Age old question, Winter Storage?

[bill.g]

If the engine is only down for a few months just add some stabilizer then run the carb dry. Make sure to top up the fuel tank because that keeps the air in the tank from collecting moisture and then having water or rust problems!

 

[Moparjoe499]

Used to run everything dry several years ago. Noticed trimmer lines and mower lines would get hard from being dry for a couple months. Was a yearly or bi-yearly chore replacing fuel lines.

Started using Stabil fuel stabilizer year round. Even use during mowing season. Reason is I never have to remember how old the fuel is like before.

Now 1-3 pulls in the spring and I'm off cutting grass. Never had any more fuel or hose issues again. I run 100% 87 octane unleaded in all OPE equipment. Going strong for about 7-8 years now this way.

Sta bil additive contains either petroleum distillates or mineral spirits. Check the sta bil MSDS sheet. Sta bil is a money scam.

 

[Moparjoe499]

If the engine is only down for a few months just add some stabilizer then run the carb dry. Make sure to top up the fuel tank because that keeps the air in the tank from collecting moisture and then having water or rust problems!

If it's down for just a few months, there is no need to run the carb dry.

 

[Rickcin]

One could do like my next door neighbors do:
Leave the mower, blower, trimmer and edger exactly where you used them last because it's too much trouble to put them in the shed or garage.

When next needed, take the tools to the repair shop. Upon return, dump in the ancient gasoline that has been in the can since Fred Flintstone filled it. Return them to the repair shop. Repeat.

Next season, after being buried in the snow, buy all new stuff. Year after year! Someone has to keep the landfills full and the Chinese economy going.

Paul
PS: The local repair shop guy told me once "They bought me my Lexus."

Yeah, there are people like that and perhaps money is meaningless to them, but then, why would they be doing these landscaping chores themselves?
Unfortunately the US has an over abundance of lazy and stupid people.

 

[PGB1]

Sta bil additive contains either petroleum distillates or mineral spirits. Check the sta bil MSDS sheet. Sta bil is a money scam.

I've know people who put a drop of motor or olive oil in the fuel to essentially (maybe) accomplish the same thing- seal moisture & oxygen out.

Me? I pony up and buy Lucas Fuel Stabilizer 10302. A $4.98 bottle treats 40 gallons. Five dollar peace of mind?

Exactly as MoparJoe said about Stabil, Lucas is made of "petroleum distillates" (And naphtha- another petroleum distillate.) Plus, alkyl phenol, a cleaner.

Paul

 

[7394]

Sta-bil claims that a bottle kept beyond it's shelf life will not hurt anything, it will just be less effective. Also, it should be noted that a full system won condense and an empty system won't condense, you don't want to store equipment between those extremes without using a fuel stabilizer.

Yea, OK, I won't ever use it again.. You go ahead. Everyone has their own way.

 

[PGB1]

Yeah, there are people like that and perhaps money is meaningless to them, but then, why would they be doing these landscaping chores themselves?
Unfortunately the US has an over abundance of lazy and stupid people.

Never thunk of that: Why, indeed, are they doing the lawn themselves?

Money doesn't mean anything to them because everything is free. The whole box of them are on SSI. Far newer cars & trucks than mine, daily trips to buy beer, pop, pizza & cigarettes, but SSI none the less. (The callouses on my hands say I'm doing life all wrong!)

 

[perimeterlandscaping@comc]

Live in SW Virginia with a 4 month moderately cold winter and I keep my Cub Cadet 42 tractor in a shed with a push Honda mower. The tractor battery stays in tact but I do keep it connected to a battery tender.
Is it better to complete run the engines dry of fuel (with an empty tank) or, as I have read elsewhere, fill the tanks with conditioned fuel to minimize any possible condensation?
The Honda push mower has a fuel shut off valve ( as does my Honda generator) however the tractor does not, in case any of that matters? Thanks

all mower engines, and v twin engines in particular will need the coils wire wheeled after rust sets in on the contacts from inactivity and exposure to moisture. to do this youll have to remove the starter, the fly wheel pully if so equipped, all the plastics, and get to where the coils can be unbolted from the chassis...wire wheel the rust away on all sides of the coil, not just the portion facing the magneto, and then regap them with a business card on reassembly. not too hard and can easily be done. if the shed is water tight from the outside elements, probably wont have to do it at all, but if even a moderate amount of moisture is able to get through, might be looking at a minor service procedure

 

[Billlh]

So I live in NY and I've been doing this for a very long time. Part of being an old guy. I fill the tanks and park them. If I can't get power to the battery I take them out and keep them in my partially heated garage and charge them a few times over the winter. The rest stay in the tractors and I keep a maintainer on them. I'm getting lazy in my old age. I've never used Stabil and have zero intentions of starting now. So far I haven't had many issues. The mowers start in the spring and we go back to mowing. Occasionally they require a bit of starting fluid to get them going again. I have quite a few lawn tractors 4 John Deere's 1 JD zero turn couple Grasshoppers and an older Craftsman. I treat them all the same way. I do run ethanol-free gas in my trimmers and blowers. But I burn way too much fuel mowing to spend all that on ethanol-free gas. And no I'm not a commercial mower though I have enough equipment to be one lol.

 

[MarineBob]

So I live in NY and I've been doing this for a very long time. Part of being an old guy. I fill the tanks and park them. If I can't get power to the battery I take them out and keep them in my partially heated garage and charge them a few times over the winter. The rest stay in the tractors and I keep a maintainer on them. I'm getting lazy in my old age. I've never used Stabil and have zero intentions of starting now. So far I haven't had many issues. The mowers start in the spring and we go back to mowing. Occasionally they require a bit of starting fluid to get them going again. I have quite a few lawn tractors 4 John Deere's 1 JD zero turn couple Grasshoppers and an older Craftsman. I treat them all the same way. I do run ethanol-free gas in my trimmers and blowers. But I burn way too much fuel mowing to spend all that on ethanol-free gas. And no I'm not a commercial mower though I have enough equipment to be one lol.

Here in taxachusetts as I mentioned before, I do about the same. One thing I did a few years back is buy a battery maintainer device. I think the reason I got it was there was some sort of sale or I got a good price off coupon. As what my my wife calls me, a FOG, ....&%$$**%$#@....Old Guy, I guess I am not changing my approach and though it does not matter one bit, I now wonder why there seems to be a pretty significant difference in how folks wintrerize their lawn equipment. I wonder if there is enough fuel formulae differences here and there or dealer to dealer to make a difference? I am confident a lot of the concerns have simply persisted and won't go away from the first days of ethanol adds when the fuel systems did not tolerate the stuff.