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

Hello everyone

I have not posted since last winter.  Haven't had any questions, and you folks know more about this stuff than I do, so I don't bother posting.

But now I have a question; I've only used my Ariens 8526 once this season, in mid Feb. when we had a storm.  I did not put gas in until the day before the storm and mixed Sta-bil in.  I changed the oil last spring before I put it away.  So I ran it for about an hour and a half doing my drive and my neighbors in Feb..  It's now March 8.  If we get no further snow, should I bother changing the oil?  Or just run the fuel out of it and put it away?

Thanks for your input.

Do a FULL service and store it properly when you are sure you won't need it for a late-season storm. The engine oil is already contaminated. The auger shaft and other grease fittings may or may not be properly lubed - do you know for sure? Do the belts need readjusting? You won't know unless you check.

If you do it now you will have a fresh machine ready for a full season of use. Ignore things and you "may" have problems next winter. My feeling is that it is a LOT more fun to tinker with a snow thrower on a sunny Spring afternoon with the garage door open, than on a windy cold morning with snow lying in the driveway.

John Davies
Spokane WA

John,

AMEN!!!

                              Fred 

I ran mine dry after the last storm. I'm leaving the oil in for now. If we get another storm I might change it. Not a big deal either way.

I haven't seen much discussion about changing oil on OPE that hasn't been used much, however the auto industry recommends oil changes be done either every X thoussand kilometers ( y miles) or every z months, whichever comes first. What they say is that even though the engine may have low mileage the oil is still getting contaminated and degrades.

My engine manual said to change the oil after the first 5 hours of use and then every 25 hours or once a year whichever comes first. I plan to change it every spring when I put it in storage for the summer.

So, after the spring oil change, do most folks change it again in fall before the snow season?  

I've wondered about how good the oil would be after having sat for 8 months or so in a shed.   Granted it would not be contaminated with the by-products of combustion, but...

It only need's to be changed once a year, unless your putting more hours on it. There would be no point in changing oil now and then in the fall if you aren't going to use it.

Loudpedal wrote:

Loudpedal wrote:
It wouldn't hurt to put in new oil in the fall, but it really isn't necessary, especially if the machine is stored in a controlled (non-dusty) environment. An exception is if you neglected to drain the fuel, and gas leaked into the crankcase. Then I would change the oil before starting, definitely.  But you know to drain the fuel before storage, right?

One other trick is to pull the starter cord to put the piston on compression - this closes the valves and prevents moist air from entering the cylinder. I do this ever time I shut down a gas powered machine - it is habit after many years.

John Davies
Spokane WA

JohnEDavies wrote:

how do you know when you've pulled enough and not too far?

do you put some oil in the spark plug hole as well?

John,

Thanks for the pull the starter cord for compression trick; I will try to form that habit.

How do you drain the fuel before storage? What about running the engine dry?

Gary

oakville wrote:
Pull the cord slowly until you feel resistance, then stop. That indicates that the piston is meeting compression, because the valves are shut. If you go past that point, the pull will get very easy again. Just go around once more until you feel the resistance start to build. Do this procedure a few times and it becomes second nature.

I don't oil or fog the cylinder at all, even for winter storage, simply because I live in a semi-arid climate and I keep the machine in a heated basement with low humidity. Fogging is a geat idea for final storage if the machine is kept outside, esp in very humid areas like the East Coast of the USA.

John Davies
Spokane WA

gary31570 wrote:
I tilt the machine slightly to put the gas filler hole near the lowest point and use a syphon hose on my 926DLE, because it is too hard to pick the machine up and turn it over ;)

Then I run the engine at a fast idle until it quits. That usually takes only a minute.

John Davies
Spokane WA

All and John E Davis who said the following, but I do not know how to make this a quote
"I tilt the machine slightly to put the gas filler hole near the lowest point and use a syphon hose on my 926DLE"

How do you make a syphon hose, or can we buy them at the lawn supply center.

Thanks,
Gary

to drain fuel, why not disconnect the fuel hose between the shutoff valve and the carb, and then drain back into your fuel can?  then you can reconnect the hose and run the thing dry.

gary31570 wrote:
This method is NOT generally considered to be safe, so I in no way recommend it, but it works fine for me and I do it regularly with no ill effects:

Take a 3 foot length of CLEAR flexible hose and insert one end into the tank. Raise the other end above the level of the fuel and using your cheeks (NOT your lungs) generate a small vacuum to suck fuel into the hose. When it fills half the length of the hose, crimp the hose in half to trap the fuel and quickly lower the open end into a waiting container. The fuel will flow until the level gets low enough that it sucks air.

If you do this right you won't receive more than the faintest odor of gas. Do it wrong and you can inhale a lung full of fumes, or a mouthful of raw gas...

You can buy an inexpensive bellows pump-type syphon for transferring kerosene from a container into a heater. These are safer but don't work as well, in my experience. They are definitely more expensive and harder to find than a length of clear hose.

If you have a hand vacuum pump like a MityVac, which is used for automotive testing and brake bleeding, you can use that to start the flow.

Gasoline fumes are toxic - do NOT inhale!

John Davies
Spokane WA