Storing Small Engines

Well, its about time (hopefully) to put the snowblower away for 7 or 8 months. Once upon a time, I'd have filled it up, thrown a little Stabil in the tank and called it good. I'm hearing now, with all the ethanol in gas, its best to run them dry and store with an empty tank and fuel lines.

What's the current hive wisdom on this?

Wow, you're going to unleash some kind of snowmageddon upon all of us now... I'm paranoid and usually leave mine at the ready til April.

I usually drain the tank, run it until it dies, then fog it and change the oil. I put Stabil in every time I fill the gas can up now.

I'm lazy. I leave mine as 'ready' as it was last time I finished using it, all year round...And we didn't even get snow this year.

The yard stuff I park in the garage without any special attention. It usually cranks without any problem. Stabil seems to do a pretty good job of keeping things flowing.

Use Marine grade Sta-Bil, the green stuff. Way better than the red, works well with ethanol.

I have had no problems related to ethanol in my snow blower or my lawn mower. Both are over ten years old.

Double dose marine stabil and 2 stroke oil 32:1 (for both 2 and 4 stroke engines). Either fill it all the way(run it to get the good fuel into the carb then top off), or just a little into an empty tank and then run it dry, if running it dry pull the choke out when it starts to sputter on fumes to get the last bit of fuel pulled out of the bowl. The 2 stroke oil helps prevent corrosion and keeps any varnish soft enough fresh gas will take care of it.

If it's a 4 stroke I prefer to change the oil right before the season it will be used, that way there won't be any water from spring/fall condensation in the oil.

I usually drain the tank ad some fuel with Stabil and then run the engine until it dies. The only problem I have with small engines is my lawn mower. The float tends to stick and not allow fuel into the carb. A 7/16 wrench to the bolt holding it, a bit of carb cleaner, and she's good to go.

Stabil and oil changes?...Who are you super-humans??

In reply to Driven5:

I've even been known to crack the valve cover open and set the valves on OHV models occasionally, that make me a god or something?

In reply to Kenny_McCormic:

A little odd perhaps..... I always figured these little engines in my shed were designed by gods to need no maintenance or special treatment so that's what I give them.

And they all work.

A while back my gas powered trimmer got a bit gummed up and wouldn't start so rather than mess with it, I just dropped it off at the local hardware store. At that point, it was about 5 or 6 years old and had worked fine until that point. When I picked it up, they charged me something like fifty bucks or so and the guy started to scold me for not bringing it in every year for some sort of regular service. He told me that it was only $35 and if I had that service done every year, I wouldn't have that problem ever again. He didn't appreciate it when I did the math real quick and asked him to explain why I should spend $170 to solve a $50 problem...

The cars all get regular service and good oil and battery tenders when they sit, but for some reason, I can't help but punish those dirty little small engines.

I spray fogging agent in spark plug. Throw some stabil in the gas tank. When I start it next year I spray the carb with cleaner. I also change the oil. My snowblower starts with one pull.

kazoospec wrote: Well, its about time (hopefully) to put the snowblower away for 7 or 8 months. Once upon a time, I'd have filled it up, thrown a little Stabil in the tank and called it good. I'm hearing now, with all the ethanol in gas, its best to run them dry and store with an empty tank and fuel lines. What's the current hive wisdom on this?

Fuel here has been 10% ethanol for maybe thirty years and nobody I know has ever done that. Just stop using it when the snow stops, and start using it when needed next season.

trigun7469 wrote: My snowblower starts with one pull.

Ueah, but does it stop after you turn it 'off', or do you have to choke it to death?...I like to think my snowblower has 'character'.

In reply to Driven5: no just flip the switch to off.