On Aug 19, 6:45*am, (Herb and Eneva) wrote:
* What`s the best way to store a lawnmower for the coming winter?
Should I change the oil now or wait untill spring? What about sta-bil?
Last year I started all of the small engines once a month. That seemed
to work but sometimes was a real pain. What do y`all do?

I prefer to change oil as a part of the winterizing, that includes
filling up the gas tank, sharpening the blades, replacing the spark
plug, fogging the engine, checking/replacing the air filter, cleaning
the lawn mower. Then there will be very little chance that I may
forget to change the oil when spring comes.

The alternative is to simply fill up the gas tank for winterizing and
then do all the other tasks in the spring. I don't like this
alternative because after getting stuck inside the house for the
entire winter, I much prefer to start doing yard work right away when
spring comes instead of doing all those chores first.

The down side of doing all those chores during winterizing is that the
date of the "last mow" may be in late Fall, and the temperature may be
falling. Cleaning the lawn mower with cold water can numb the
fingers. Sharpening the cold steel blades can also numb the fingers
if the work area is not heated. Therefore, we need to do the "last
mow" earlier rather than later.

I have been using this approach for the last 3 years. I have no
problem with the lawn mower or other small engine equipments, and I
can start the lawn mower in the first pull. Before that, I didn't
standardize on one approach and tried various approaches (like doing
some in the Fall and the rest in Spring). The result was not pretty
because I tend to be forgotful and get confused easily. This might
have something to do with _me_ instead of any problem with the
approach that I tried. Knowing who I am, I prefer to stick with a
standardized approach that does all those chores in one setting.

Jay Chan