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 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.