Actually, reflecting back now, I think the idle time in the mower was more like 6-8 weeks. But the real problem might actually be how long the gas was stored in my 5 gallon gas can. That would be much older, and then when refilling the mower's tank, the ethanol gas is already old + the additional 6-8 weeks it sits idle in the mower's tank.
I also live in a high humidity location so I'm wondering if the ethanol gas in the mower's tank is absorbing water more than normal humidity locations.
I'll only fill 3 gallons in that gas can from now on and buy non-ethanol gas.
Thought it might be worth mentioning that:
1. Before I bought the John Deere mower in August 2012, I had a Craftsman mower and a "Weed Eater" weed whacker. Never had problems using old ethanol gas in either one. Never used a fuel stabilizer in the gas.
2. When I bought the John Deere mower, I inherited a used Stihl weed whacker. While the John Deere mower had the 3 no start episodes, I never had a problem starting the Stihl weed whacker.
I refilled my 5 gallon gas can with fresh gas and added Stabil to it after the first mower no start episode.
For the Stihl weed whacker, I fill a used one gallon Coleman fuel can from the 5 gallon gas can and add 2 cycle oil to it. I fill the mower with the gas from the 5 gallon can. So the gas in the weed whacker is the same age gas as in the mower except that it has 2 cycle oil in it.
The John Deere mower is the only one that has had the no start problem.
Just adding info to the info bin,
Yardguy