New leaf blower questions

[Dave Sherman]

Picked up a Craftsman walk-behind blower from Lowe's. I use Sta-bil in the gas for all my OPE, but since this might get used for a just couple months each year, would it be better to drain the tank, or is shutting off the fuel valve and running the carb dry sufficient? Also, it came with manuals for an MTD engine, any idea who makes those?

And if anybody wants to know, I'm breaking it in on the pouch of 10W-30 oil that came with it, then I'll put the Rotella T5 10W-30 in at the 5 hour first oil change.

 

[Lubener]

Are you talking about a leaf blower or lawn mower? If you have a shut off valve, I would put some stabil in a full tank, start it, shut off the fuel valve while the engine is running and let it quit when the carb goes dry. I also store engines on their compression stroke. You should not have to drain the tank with the stabil added.

 

[Oildudeny]

Exactly what lubener wrote.

 

[Delta]

I would more than likely treat it like snow-blower storage. Treat the fuel, but let the carb run dry. Let the fuel in there if you desire. I had almost 2 year old gas in my blower and it actually wasn't too bad honestly. Even more surprising no water/separation as it was E10.

Far as the MTD manual it's more than likely who manufactured the whole machine. I looked it up on Lowe's site, the engine looks like a Chinese Honda clone to me.

 

[JohnnyG]

Just read an article on Sta-Bil and comparisons to several other brands of fuel stabilizer. They all fell short of ideal, some being much worse than others. So, if it were me, I'd run the carb dry and drain the fuel tank, especially if you are using fuel with ethanol. I have had several plastic parts and hoses either swell or soften when left sitting with ethanol fuel in the tank.

 

[repairman54]

Simple solution is to treat your gas cans year round. I buy marine stabilizer in the gallon jugs as I've got a bunch of motors to maintain and no longer have the patience for cranky starting engines.

 

[totegoat]

Buy ethanol free gasoline and run the carb dry when you park it for the season.

 

[izualangel]

Look for a stamping on the side of the engine block. From that model and serial number you can find out who the actual manufacturer of the engine is. I've had great luck with the Briggs and Stratton fuel stabilizer.

 

[Whimsey]

I believe the PoweMore engine on MTD equipment is made by Zongshen, an Irish based company , jk! I have a Troy-Bilt snow blower I bought new in 2012. It's the 24' model and it came with the 179cc PowerMore engine. Other than NJ ethanol fuel causing carb issues it's run real good. Lot's of power even in deeper heavy snow on a steep hilly driveway. It's good on gas also. I replaced the Torch spark plug after 2 years, not for any problems but I didn't hear the best feed back about them. I use an NGK plug, it starts on the first pull without fail. It doesn't burn any oil, I use Rotella T 10W-30 for no particular reason, it's what I had on hand. I did install an impeller kit and it made a big difference in snow throwing ability for the blower in heavy wet snow. I tried storing the blower wet and dry for the off season and I had issues either way. Now I start it once a month for 10-15 minutes and it has not given me any running or starting issues.

Whimsey

 

[Dave Sherman]

Thanks all! Loving the machine so far. There’s just no comparison with the handheld blower. Guess I’ll plan on running the carb dry at the end of the season.

 

[USask2000]

Another option is the run the tank dry of gas and add Tru Fuel 4-stroke fuel to the empty tank. Run the machine for a few minutes so the Tru Fuel goes through the carb and you’re good for months/years.

 

[Oildudeny]

Just run treated 89 or higher. I use red stabil or the red stp bottle for all my fuel. I even run red stp in my cars. Keep the oil fresh with a good 10w30 and that’s all you need.

 

[Donald]

I ride around on my lawn tractor until all the leaves are chopped up into tiny bits. Good for the lawn. I only blow the leaves on my driveway into the woods.

 

[Superbuick96]

I been using ethanol free 90 octane with red Stable for a couple years now,zero related fuel/carb problems since.I no longer run my equipment dry before winter.

 

[Astro_Guy]

I've been running 89 Octane E0 in my OPE for two years now. At the end of the season for the warm weather stuff I add Sta-Bil to the last tank and don't worry about is. The snowblower, OTOH, I feed E0 and drain and run dry at the end of the season. That's a very short season machine; the other machines tend to rest no more than four to five months and I have the opportunity to start them somewhere in the middle of that.