To winterize or not?

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Aug 24, 2013
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417
Location
Oklahoma
I have noticed that if I drain my mowers and trimmers that the fuel lines, diaphragms and such get brittle and fail on me. Hard starting or not and leaking fuel issues. This method was me dumping or using all the fuel then running the engine till it dies WITH the choke on.

Now that I have stopped doing the above, I've had zero issues. My new method is running fuel stabilizer year round. I fill each tank full to leave no air in the tank in winter months. Next spring they all start like they were brand new.

I spent $180.00 on a gas tank and fuel lines for my Maruyama trimmer. You guessed it, I ran it dry in the prior fall season. Oh and all my gear is kept inside my cozy garage.

What do you guys do?

slomo
 
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I personally have been putting Sta-Bil into all of my small-engines for years. Something I learned from my pops when I was a kid. It seems to have worked thus far. Other, than that, I keep the tank half full during the winter just so that no lines freeze (I had read this years ago related to cars so I applied it to my smaller engines as well).
 
I stopped draining for the winter after finding a farm co-op place that sells ethanol free fuel. I try to remember to add some Sta-Bil if I'm buying gas near the end of the cutting season. Since I've been running non-alcohol gas, I haven't had to work on a OPE carb since.
 
I suspect that your fuel lines got brittle from age, not from being drained, that it was just coincidence that you happened to be draining them when it finally happened.

What I do is nothing. I don't get special fuel, use the same E10 that i use for vehicles at my preferred gas station (due to discounts from their affiliation with a grocery store). I do only mix 2 cycle oil mix at the rate I'll use it in the next couple months, then at end of season any gas left in cans gets put in a car or truck to use up, and start fresh with fuel in the spring (except for fresh I get for snowblower use in early winter, then any of that leftover gets put in a car to use up too.

The way I look at it, special fuel that I have to go out of my way for, or pay more for, and draining things, is more hassle than just cleaning and rebuilding a carb, replacing a primer bulb or putting bulk fuel line on every few years. I mean for small engines, especially 2 cycle. Anything I have that's 2HP or more, doesn't even need that done but once in a blue moon, after at least 10 years of use and then usually just a carb cleaning and new gaskets. Granted that's not commercial use. If I were using equipment commercially then I'd just have a spare carb for everything to swap in quick when needed, and then rebuild the old at my leisure.
 
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I push to a corner and call it a day. When the next season comes around, I put in fresh gas and start. My stuff is freebie, old, easy to fix and nothing fancy. I expect a carb rebuild from time to time, but so far, other than when I first get the equipment, I have had little issues. YMMV.

I did give in and start using Tru-fuel in my chainsaw and weedwacker. So there's that.

Heh, I bought a used 4 wheeler recently. It had sat for at least 4 years. The gas tank had varnish of some sort in it. I put a rag onto a stick and mopped out what I could; I wound up replacing the fuel pump and the fuel lines. Dumped in fresh gas and ran it--no carb cleaning done, no gas treatment. I know E10 is belittled for what it can do when it gets loaded up with water, but I've found it to be good enough at keeping things clean, as long as one keeps it fresh--as in, run it low and refill. But again, I have little to lose if I guess wrong, so I hate to recommend to do as I do.
 
Originally Posted by Dave9
I suspect that your fuel lines got brittle from age, not from being drained, that it was just coincidence that you happened to be draining them when it finally happened.

What I do is nothing. I don't get special fuel, use the same E10 that i use for vehicles at my preferred gas station (due to discounts from their affiliation with a grocery store).

The way I look at it, special fuel that I have to go out of my way for, or pay more for, and draining things, is more hassle than just cleaning and rebuilding a carb, replacing a primer bulb or putting bulk fuel line on every few years. I mean for small engines, especially 2 cycle. Anything I have that's 2HP or more, doesn't even need that done but once in a blue moon, after at least 10 years of use and then usually just a carb cleaning and new gaskets. Granted that's not commercial use. If I were using equipment commercially then I'd just have a spare carb for everything to swap in quick when needed, and then rebuild the old at my leisure.


^^^ This!
I put the mower back to work a few weeks back. After sitting for six months or so with maybe a quarter of a tank of fuel it started on the fourth or fifth pull.
I've found no advantage in using fuel additives and no disadvantage in using E10.
 
I park my ope with fuel in it. My last mix of the season is 93 octane with stabil and tcw-3 1oz to 5 gallons of fuel. Seems if i leave fuel in the carbs, there is less air/oxygen and i have less problems with float stick and gum.
 
Might be a coincidence on old fuel lines and the tank I replaced, just being old. My thought was with 2 cycle fuel that obviously has oil in it, tends to keep the lines and such lubed up and no air inside them to dry out and crack. I know the stabilizer has stopped all the multiple pulls to start and carb issues. Fuel lines that have had fuel inside them then left dry get hard as rocks.

slomo
 
Yes I stabilize the fuel in everything and try to keep the tanks 100% full in the wintertime. My boat has a 115 HP Merc 4 stroke and those motors are very expensive. I have no had any problem at all with stabilizer and a full tank. The Corvette and small engines and riding lawn mower get the same treatment. I ran a Jiffy ice auger out of gas one year and had to take it to the shop because it didn't run correctly after sitting with an empty tank. I used to run everything out of gas and had ok results as well however I prefer full tanks with stabilized Premium now.
 
Originally Posted by Kamele0N
Originally Posted by slomo
.

What do you guys do?

slomo


@the end of the season I just fill OPE with...

https://aspenfuel.co.uk/

And let it run enough to get to the carb....

EDIT: for lesser used equipement (chainsaw trimmer) I run those solo on that fuel...its cheaper then my nerves when OPE doesnt want to start on stale fuel...

I also "rotate" fuel.....what it is not consumed in a summertime its passed to the winter equipement
 
Last couple years I changed to fully draining the system by letting the mower run out of fuel. I do add MMO and Techron all the time to keep the system clean from deposits and parts all lubricated. Next season, starts on first pull....using 6 month old gas to boot. This current mower has been trouble free with this routine. Leaving Stabil treated fuel in the tank prior to this always let to hard starts requiring starting fluid and other tricks. No more. I'm guessing Stabil is less combustible than MMO and Techron.
 
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I do use red sta-bil all the time along with a shot of Star Tron and E0 but when I'm done with the mower or blowers I just park them, I don't eve bother with filling the tank, worked for me for close to 30 years.
 
I never have used stabilizer in any ope and I have 3 two strokes and 3 Honda GX160 engines, a Briggs Vanguard engine on a generator and a Honda GX 230 on a pressure washer and some other Honda lower end lawn mower engine and I have not had a problem with any of them sitting all winter. Some are 20 years old.
 
Originally Posted by 69GTX
Last couple years I changed to fully draining the system by letting the mower run out of fuel. I do add MMO and Techron all the time to keep the system clean from deposits and parts all lubricated. Next season, starts on first pull....using 6 month old gas to boot. This current mower has been trouble free with this routine. Leaving Stabil treated fuel in the tank prior to this always let to hard starts requiring starting fluid and other tricks. No more. I'm guessing Stabil is less combustible than MMO and Techron.

I forgot to drain the fuel on my pressure for 3 years I drained the float bowl and ran the pressure washer no problem, then drained the tank out and used the gas in the lawn mower.
 
Originally Posted by FirstNissan
I personally have been putting Sta-Bil into all of my small-engines for years. Something I learned from my pops when I was a kid. It seems to have worked thus far. Other, than that, I keep the tank half full during the winter just so that no lines freeze (I had read this years ago related to cars so I applied it to my smaller engines as well).

I do the same , never any trouble
 
I have never used stabilizer in any equipment, and never had a problem with E10 gas in humid SC air. The only problem was fuel line deterioration in the Hitachi blower when it was only one year old. I suspect inferior materials because I replaced with bulk fuel hose and it has worked fine for the past 7 years. For the 4 stroke 20+ year old equipment, I just run it dry if it will be stored for a few months. Never a problem with diaphragms, etc.
 
For years I've been putting 1oz of SeaFoam into each gallon of mower gas. I store them wet and haven't had issues starting.
 
I never know what to make of this long term storage thing. I use regular gas and stabilizer in my tractor, and usually TruFuel in my 2 cycle stuff, with no problems. BUT, for years, I used regular gas, and whatever 2 cycle oil was handy, and still had no problem. All my Amigos and neighbors claim they have to use E free gas and tons of stabilizer to keep their stuff running and are replacing fuel lines and carbs all over the place, ... what gives? I guess I've always been lucky. My chainsaws used to set for a year or two and always started up with 3-5 pulls, and ran fine. Nowadays I use them more and they never set more than a year at most. Who knows, I've never replaced a fuel line on anything I owned and my tractor is 10 years old, my weedeater is probably 12 years old, ...My snowblower sets years at a time, sometimes the gas tank is empty, but not from me running it dry, as I have never used the 'run em dry' method, so I just dunno?
 
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