Here is a column that I wrote that is appropriate for this time of year!
Winterizing Garden Machinery.
We use them all Summer and abuse them all Winter, and expect them to start after a few pulls on the starter cord in the Spring. That’s how most of us treat our garden machinery— and the amazing thing is that we very often get away with it ! One day it won’t start and this is the year when our sins of habitual neglect will catch up with us.
We can save expensive repair bills, or at worst a trip to the dump, by properly putting our gas powered machines to bed at the end of the season. Each machine will take less than an hour to prepare for hibernation, and this will go a long way towards warding off the evils of small engine neglect, such as — rusty gas tanks, sticky valves, blown pistons or even a seized up engine.
There are more varieties of gas powered garden aids than varieties of Willow, so the first step is to read the owners manual— they often have few pages devoted to storage— if you do not have a manual get one.
The difference between two and four stroke engines is relatively minor when it comes to storage. Simply put, a four stroke engine runs on straight gas whereas a two stroke runs on a mixture of gas and oil. Two stroke engines get fresh oil with every fuel up, but the oil in a four stroke engine needs to be changed regularly to keep the moving parts lubricated and running cool. It is very important to change the oil at the end of the season. Even if you only used the machine once the oil will contain contaminants that will that will attack the engine’s interior over the Winter. The biggest killer of small engines is dirty oil. When we check in the spring the oil looks clean because all of the grunge has sunk to the bottom, as soon as we start the engine that grunge then gets stirred up and will gum up the works. Good clean oil is very cheap insurance!
As it is futile to change the oil when the engine is cold, get those machines started again before we really get some snow. Run each machine for about 20 minutes, then turn off the fuel tap. Let the engine run until all of the gas in the carburetor has been burned up. If the machine has a large fuel tank top this up so that there is no room for condensation that may corrode the tank. If the implement has a small gas tank , as most mowers and tillers do, the object is to empty both the carburetor and the gas tank .Some engines have a small sediment bowl in the fuel line— remove ,clean and replace this.
The engine is warm , the gas tank is empty— now is the time to change the oil .As a safety precaution remove the thick black wire that is connected to the spark plug. To drain the oil from a mower raise it onto a couple of wooden blocks— you can normally see under the larger machinery such as tillers. Check in the manual for the crankcase drain plug— this is often on the bottom of the engine, to one side , and normally the only square headed thing that will turn. Remove the drain plug and let it drain for at least half an hour before replacing it .Next remove, clean and set the gap on the spark plug. Remove and clean the air filter ( on some the air filter will need to be replaced).Refer to your manual for these operations. Before you replace the spark plug, squirt about a tablespoon of fresh oil into the hole, and give the cord a few pulls. Now is the time to give the whole machine a good clean— while you are cleaning the underside of the mower, remove and sharpen the blade— and dress up the tines of the tiller with a file. Now that the engine is clean, refill the crankcase with clean oil . If your machine has an electric starter then that will require a year - end battery check. Remove the battery and top up the cells with distilled water. Clean the terminals and lightly grease them with petroleum jelly— then store the battery in warm dry place ( not on a cement floor) and give it a trickle charge once a month during the winter. Lubricate any cables and any other moving bits, such as pivot points and throttle linkages and check the tire pressures. Now store the machine in a weather proof shed or garage. Do this every year and it could double or treble the life of the machine and make your gardening so much more enjoyable
Copyright c 1997 by Ken Bourne. .
