If not using for more than a month, I run the fuel dry, not drain. This is the method recommended by every manual.
To winterize or not?
- Thread starter slomo
- Start date
Despite living in SD where most gas stations sell ethanol in everything because we're a corn happy state, I'm lucky enough to live down the street from a station that sells ethanol free fuel and that's all I use in my small engines. I religiously add Seafoam to my gas containers when filling them at the service station. I catch a lot of grief from friends over my obsession with Seafoam but I've never had an issue with any of my carburetors gumming up.
I always run my OPE out of gas at the end of the season and I've never had an issue with starting them in the Spring, usually on the first or second pull.
I always run my OPE out of gas at the end of the season and I've never had an issue with starting them in the Spring, usually on the first or second pull.
Some people get lucky. I drain the tank and run it dry on my 11 year old GVC 160. Not a single problem. The last few years I've made own ethanol free fuel. Both 2 cycle and mower run great on it.
Last edited:
Mowed my lawn for the first time in 6 months. After spending the winter under my deck with last year's gas in the tank, it started on the first pull. Same deal with my chipper, although that wants a little choke to run at full speed; might be time to clean up that carb.
I've never attacked this problem with any specific plan, which means I've tried different things. Rarely used equipment like snow blowers tend to get run dry at the end of the season. Mowers sit out the winter with gas in them, but that gas is treated with Sta-Bil. My oldest piece of OPE, a Troy-Bilt Pony rototiller dating back to 1985, needed a new carb last spring. Presently I purchase Ethanol-free fuel and also treat it with Sta-Bil when it is going to sit for a while.
On the 2-cycle front, everything I owned failed about five years ago and was more economical to replace. Now I run the pre-mixed Ethanol free Tru-Fuel in all of the 2-cycle machines.
On the 2-cycle front, everything I owned failed about five years ago and was more economical to replace. Now I run the pre-mixed Ethanol free Tru-Fuel in all of the 2-cycle machines.
I have never winterized anything, only use E10 gas, just add some Sta-Bil, and have never had an issue.
I say the part that is overlooked on what to winterize is the crankcase of a mower. I did an oil change just two days ago and what came out was basically a milky substances, suggesting that water was present. This was stored in a garage, suggesting that condensation via imperfect seal is the reason that happened. From here on out, I'd just fill up the mower engine to the brim to eliminate the possibility of condensation occuring.
