX) only says 86, so perhaps it changed or the 160 engine needs the higher octane.