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Winter Storage - Cub Cadet lawn tractor.

#1

R

Rickcin

Live in Virginia where it gets fairly cold in the winter and my new tractor is in a backyard shed with no heat or electric to keep a battery tender attached.

What is the best way to deal with this? If I start and run the engine for 20 minutes once a month or let the battery die and tender it in the spring?? And since it is new, I guess I should change the oil as soon as the grass cutting season begins..


#2

Boobala

Boobala

Rickcin said:
Live in Virginia where it gets fairly cold in the winter and my new tractor is in a backyard shed with no heat or electric to keep a battery tender attached.

What is the best way to deal with this? If I start and run the engine for 20 minutes once a month or let the battery die and tender it in the spring?? And since it is new, I guess I should change the oil as soon as the grass cutting season begins..
Click to expand...

There's a boatload of info, here on the forums, and Google about Winterizing your riding mower (or whatever) !


#3

BlazNT

BlazNT

Remove battery and take it to a place with electricity. Run mower out of gas and then drain remaining out of carb bowl. I change my oil at end of the season but that is personal preference. I also change plug/s, air filter, and gas filter at the end of the season.


#4

Boobala

Boobala

BlazNT said:
Remove battery and take it to a place with electricity. Run mower out of gas and then drain remaining out of carb bowl. I change my oil at end of the season but that is personal preference. I also change plug/s, air filter, and gas filter at the end of the season.
Click to expand...

BlazNt changes those things more than his underwear N socks !! ..:laughing:..:laughing:


#5

B

bertsmobile1

Blaz is right.
Change the oil immediatly after the last mow ( a bit late now ) thus the mower sits with new clean fuel in the engine over winter.
Add some anti watering agent like Seafoam or Stabil into the remaining fuel in the tank, or better still drain the tank, put the fuel into your car & start with fresh fuel next season.
Clean the mower, particularly the underside and spray liberally with your favourite goo from a trigger pack , WD 40, RP 7, Armourall , etc etc etc.
The battery needs to be used, particularly is it is a Pb-Ca battery.
A good trick is to wire he mower battery into your car as in winter the loads on your battery icreases


#6

R

Rickcin

bertsmobile1 said:
Blaz is right.
Change the oil immediatly after the last mow ( a bit late now ) thus the mower sits with new clean fuel in the engine over winter.
Add some anti watering agent like Seafoam or Stabil into the remaining fuel in the tank, or better still drain the tank, put the fuel into your car & start with fresh fuel next season.
Clean the mower, particularly the underside and spray liberally with your favourite goo from a trigger pack , WD 40, RP 7, Armourall , etc etc etc.
The battery needs to be used, particularly is it is a Pb-Ca battery.
A good trick is to wire he mower battery into your car as in winter the loads on your battery icreases
Click to expand...

What about if I start the mower every three weeks or so and let it run for 25 to 30 minutes? It has almost a full tank of gas, non ethonal fuel with stabilizer. Different people do different things that work and I just don't want to have a problem in the spring.


#7

cpurvis

cpurvis

Is the fuel in it pure gasoline or that ethanol-contaminated crap? If it isn't pure gas, get it all out of there. And never use it again, if possible. Some people say they have no source for pure gas...you can find out here: https://www.pure-gas.org/

Basically, the only thing running the engine periodically does is charge the battery. You'd be better off to remove the battery and take it inside where you can put a trickle charger on it once a month.


#8

R

Rickcin

cpurvis said:
Is the fuel in it pure gasoline or that ethanol-contaminated crap? If it isn't pure gas, get it all out of there. And never use it again, if possible. Some people say they have no source for pure gas...you can find out here: https://www.pure-gas.org/

Basically, the only thing running the engine periodically does is charge the battery. You'd be better off to remove the battery and take it inside where you can put a trickle charger on it once a month.
Click to expand...

Ok, I do have a trickle charger and can keep the battery in the basement or the garage.

The Fuel in the tractor is non ethanol fuel with fuel conditioner. So your suggestion is better than running the engine every three weeks or so?


#9

cpurvis

cpurvis

With good fuel in it (as you have), it's a toss up. Your way will keep the cylinders lubed up better as well as keeping the battery charged. Three weeks might be stretching it, though, on keeping the battery charged. You can monitor that with a voltmeter. 12.7 volts (engine not running) is considered fully charged. I would try not to let it fall below 12.0.


#10

R

Rickcin

cpurvis said:
With good fuel in it (as you have), it's a toss up. Your way will keep the cylinders lubed up better as well as keeping the battery charged. Three weeks might be stretching it, though, on keeping the battery charged. You can monitor that with a voltmeter. 12.7 volts (engine not running) is considered fully charged. I would try not to let it fall below 12.0.
Click to expand...


Got it and I think my best bet would be to remove the battery and store it in my basement on a trickle charger.

I never realized that the constant draining and recharging shortens the battery's life. Thanks for your response!


#11

7394

7394

I have never been a fan of starting my mower for short periods during storage, if it is not run long enough, it does produce condensation.

I "fog" the cylinders & plug in a battery MINDer* Of course on Seafoam* treated 100% gas.


#12

B

bertsmobile1

7394 said:
I have never been a fan of starting my mower for short periods during storage, if it is not run long enough, it does produce condensation.

I "fog" the cylinders & plug in a battery MINDer* Of course on Seafoam* treated 100% gas.
Click to expand...

Yep,
If it is not run for at least 1/2 then you do more harm than good, just the same as driving your car for 15 minutes morning & night down to the bus stop or railway station.


#13

7394

7394

Yep Bert..


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