Yearly maintenance plays a key role in keeping your lawn tools in good shape. As you put hand tools and power equipment away for winter, you’ll want to clean them off and do some winterizing to get tools ready for storage. This is also a great time for catching up on any routine maintenance tasks that have accumulated over the working season.
Reviewing the basics of winterizing your tools helps you make sure that you’re prepping your tools for storage in a way that will keep them in good working order. How you store equipment, especially power equipment, can play a key role in making sure the equipment is in good shape and ready to use next spring.
Hand Tools
Tools that don’t have an engine only need some simple cleaning and maintenance to keep them in good shape over winter and preserve your investment.
Cutting and Digging Tools
Before your put your cutting and digging tools away for winter, use a wire brush to clean off any dirt stuck to the tools. Then rinse the tools in water and let them air-dry completely. For wooden-handled tools, rub the handles down with linseed oil or paste wax to prevent cracking.
Now is also a good time to sand any rust spots off the metal parts of a tool. If the tools have lost their edge, you can sharpen them using a whetstone or file. Work at a 45-degree angle, moving from the edges to the center. When you’re done sanding and sharpening, coat metal parts with vegetable oil or wipe them with an oily rag.
Water Hoses
You should drain garden hoses before storage. Then, coil them up and store them flat rather than hanging them up. This helps keep hoses from splitting and cracking.
Sprayers and Spreaders
If you have sprayers or spreaders, take the time to drain and rinse sprayers and clean out any fertilizer that’s still in the spreaders. Make sure these tools are empty, clean, and dry before storage. You can also oil the metal parts before storage to help prevent rust.
Winterizing Power Equipment
Like hand tools, powered equipment will last longer if you clean it before storage. You’ll also need to perform a few extra maintenance steps to protect the engine. Be sure to check your owner’s manual for storage tips. Also, remember to disconnect the spark plug before doing any maintenance to keep the engine from starting accidently while you are working.
Engines and Fuel
Before winterizing small engines you’ll need to drain or stabilize the fuel. If left in the engine for longer than about 30 days, fuel that contains ethanol can dissolve plastic and rubber parts and attract moisture that will corrode metal.
For most gasoline-powered lawn tools, you can add a fuel stabilizer to take care of these problems for a while. Some manufacturers say you can store their equipment with a full tank of stabilized fuel for 30 to 90 days, but you’ll need to check your owner’s manual for a specific time frame.
If you’re storing for longer periods of time, or your owner’s manual recommends it, drain the fuel or run the engine dry before storage. Adding fuel stabilizer or draining fuel works for winterizing both 2-stroke engines like those in most chainsaws and trimmers as well as 4-stroke engines found in larger equipment like zero-turn mowers.
Cleaning Tips
Use a wire brush to clean dirt or plant clippings off metal parts such as tiller tines and hedge trimmer blades, then wipe them down with an oily rag. For plastic parts, use a soft brush or a cloth to remove dirt.
For lawnmowers, use a garden hose to clean the undercarriage. If grass clippings are caked-on, use a putty knife or hard plastic scraper to clean the underside of the mower. When you’re working with a larger mower and want to raise the front wheels off the ground so you can get under the mower, be very careful to make sure everything is secure so there’s no way the mower can move while you’re working.
A Note on Electric Tools
Because battery-powered and corded electric tools do not have a gasoline-powered engine, they require different maintenance. You’ll want to clean them before storage, but you don’t need to worry about draining the fuel or anything related to engine maintenance. Just make sure to fully charge the batteries before storage. To protect the batteries, store them in the original case or a 
cushioned bag rather than on the chargers or in the tool.
Storage Guides
When you’re ready to store your tools and equipment, try to find a cool, dry place protected from frost. If you cover your equipment, use fabric instead of plastic to avoid trapping moisture. You may want to check on the equipment a few times over the winter months just to make sure the storage location has stayed dry.
Following these winterization steps will help keep all your lawn and garden equipment in good shape during winter storage. If you have any questions or need a professional tune-up for your power equipment, just contact us or stop by our location in Richardson, Texas.
