On Sun, 24 Jun 2012 08:09:19 -0400, X ` Man
wrote:

My experience is only anecdotal, but I ran gasoline out of the gas
station pump for nearly 20 years in a variety of Mercury and Yamaha
outboards, two strokes and four strokes, and *never* had a fuel-related
problem, even though the "deadly ethanol" was a component of the fuel
for those years. I also run gas station pump fuel in my lawn tractor,
lawn mower, chain saw and string trimmer, and don't have fuel-related
problems with those devices, either.

===

I think it depends partly on the climate. I rarely had fuel issues
when we were living in the northeast but here is south Florida
carburetor issues are rampant on all kinds of engines unless they are
frequently used or run completely out of fuel before sitting idle.
The newer 4 stroke marine engines seem particularly vulnerable,
perhaps because of smaller carburetor passages as one mechanic
explained it to me.