Storing Lawnmower for the Winter?

[Bob5150]

This is my first winter as a homeowner, and I'm wondering how I should store my lawnmower and gas can. Should I store them both full, both empty, or what? I have a 2.5 gallon gas can and I don't use it all during the summer, so I worry about having year+ old gas in the can.

What do BITOGers do?

 

[InhalingBullets]

I put the gasoline in a vehicle and run the fuel completely dry in the lawnmower, especially after the advent of the ethanol fuels. That stuff is heck on a carburetor.

 

[racer12306]

Originally Posted By: InhalingBullets
I put the gasoline in a vehicle and run the fuel completely dry in the lawnmower, especially after the advent of the ethanol fuels. That stuff is heck on a carburetor.


This.

Fresh oil, no gas and I run the mower until it stalls itself.

 

[Donald]

I would run the engine on blue Stabil gas until it runs out of gas. Extra gas into your car. Mothballs around the engine to deter mice.

 

[SatinSilver]

Don't let it sit outside. Place inside of a garage or storage shed. DUN!

 

[boraticus]

Drain fuel from mower tank, run engine until it stops. Put it away. As stated, burn the fuel in can in a vehicle or use it in a winter machine. I.e. snow blower.

Changing the oil is optional. I prefer to do it in the spring after the first cut when the oil's hot.

 

[Artem]

I also had a big gas can but quickly trashed it after I realized that by the time I use up all the gas, it's been way too long and the mower seems to run so much better with a fresh fill.

I went and bought a 1 gallon can. Even though I refill it more frequently, the mower is always burning fresh juice.

How will the mower be stored? Where?

My new Honda mower sleeps in the garage, next to my car, so I haven't even given winter a second thought. My grass seems to grow regardless of the season, so I mow even during "winter" months here in good ol' sunny Florida... just less frequent.

 

[gomes512]

I do the following with all of my power equipment stored for winter:

1. Stabil in gas and run it dry.
2. Change oil.
3. Remove plug, small squirt of fogging oil in cylinders. Pull cord or bump ignition.
4. Plug intake and exhaust with oily shop rags (mice and spiders)

Leftover gas, in cans, gets fed to the cars or camping lanterns.

Congrats on the new home!

 

[Bob5150]

The mower is kept in a shed in the back yard. I will dump the extra fuel into my truck, should be burned off by the time I get to the end of the driveway.

I've always heard to store a vehicle with a full tank of gas, but I suppose a mower is a different animal?

I'll run the mower until out of fuel, spray a little fogging oil in the spark plug hole, change the oil, and forget about it until spring.

Sound good?

 

[Artem]

Automobiles are different. You don't want condensation to build up in the gas tank with a low level, hence the recommendation to have a full tank of gas.

With something as small as a mower engine, it's best to start it up after winter with fresh gas in the small tank.

 

[AandPDan]

If there is a battery on that lawnmower, put it on a float charger.

 

[Danh]

I follow the manufacturer's recommendations. Briggs and Stratton says you can leave Sta-Bil treated gas in the tank over the winter. Honda says drain or run dry. I do put them away with fresh oil but no longer bother fogging the cylinders.

 

[Propflux01]

Originally Posted By: gomes512
I do the following with all of my power equipment stored for winter:

1. Stabil in gas and run it dry.
2. Change oil.
3. Remove plug, small squirt of fogging oil in cylinders. Pull cord or bump ignition.
4. Plug intake and exhaust with oily shop rags (mice and spiders)

Leftover gas, in cans, gets fed to the cars or camping lanterns.

Congrats on the new home!


This....

 

[Quest]

Originally Posted By: gomes512
I do the following with all of my power equipment stored for winter:

1. Stabil in gas and run it dry.
2. Change oil.
3. Remove plug, small squirt of fogging oil in cylinders. Pull cord or bump ignition.
4. Plug intake and exhaust with oily shop rags (mice and spiders)

Leftover gas, in cans, gets fed to the cars or camping lanterns.

Congrats on the new home!


Ditto!

Q.

Let me add 1 more comment here: if your mower is a side-draft carb type (unlike the quadra-ject/pulsa-jet type), then running it dry just like Honda manual recommends makes sense; otherwise, it's best to dope the gasoline with fuel stabiliser and then run it for 10mins before storage. Those quadraject/pulsa-jet carb has a rubberised diaphram that would dry out if left w/o gasoline.

 

[Phishin]

Blue Stabil.

I have 9 small engines that I winterize this time each year. 3 scooters (2 x 49cc, and 250cc), 3 outboards (2 x 15HP and 115HP), 1 pushmower (Kohler), 1 weed eater (small 2-stroke), and 1 leaf blower (small 2-stroke).

They all get the same treatment, and I've never had a problem come spring.

1.) Dump fuel in gas tank of each piece of equipment, and refill with 3 oz. of Blue Stabil per gallon of fresh fuel. Let the engine run/idle for at least 10 minutes.

2.) Fog cylinders

3.) Change oil

I don't understand the desire to run the small engines dry of fuel? I don't like the idea of the coating of fuel left in the carb evaporating and leaving a film/varnish all over the inside of the carb. After any gas evaporates, there is a film of varnish and dirt left. I don't want that in my carb.

With the carb bowls full of gas, the crud stay in solution and won't stick to the delicate and small carb parts, ports, etc. That's my theory.

 

[stephen9666]

I just run mine out of gas. I don't take the time to bother with fuel stabilizer or fogging the cylinders. The mower will only be sitting for a few months. Works for me.

 

[Cutehumor]

last winter, I stored my new lawnmower for the first winter. I used stabil with a full tank of ethanol gas free. this past spring, it was hard to start the lawn mower up. took almost 20 pulls.

 

[1 FMF]

if you have a plastic gas can store it out of sunlight and where there would be minimal temperature fluctuation otherwise you risk the thing ballooning and collapsing and splitting since it's sealed.

 

[fdcg27]

1. Use for last cut. If you run it out of gas, great, if not, don't sweat it.
2. Put in garage and leave until spring.

Don't worry about keeping the gas. My first couple of cuts each spring are on gas left from the previous fall. No issues.
If you do run it out of gas, it'll be very easy to start the next spring once you fill the tank. If not and you have difficulty, give it a small shot of either starting fluid or carb cleaner and it'll start right up, after which you'll have no further starting problems for the mowing season.
I've never done anything special in storing my OPEs and they've never shown signs of suffering for it.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

It's not that complicated and it's only for a few months.

I treat all of my fuel with Stabil; some may sit in one of my tractors for a year or so before it's used. My gas "can" is a 30 gallon wheeled container, and in a dry summer or winter without much snow it may last me 4-5 months. Normal years I'll go through 30 gallons every couple months.

For small engines (the DR trimmer, mower, pressure washer, etc.) I simply hose them off and park them. It's only for a few months, and I've never had fuel go bad just over the winter (despite having used E-10 for the last 30 years or so).

The battery in my 757 zero turn mower gets pulled after the last use of the season and sits on the shop bench until I charge it in the spring. The battery in my plow tractor may get tossed on the charger for a bit if I'm not using it very often during the winter.

I've never had a fuel issue starting them up in the spring.