Proper Storage of Lawn Mower and Small Engine Equipment

To extend the life of your carburetor on your Briggs & Stratton, Kohler, or Honda engine, we recommend you do the following to prevent small engine ethanol fuel related problems:

- Add a top rated fuel stabilizer such as Ethanol Shield, StarTron, SeaFoam,Stab-il Marine Formula or Mechanic-in-a-Bottle to your gas can each fill up at the gas station.
This prevents gas from going stale (which it normally does after
30 or more days) and prevents water from forming in the gas.
Be sure that all of your fuel containers are properly sealed and
stored so that they can’t be contaminated by water or dirt.

- Use Ethanol Free Gas, also adding a fuel stabilizer

- Use your machine’s existing fuel shutoff valve. You can also
install a fuel shutoff to be able to run the carburetor out of gas
between each use.

- Replace the fuel line every year or two. Doing so will prevent
the hazard caused by dry-rotted fuel line leaking or sending dry-rotted
rubber particles into the carburetor.

- Allow the engine to cool off before refilling with gasoline. This may seem obvious, but taking this preventive measure is a necessity to prevent fires.

- Smell for fresh gasoline. If you smell fresh gasoline on your machine or in its storage area, roll the machine outside. Once you’ve done this, you can either empty the gas or call us for service.

- Inspect your carburetor. If your engine spews liquid out of the muffler when starting or begins to falter and smoke when running, your carburetor may have failed and needs to be inspected and repaired. If the gas has mixed with the oil, you may think it is just oil leaking, but it can be the oil and gas mixed. Do not use until you've identified and corrected the problem, and do not store the machine indoors.

- Watch your oil level. If the level of your gas tank drops while the engine is at rest or you see that the level of your engine oil has risen or you can smell gasoline on your oil dipstick, do not use the machine until it can be repaired and do not store the machine inside.

-Schedule our Services to have us do all this for you. Why worry yourselves?