We all want to keep our lawn mowers in good working order for as long as possible. After all, we’ve invested quite a bit of money as well as maintenance time into them and we want to see a return on that investment. In keeping with that goal, it’s important to take care when preparing lawn mowers for storage. If you won’t be using the mower for 3 months or longer, follow these tips to make sure it’s not damaged during storage.
Clean Everything
Clean grass, dirt, and debris off the mower before storage. Debris can trap moisture, which encourages rust. Cleaning now will also make it easier when you pull the mower out of storage later, since you won’t need to clean it before you start mowing. This is also a good opportunity for you to check the spark plug and filters and clean or replace them as-needed.
Stabilize The Fuel
You’ll often see recommendations that you either drain fuel or run the mower dry before storing. But as a general rule, it’s better to keep fuel in the mower as long as you’ve added a fuel stabilizer. Never store equipment long-term with unstabilized fuel in the tank (it’s better to drain your mower than leave old fuel in it).
Before storage, buy fresh fuel and add stabilizer to that fuel. Then, fill your tank 95% full with the stabilized fuel (if there was already gas in the tank, use that up or add stabilizer to it before filling). Next, run the engine for a few minutes to distribute the stabilized fuel through the carburetor and fuel lines. And that’s all you need to do. The stabilizer should keep fuel fresh for about 12 months.
Oil As Instructed
For mowers with four-cycle engines, you’ll want to change the oil before storage. Some lawn mower manufacturers will also include additional instructions for lubricating certain parts before storage. For some mowers, they’ll recommend spraying fogging oil into the engine. Others say to dribble clean engine oil into the cylinder through the spark plug hole. Remember to check your owner’s manual for specific instructions.
Read The Owner’s Manual
The people who made your mower are the ones who best know how to prep it for storage. Your owner’s manual should have guidelines for exactly how to best store your mower. For example, it’ll have instructions for lubricating parts before storage, whether or not to disconnect the battery, and what to do about fuel currently in the tank.
If you’ve lost the owner’s manual you can often look it up online. Or you can get in touch with us and we’ll be happy to answer specific questions you have about your mower brand or model.
