How To's

How to fuel a petrol strimmer

Fuelling your brushcutter

If you’ve recently purchased a new brushcutter, or you’re borrowing one from a friend, fuelling it for the first time can be daunting.

This how-to guide is to help you correctly fuel a petrol-powered brushcutter which will require a mixture of petrol and engine oil – the quality of both of these is critical to maintaining the efficient running and the life of the engine.

Using unsuitable fuels or incorrect ratios can cause serious damage to the engine including piston seizing and excessive wear so please follow the below instructions very carefully.

If in doubt, you can call our product specialists (Monday-Friday 7am-5pm) who will be more than happy to offer advice.

Safety first

Before filling up your strimmer, there are a few points you should consider for safety reasons:

Petrol is extremely flammable so ensure you are not fuelling near naked flames. Also take extra care to not spill any fuel. You should ideally fuel your machine at least 3m away from the area where you will be starting it up.
The engine must be switched off completely before refuelling. Also make sure the engine has cooled down before filling up.
When opening the tank cap, be sure to open it carefully to allow excess pressure to escape slowly so fuel does not spray out of the tank.
Only fuel up in a well-ventilated area.
When fuelling take extra are not to spill any on the ground or on yourself. If that happens, you should clean it up immediately.

Mixing the correct ratio of fuel

The recommended ratio of fuel mix is 1 part oil to 50 parts petrol.

For example, if you are using 5L of petrol, you will need 0.1L (100ml) of 2 Stroke Oil.

To mix the fuel, pour the 2 Stroke engine oil into a mixing can that is approved for use with fuel, then add the petrol. Combine the mixture thoroughly by shaking the can. Be sure to take care when opening the can as pressure may have built up inside.

You can now pour the fuel mix into the fuel tank using the steps details below.

*See the bottom of this blog post for our range of 2 Stroke oils*

How to fill the brushcutter with fuel

Place the brushcutter down on a clean and flat surface. Lay it with the tank opening facing upwards.
If there is build up around the tank opening, wipe it away with a clean cloth.
Raise the tank cap flap then turn the cap anti-clockwise as far as it will go and remove the cap.
Slowly and carefully fill the tank with the fuel mix, taking care not to spill any.
Place the filler cap back into position and turn clockwise until it stops and fold the cliplock down. This will help to reduce the risk of unit vibrations causing an incorrectly tightened cap to loosen or come off and spill fuel. Look carefully for leaks - if there is a leak do not start the engine. This is a serious fire hazard and could cause danger to life.