Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

The fill list is here:

http://www.mtdparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/KnowledgeCenterArticleView?storeId=10101&catalogId=19502&langId=-1&pageName=en_US/knowledgeCenter/knowledgeCenterArticles/SnowBlowerStorage.html

 Related to gas:

Drain any fuel left in the tank using the Arnold Siphon pump. The Arnold Siphon pump can be purchased on this website and where mower parts are sold.

 

Finally, you should add fuel stabilizer to your fuel ... and fill your unit's fuel tank. This is better than storing it empty. That's because an empty fuel system exposes any bare metal parts within it to air and moisture - which leads to rust and also allows gaskets and O-rings to dry out, crack and shrink, causing eventual problems. In addition, to completely drain fuel from an engine is difficult. Unless you blow out and dry the fuel lines, enough fuel can remain to become stale and cause problems. Keep the engine level in storage. Tilting can cause fuel or oil to leak. If you plan on covering the snow thrower, make sure air can get under the cover. Don't try to "seal it up."

    

I do exactly what they say..........NOT.

I drain the fuel tank, run the carb dry, grease every fitting I can find, grease the axles, wipe the machine down with WD-40 and a rag, cover it and wait 6 months.   Done.

    Borat, I agree.

   And add:  Pull the piston up to the compression stroke, TDC. 

   Unsure about changing oil when the season is over.  I think it's a good idea.  Whatever gas and burn products that get by the rings gets flushed.  More iimportantly to me and what I'm not so sure about is the oil sitting for a very long time and the sludge getting compacted over time at tthe bottom of the sump and in nooks.  I'm not sure how well running the engine next season until hot will be at lifting that compacted sludge.  It might be a small point but when I'm not lazy I try to change oil and not let machines sit with old oil too long. 

   Got a very nice Murray 22 inch 4.5 hp mower today for $10.  A non-starter.  Got it home and put gas in the throat and it fired right up.  The tank had lots of chunky crud in it and gas deep orange - - last years gas.   The primer button was fine giving nice shots of fuel into the throat.   Gave it several one pull starts and it runs fine.  It will make a nice light trimming mower, a yard sale special.  When I pulled up a guy was pushing a Honda mower to his car so I missed that.  Probably also a non-starter.  It was one of the older very expensive mowers that are great.  I have one I got from the sidewalk on trash day.  It's so nice I sold off my Toro's with Suzuki engines (also sidewalk gifts)..  People who leave gas in there machines are very good to me. 

 

Yeah, I usually put the engine on a compression stroke as well to ensure the combustion chamber is sealed.   I didn't change the oil in the Simplicity because it probably didn't have five hours on it.   It still looked like new oil.  With my newly acquired two cycle powered single stage machines, the Simplicity doesn't see much work.  I'm not planning on changing the oil for next season either.  No need to.   Engines on snow throwers usually outlast the machines they're mounted on.  I put much more effort into lubricating and maintaining the running gear on the snow thrower.  Things like sprockets/chains/axles, control linkage/cables, auger shafts and belts.   That's where most problems usually occur.   I've yet to have an engine failure on a snow thrower or anything else for that matter.   

I suppose you could cover all the bases by adding a bit of stabilizer, running it, and then draining it.  But...why bother?   And, I wonder what happens to the stabilizer when all the solvents evaporate during storage.   I've been just running it dry and storing for 30 years and never had a problem.  I'm a bit conflicterd about when to change the oil (ie before storage or when taking it out).  Settled on storing it with old oil and changing it when I bring it out.  This would get rid of most of any condensed water contamination before putting it to work.  No problems here either but I guess either way works OK. 

"I'm a bit conflicterd about when to change the oil (ie before storage or when taking it out)."

Don't matter to me one way or the other.  If I know that winter is over and it's a nice warm day in the garage, I might do the oil change before I put it away.  If it's not, it gets put away with the old oil in it.  From years of experience with this stuff, I've come to the conclusion that it just doesn't matter when it gets done.   In addition to that,  with only a few hours on the oil this year, it won't get an oil change until next spring.