Leaner engine operation…higher operating and component temps…decreased CO emissions…higher idle speeds…increased NOx emissions…erratic operation…complete stalls with E15 and E20 gasoline blends. Look for more details upcoming here on poweretblog and in the Jan/Feb. issue of Power Equipment Trade, but I’ve just gotten my hands on the impressively titled “Effects of Intermediate Ethanol Blends on Legacy Vehicles and Small Non-Road Engines, Report 1,” a study prepared by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for the U.S. Dept. of Energy, and want to share some of the results.

First—this is a looooong 136-page report, complete with a serious number of eye-glazing charts and

This one hits close to home, folks: Debbie Watson, former Power Equipment Trade advertising sales representative from 1992 until fall 2002, died November 28 at age 45 after a long battle with skin cancer. Beautiful and vivacious, Debbie brightened every life she touched—and was a very successful PET ad-selling machine.

For a while she was the sole ad sales rep for PET, and I spent as much time working closely with her as anyone on the Hatton-Brown Publishers staff. She left Hatton-Brown in 1997 and formed her own company, Kaleidoscope Communications, yet continued to sell PET as an independent rep until fall 2002. (And I know she loved that it took two new PET sales reps to replace her!) We made many long rides to Louisville for what is now GIE+EXPO, and every trip was made shorter and much more interesting and lively in her presence.

While Debbie had a personality that could light up a room when she entered, she was also very artistic with drawing and painting and even sculpture. I remember that getting a wrapped gift from Debbie was like

From left: Marv Mathwig, Stihl product manager, accepting for John Keeler, Stihl national training manager; Audra Hanson, Mojack marketing director; Dan Shell, PET managing editor; Bill Bower of Briggs & Stratton; and Gary Lalla, Echo product manager. Not pictured is Powersports/Recreation category winner Husqvarna.

After months of suspense, the moment finally drew near when the long-awaited winners of the third annual Power Equipment Trade Dealers Choice Awards winners were announced near the end of the GIE+EXPO show in Louisville, Ky. on Saturday, October 25. Dealers attending GIE+EXPO voted on their favorite new products in five categories in the third annual Power Equipment Trade (PET) GIE+EXPO Dealers Choice Awards. Voting commenced on the show’s first two days, with the winners announced on Saturday, October 25.

As part of the awards, PET held drawings for two PulseTech battery chargers and a $100 cash award. Winners of the battery chargers are Steve Wilson of Madison Tool Rental in London, Oh., and Dennis Tedder of Tedder Outdoor Power in Camden, Ark. Winner of the $100 cash award is J.L. Rainwater of JR’s Small Engine in Collinsville, Okla.

Just got finished this past weekend wading through all 61 Power Equipment Trade/GIE+EXPO Dealers Choice Awards nominees, and developed a good list of finalists. Products nominated were weighted heavily toward the “Accessory/Attachment” and “Wheeled” product categories, though there is some really cool stuff in all five categories. Following are the 2008 PET GIE+EXPO Dealers Choice Awards finalists, seen for the first time outside of PET‘s fertile editorial office here in Montgomery, Ala.: