winterizing briggs lawnmower.

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We mow lawn about 10 months out of the year down here, but when the grass goes dormant it becomes in frequent, and the e10 fuel spoils and I end up with a hard starting briggs in the spring.

I have a briggs self propelled John Deere mower.

This morning I dumped the e10 gas out of it, and the oil.

Refilled with $$$$ canned 4 stroke ethanol free gas from walmart for small engines, and 20 ounces of Chevron Delo.

Should be good for an easy start this spring..

I ran it for about five minutes on the ethanol free fuel to get it pumped through the system, sure runs great.
 
My Briggs goes 5 months without running. I plan for it to be low on gas at the end of the year. I run it out of gas. Change the oil. Push it in the shed. I put fresh gas in it in the spring and it fires right up.
 
I add blue StaBil to my E10 fuel year round. In my neck of the woods you can buy E10 at gas stations.

The lawn mower I will let it run dry. So probably just a tiny bit in the fuel bowl.
 
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Double dose of stabil, dose of MMO, ethanol free premium, run for 5 minutes, top the tank up as high as possible. Throw a blanket over it and forget.
 
How do I winterize lawnmowers? Finish cutting the grass, shove to the back of the shed, fire it up again in the Spring.
 
I've been running everything(vehicles & OPE) on E10. I use Sta-Bil in the Firebird in my sig & my OPE and keep the gas full during storage. I also keep my fuel containers fresh & with E10. I don't have any issues using E10 as many others seem too.

Even my '80 Firebird FORMULA(purchased new) has only used E10 since we got it here in NY State. Never an issue!
 
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I sharpen the blade so it is ready for next year, change the oil, put a double dose of sta-bil in it, and fill the tank to the top with e-0, which it gets all season, and put it away. Just yesterday I got out my snowblower, which I stored that way last spring, and it fired up on the first pull.
 
I dose fresh gas with blue Stabil and a good shot of MMO. Then I run it until its warmed up, fog it, change the oil and put it away until spring. It will start on the first pull if I allow it. Typically I pull the cord a few times to splash oil around before the first start of the spring mowing season.
 
I run the Honda dry after vacuuming the last of the leaves in Dec. then change oil (M1 0W-40), air filter and swap on the sharp set of blades when I’m looking for something to do in the depths of winter. Fresh gas wakes it right up come spring.
 
Originally Posted By: Char Baby
Do you notice the difference in the way the engine performs when using the 2 different fuels, between the E10 and NonEth?


Yes, I was running fuel from August in it, and it was chugging pretty bad, and popping a little bit.

As soon as I put in the canned fuel, the chugging and surging went away within 2-3 minutes of running and it is running smooth.

I mow almost weekly, and probably go through 3-4 gallons of fuel in a single year.

This season I started putting half an ounce of ST carb cleaner into each fuel fillup as well.
 
Gas doesn't go bad in two months. If you have issues starting a mower after just two months, you have some sort of mechanical issue which is being exacerbated by the short period of non-use.
 
My MTD built Cub Cadet with the Powermore engine that I bought new in 2008 gets very little attention. First few winters I would just park it with what ever gas was left in it. A few pulls in the spring and it would run and get fresh gas as needed. One or two years I actually ran it dry for winter. Fresh gas and a few pulls and it ran fine in the spring. The last 2 or so years I have added stabil to all my fuel and that's what it gets. A few pulls and it runs fine in the spring.

My equipment gets parked in mid September and come out in May. I don't fog or do anything special. I also don't run HDEO, straight weights and the thing still runs.
 
Originally Posted By: VetteElite
How do I winterize lawnmowers? Finish cutting the grass, shove to the back of the shed, fire it up again in the Spring.

That worked for me for years. Until it didn't.
 
I put a concoction of 320:1 tcw3, double treat of regular stabil, and one ounce per gallon gumout 3in1 when storing for a length of time; less if being used regularly. I'll probably try the blue stabil in the future, once the red I have is gone.
 
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