Winter Equipment Storage Tips
It is hard to believe that after the winter we just had, spring is only a few days away. Hopefully, the old snow blower can be retired for this season as well as any other winter toys that you may have used like ice augers, snow mobiles, etc. Just like your summer equipment, if the winter equipment is stored properly, then you will not have an issue come next winter when you have to use the snow blower.
Ariens company put out a short Blog on storing equipment as did Consumer Reports. Instead of rewriting the articles, I will simply make a few additional observations on what a person can do to not only store the equipment properly but how to extend its life as well. After all, preventative maintenance is important to longevity.
Both reports noted that you could use a fuel stabilizer for storage. However, I will say that one should definitely use Ethanol Shield to stabilize the fuel before you put anything away. Even if you have planned to drain the fuel, you will never get all of the fuel out of the fuel system unless you completely disassemble all of the components and clean them. Residual fuel will do just as much damage as leaving the tank full of fuel. A small amount of fuel still contains ethanol which will cause damage to the fuel system.
Once Ethanol Shield has been added to the fuel system, make sure to run the machine about 10 minutes to ensure that Ethanol Shield has worked its way through the entire carburetor. Once this is done, the fuel tank can be left full or the fuel can be drained however, I do recommend that the fuel shut off valve be turned off (that is if there is one).
In addition to the steps found in the two articles, make sure to lube all of the moving parts with the recommended lubrication. This will prevent the moving parts from rusting and corroding. This includes cables, linkages, undercarriage parts and so on. These parts can be very expensive to replace.
Since there are a lot of 2-stroke snow blowers out there, make sure to use our new 2-cycle Ultra Synthetic Blended engine oil that contains Ethanol Shield. This will do all of the above and provide the engine a quality lubricant as well.
The links for the articles are: