Question regarding "winterizing" and putting away a lawnmower for the winter:
Not sure which is best, (a) or (b) or... ?
(a) Put some Staboil in the tank, run for a few minutes so that some of the Staboil treated gas hopefully makes it into the Carb. and shut off. That's it.
(b) run the tank dry, forget any Staboil. I read with this approach some of the seals in the Carb., etc., might dry out, and that this isn't the best approach. But some say running dry is the best.
I do B you know the carb wont be gummed up I think seals are better material then what was used pre 70-80s, leaks will stop , a carb rebuild is a headache.
I've done both, actually those 2 plus the 3rd ... just leave the gas were it it. Maybe it's just me, but every time I've use Stabil, I find the engine very hard to start in the spring, so I avoid it. However, I will probably put it in my motor home tank as it will not be going on any long trips for the foreseeable future (probably springtime). As for the small engines, I usually run it dry.
Gasoline SHOULD remain stable for a year or more without additives.
If the remaining gas evaporates completely, well, that's a different story....
Perhaps one should fill the tank completely before putting the mower away for the winter. Doing so will minimize moisture from the air condensing into water.
Even if you run it dry, many carbs have bowels that will not be empty unless you drain it directly via the drain fitting. I always go with adding the stabilizer directly to the last can of gasoline when I bring it home. That way the stabilizer is in the mower whenever the last time you cut it is, which depends on the weather.
I'd also suggest RTFM, which usually tells you what the manufacturer recommends.
(d) let run until it's nearly dry and spray carburetor cleaner into gas tank and run until it sputters. Much less work that running each engine once/month. I do that each year and I've never had a problem.
I gummed up a carburetor on a snow blower by leaving some gas, without any stabilizer, in the tank over the summer. Actually, what really killed the carburetor was my attempt to take apart the carburetor and clean it out. I was utterly clueless how to fix it and it was too big to bring to the shop. I sold the house and left the owners with the snow-blower. I told them that the carburetor needed to be fixed.
Either way should be fine. If you leave the gas and staboil in , double the ammount of staboil. I have a 5 kw generator and ran it for about 30 minuits the first time. Drained the gas from the tank and then ran it dry. Put it up for about 3 years, filled the tank back up and it fired off on the second pull. I forgot about running it for about 6 months one time and did not have any staboil in the tank. Had to clean out the carborator. Did that twice. Now I put staboil in every can of gas when I fill up the can and have not had any more problems with tany of the small engines. I usually put it in the can when I leave the house and it gets mixed up as I fill the gas can.
I wonder why my Echo manual says dont leave gas in more than maybe 3-6 months, in a year it will even smell bad but it has evaporated a bit and done damage long before a year
Have had this discussion several times over last several months.
I've never had any issues in simply closing feed valve to carb and running carb dry and using fresh fuel in the carb for starting the following spring in something approaching 50 years. Add in the previous
50 or so of dad's experience (still using a couple of those mowers that are 40+), there's little reason ime to get particularly concerned over such relatively short time periods.
I'll agree the little 2-cycle beasties on trimmers/chainsaws/etc. are more touchy but still less than a year is essentially overnight in my book. I don't use the chainsaw often for at least that long and it always starts and runs and it's probably pushing 40 now as well (which indicates how infrequently one needs a chainsaw in SW KS).
I just finished this spring putting an old small tiller back into service that hadn't been run since we moved back from TN 10 years ago. It hadn't had anything done to it when last used there and was simply unloaded and stuck in a shed here when we arrived. The fuel left was terribly gunky of course, but while I was concerned there could be some trouble w/ the carb so pulled it off expecting it to be gummed up it wasn't. A shot of carb cleaner thru it, rinse the tank and a clean plug and it started and ran. Again, observation seems to counter the seriousness of the proverbial worry over the issue.
I've done all three, A, B, and C (do nothing) and never had a problem. I think in general lawnmowers don't suffer too much because they are stored over the cold winter. Snowblowers on the other hand sit idle over the hot summer so you have more gasoline evaporating... and more varnish/sludge build up. Most of the time I turn off the gas valve and run the mower and the generator until they run out of gas... but not always.
One more tidbit, if emptying old stale gasoline out of anything, please don't dump it out. Pour it into your car where it will be so diluted that your car will never know the difference.
I have a gasoline trimmer, chainsaw, blower, weed wacker, chipper/shredder, two lawn mowers, and a small rototiller. I use Stabil in all of these and recommend this method over running the engine dry. Engines often start on first pull in the spring.
Evaporation from carburetor even with Stabil in the gas can gum it up. Happened to me this past winter with snow thrower. Also reading manual, it said not to use gas with alcohol in it. I think it works OK but when gas with alcohol starts to evaporate, alcohol concentration increases making it more susceptible to attack seals. If you do leave gas in it, start it up every now and then to bring fresh gas into carburetor.
In the real world, today's gasoline does not stand up terribly well in an "open" container. In my chain saw, gas stays good for 2 or more years. In my snow blower or lawn mower, 6 months is stretching it.
Using premium fuel without ethanol gives you an advantage too. Shell Ultra has no ethanol.
The chain saw tank is "sealed" and the mower and blower tanks are "vented".
Hmm. I've noticed my mower tank being bone dry on occasion, like after it took 6 weeks off during the drought this summer. (Too bad I've had to mow every six effing days since then, but I digress...) Serious question- after the final time of mulching the leaves this fall, should I top off tank, and also put a plastic bag under the cap, and turn the fuel line switch off, like I do when I turn it over to change blades or clean the deck? Will that slow down the water-in-the-gas and evaporation problems? In the four years I have owned this thing (generic MTD with Honda engine), I basically have just been shoving it in the shed. It always starts in spring, once I blow the mice nests out, but I usually change the oil and plug to get it running smoother.
-- aem, who was supposed to change the oil and plug in the snow blower this weekend, sends...
I leave the gas valve on so the gas will run into the carberator. That is where the problems usually hapen. There are a couple of very small holes internal to it and that is what usually gets plugged up. Filling up the gas tank will help with the water problem.
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