Thank you very much Steve. That really means a lot coming from you.

As far as the fuel goes, it's life span, as far as I'm concerned, really depends on if it has ethanol or not. I took some fuel with ethanol and put it in a glass jar. We put that jar on the workbench and let it sit. Within just a few days it started to seperate. By the end of a week, it was completely serperated into different fractions. By 2 weeks it had increased volume by almost 20% with the addition of water. Now, it was not sealed, but was covered for the most part. This really freaked me out. It didn't even smell like gas any more.
My recommendation is when dealing with fuel with ethanol, do not keep and more in the tank then you plan on burning in about a month. Fuel that doesn't contain ethanol is usually good for about 6 months. However, it should be topped off with fresh fuel in any slightly modded engine. Also, the filter should be checked shortly after running a short distance. If you have a highly modified engine, 4 months is about it on non-ethanol fuel for me. It just isn't worth the potential disaster for maybe a few hundred bucks. Again, top off the tanks before you run.
I hate throwing anything away as much as the next guy, but you have to weigh the potential savings with the massive potential outlay when you stuff destroys itself.
Eddie

I will have to completely change my winterizing methods... I have always followed the book procedures and completely topped off the tank prior to storage. This allegedly results in less condensation forming in the fuel tank, but I will not be following that procedure anymore. Granted I am no where near the HP most of you guys are at, but at 424 HP out of 355 ci my compression is actually higher than most of the larger motors.

And that use to be fine. However, it was written before the ethanol was added. It has really changed things up. Someone needs to be slapped over that brainstorm.
Eddie

I think the major issue is his engines are new,last run of the season always put stabil and startron in when I fill it.Maybe leave 15 gallons or less the stabil and startron whats left(not as much) then fill in the spring before taking out for the first time.My engines can run on 87 but I have not had any problems doing this.I would not run a whole tank of year old fuel though.

If it fires and runs and you use some common sense the first time out you should be just fine. I leave tanks low in the fall, load them up with stabilizer and Lucas fuel treatment and come spring top off with some fresh fuel and all is fine. Three seasons with this one and never an issue.

Say what you will but this is my system and I have had NO PROBLEMS!! And yes, I guess the oldest the fuel ever got was 6-7 mos. (Nov.- Apr.) I always green Sta-Bil ize and have had no problems. I got tired of checking/changing fuel filters and not finding any water. That story about the glass jar on the workbench was interesting I'll have to try that. But I am not a cowboy yahoo that blasts the boat every time out. This weekend we put 4-5 hrs. on the motors and we never got over 4500 rpm. And yes, no problems.

spot quiz : what are the first words everyone says when they look down at the somking ruins of their motor after they have done the same thing wrong for the 5th time but only got away with it four times ?

answer: " gee... it never did that before..."

my response is the same now as it was two weeks ago... can you get away with stupid sht ? sure. can you pour every manner of K mart garbage and magic sht into your fuel and believe it does something ? sure. but on the other hand you could do it right and have exactly ZERO risk. i know that is some sort of alien concept when its far more macho to do stupid things and trick magic stuff and get away with it . and being smart and conservative is just so boring and mundane...

What I'm wondering is there a difference of living in Houston Texas where we get the freshest fuel straight from the world's largest refinery right across town vs. a Caribbean Island where ? rastafarian got smoked up last week and got lost on his fuel delivery run...

nope. nothing to do with that at all. it has only to do with the comment i made on another thread some time ago... about the differences between amateurs and professionals in any genre and how many problems are self inflicted.

it is a philosophical point... nothing to do with fuel at all. ever work in a multi person shop environment ? theres always a guy who is dirtier than everyone else. there is always a guy with bruised knuckles and burns. always a guy stripping bolts and taking twice as long to do everything and always one guy that just plods along, finishes the day with his shirt still clean, his work all done, no come backs, no excitement, no beating out fires... just washes his hands and goes home. watch him some time... he doesn't just jam his hands in somewhere... he thinks for a second before he moves, stands properly so he doesn't crash when something gives way ... in short... he thinks about how to do things correctly and then does them... no magic, no rocket science.

thats all i'm talking about here... you spend a billion dollars, a billion hours and just LIVE for this hardware you have and yet, for absolutely no reason at all, you won't take the time to make absolutely certain that it has fresh fuel. if you are right and it didn't go stale then everything is fine... just like you say... but what about that one time when you bought sht in the first place and then it was garbage 7 mos later when you went back to it.
failure. thats what happens. and it happens because you were lazy. no other reason. you are NOT reponsible for the fuel being bad but you are absoilutely responsible for running it.
if you want to short cut the easy things, fine. nobody cares and in the end, you are the one that lives with the results and eddie will be happy to have your money and listen to how unlucky you were.

news flash.. you make your own luck.

Well said, some times people have to blow stuff up before they learn. Well thats the way I learned about it in this case. Learn from my mistake, listen to what we are saying. I always go by the 1 month rule as Eddie spoke of. Don't just fill up your tank and top it off and keep it full all summer. Just pump the amount of fuel you will use in a couple of weeks. Don't let it get old.