Mower storage

Here is what I do to store a push mower for the winter:

Run until fuel tank is empty.
Drain the old oil.
Remove the blade.
Remove the air filter and cover the carb opening with a plastic bag.
Remove any plastic covers on the top of the engine and/or front drive gearcase.
Powerwash the underside of the deck.
Sharpen and balance and reinstall the blade, or install a new one.
Block up the deck and remove the wheels.
Powerwash the upper side of the mower and especially around the gearcase and front wheels. A LOT of debris builds up there, especailly on my Yard Man front drive mowers.
Use an electric leaf blower to dry everything.
Reinstall the wheels, use chassis grease on the wheel spindles, not oil.
Replace the drive belt and/or air filter, as needed.
Tighten all nuts, bolts, and screws.
Powerwash the underside of the plastic covers and reinstall.
Use a clean paper towel to soak up any fuel left in the tank, then remove the carb float bowl and clean out any debris in the bowl, then reinstall. Use gas stabilizer if you wish, I prefer to drain the fuel system instead.
Fill with new oil.
Lube any linkages and cables.
Remove the spark plug, squirt in some oil, clean and regap the plug, and reinstall, or replace with a new one.
Pull the engine over a few times.

Last, but not least, if you have to order parts or replace anything come mowing season next year, write down the information and tape it to the handle. Otherwise, you will forget. I always do.

Did I leave anything out?

Looks good to me... CLEAN and ready to go... :smile:KennyV

Wow that's some checklist and it makes me ashamed to think of the last petrol mower I had stored in the garden shed. I'm afraid I didn't do half of these things. I just gave it a cursory clean, emptied the fuel tank, covered it with a heavy duty plastic sheet and left it. :ashamed:

looks good to me i also tune mine up at the end of the session..That way its ready for the first of the season :thumbsup:

This old walk-behind is the least costly motorized piece that I have. It is a 1973 K-Mart 18" mower with an honest 3 hp Briggs engine. It gets put away in whatever condition it is in at the time and still starts and runs well after all that abuse. The $45 that it originally cost is down to $1.20 per year so it's just not worth spending time and effort on anymore. :thumbsup: Now the $15,000 motor gets really good attention. :biggrin:

Wow, JD, that's quite a list.

I never do that much but I have been convinced that ethanol in the gasoline we buy (USA) can cause problems in small engines that are left sitting for a few months. For that reason, at a minimum, I make sure that there's no fuel left in the carb -- sometimes that's just a matter of shutting off the fuel and letting it run, in other cases it means draining the tank.

This applies to any small gasoline engines: trimmers, chainsaws, pressure washers, etc.

Hi JDGreen, I just copy-pasted the steps you listed. I may need to tweak it a bit because I live in a tropical country. But this far, I like the part about writing the list of parts to buy for next season and taping that list on the handle. Very smart and practical. Thinking about it, it's something I can do with home appliances I fix that takes more than one weekend to finish. That way I don't spend precious time recalling the last thing I did and what replacements need to be purchased.