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

This is a goofy question but here goes.

When storing my Toro lawnmower for the winter, do you A) drain and replace the oil, B) drain the oil and replace with fresh oil in the spring or C) store it with the old oil and replace with fresh oil in the spring.

(I'm planning on following the recommendations including removal of spark plug and a squirt of oil into the cylinder.)

What do the pros say?

Thanks,

The manual for the engine normally has a section on long term storage. If you are concerned about the cold, check with the manufacturer, you probably don't have to worry but a lot depends on what you mean by "cold". Florida cold or Northern Canada/Alaska cold?

The last consensus on oil changes was to change the oil at the end of the season. That way you don't have the engine sitting for a long time in "contaminated" oil.

The basic procedure that I use is:

1. If fuel was not stabilized ( Stabil or Pri-G) Drain gas
2. Refuel with stabilized gas
3. Run engine for several minutes ( or the last time out)
4. Open spark plug and squirt in some oil
5. Put spark plug back in, leave disconnected
6. Turn the engine over a couple of times
7. Store out of the elements

An alternate to steps 1-3 is to drain the gas and run the engine dry. You can even use stabilized gas, run the engine, drain the gas and then run it dry. The point here is that even when you run the engine dry there is still some gas in the carburetor that can gum it up hence you want stabilized gas in the carb. Another alternative is to disassemble the carb and clean it out.

Thanks Nibbler. I'm not talking Alaska cold, but Maine cold is pretty nippy as well ;) I followed the manual to a T using the maual procedures as you noted. Now it's in storage in my shed, where it'll be dry. I'll doublecheck with Toro to make sure that's OK.

Cheers,

David