Winterizing your mower, trimmer and other small engines

Every spring, people pull the cord on a mower that ran perfectly in September and get nothing. Nine times out of ten the problem is the fuel that sat in it all winter. Small engines have tiny fuel passages that gum up easily, and today's ethanol-blended gas can start going bad in as little as a month.

Here's how to put your mower, trimmer, blower and other small engines away so they start next spring.

1. Deal with the fuel

There are two common approaches. Check your owner's manual, because some manufacturers prefer one:

• Stabilize and run. Add fuel stabilizer to fresh fuel, fill the tank, and run the engine for a few minutes so treated fuel reaches the carburetor.
• Run it dry. Run the engine until it stops, so no fuel is left in the carburetor to gum up.

For two-stroke equipment such as trimmers, blowers and chainsaws, the same applies to your premix. Mixed fuel left in a can over the winter isn't worth gambling on next spring.

2. Change the oil on four-stroke engines

Mowers and other four-stroke engines should get fresh oil before storage, for the same reason as your car: used oil holds acids and moisture that you don't want sitting in the engine for months. A mower doesn't hold much oil, so it's a quick job. A synthetic small engine oil holds up well to the heat of an air-cooled engine working hard in summer.

Two-stroke engines don't have an oil change. Their oil is in the fuel mix, which is why the mix ratio and a good 2-stroke oil matter so much.

3. A few more minutes

• Clean the deck. With the spark plug wire disconnected, scrape off packed grass. It holds moisture and rusts the deck.
• Air filter. Clean or replace it.
• Spark plug. Cheap and easy to replace. Spring is a good time if you didn't do it in fall.
• Blade. Sharpen it now so you're ready in April.
• Battery (riding mowers): take it inside or put it on a maintainer, because cold kills batteries.

4. Store it right

Keep it somewhere dry, and cover it if it lives in a shed. If you're storing fuel cans, keep them tightly closed and away from anything that sparks.

Not sure what your engine takes?

AMSOIL's small engine lookup lets you search by engine maker and model, or send me what's on the engine's label and I'll find it for you. Then your snowblower is next, and I'll cover that in a few weeks.