Has anyone done this storage trick?

[JoeM 7,873]

New to me

 

[RED-Z06 2,221]

Didnt watch his video...but I have about 12 generators in storage (its florida), and all but one i setup for longterm.  I put seafoam in the tank, not alot of gas..let it run out, as its dying, keep hitting the choke until its dry.  Pull the plug and hit it with deep creep about 2 seconds, pull it over a couple times.  Drain the oil hot, add fresh. Then let it sit all day in the sun to dry the tank.  Takes about 15 minutes to do once it starts running out of fuel.  One i put gas in early spring and use it if we get any outages, its on a towable dolly with 15gallons of fuel...and put it away dry over winter.

 

 

[Handy Don 12,214]

21 minutes ago, RED-Z06 said:

Didnt watch his video...but I have about 12 generators in storage (its florida), and all but one i setup for longterm.  I put seafoam in the tank, not alot of gas..let it run out, as its dying, keep hitting the choke until its dry.  Pull the plug and hit it with deep creep about 2 seconds, pull it over a couple times.  Drain the oil hot, add fresh. Then let it sit all day in the sun to dry the tank.  Takes about 15 minutes to do once it starts running out of fuel.  One i put gas in early spring and use it if we get any outages, its on a towable dolly with 15gallons of fuel...and put it away dry over winter

Also a big fan of dry storage. Pulled out the snowblower today (it is NY). Check oil, fill tank, open valve, count to 5 (to let the gas fill the bowl), choke on, one pull and it’s running. Tecumseh HH60.

Edited November 17, 2023 by Handy Don

[RED-Z06 2,221]

11 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

Also a big fan of dry storage. Pulled out the snowblower today. Check oil, fill tank, open valve, count to 5 (to let the gas fill the bowl), choke on, one pull and it’s running. Tecumseh HH60.

I wish bowl drains were a thing still like the old tecs had

[kpinnc 12,007]

2 hours ago, RED-Z06 said:

wish bowl drains were a thing still like the old tecs had

 

Agreed. Personally I think this was the only good thing about them. 

[RED-Z06 2,221]

25 minutes ago, kpinnc said:

 

Agreed. Personally I think this was the only good thing about them. 

My first Gokart had an H50 on it, i ran the absolute hell out of that thing for 4 years, no governor...just floating the valves.  Loved that thing, hard to pull the rope from day 1, and always screwing with the carb but it never lost to a briggs.  I have 5 or 6 H50/H60s up on a shelf in the shop, the only Tecs ill ever own besides the OHH160 

[kpinnc 12,007]

1 hour ago, RED-Z06 said:

My first Gokart had an H50 on it,

 

So was mine!

 

Funniest thing I ever saw? My dad chasing that gokart when he was "working on it", and it fired up unexpectedly on the 5th pull of the starter, and the governor was set backwards. I swear it ran for 2-3 minutes before flipping over, and he was still mid sentence on the cussing tirade. 

 

My uncle built racers for my cousins. My gokart was a dime store special, and it would smoke them all at the racetrack. But because mine had no safety gear, I couldn't race officially. Still funny.

 

 

[ri702bill 8,316]

9 hours ago, Handy Don said:

Also a big fan of dry storage. Pulled out the snowblower today (it is NY). Check oil, fill tank, open valve, count to 5 (to let the gas fill the bowl), choke on, one pull and it’s running. Tecumseh HH60.

My Ariens is a 1975ish model with a steel tank. Same dry carb procedure. I fill it with non ethanol gas after the season to prevent tank rust. So far, so good.

[squonk 41,072]

I store everything with the canned 4 cycle gas. Got the Ariens snow blower out yesterday. Plugged the starter in and I barely touched the start button and it was running.

[JoeM 7,873]

1 minute ago, squonk said:

I store everything with the canned 4 cycle gas.

Good stuff but pricey. 

I use non e gas and run them dry.

After my last issue with the rusty bowl. Was just wondering if a little oil in the bowl would help prevent.?

 

Then I seen the ATF thing. He says it is an old time thing. I am older but not really  "old time"!

 

I have been using the two cycle stuff on some that have set a long time on start up. just a squirt in the yap. I like that. Thinking it might be a thing to do on super long storage to get a coat of oil in the carb. Like a 2-3 year thing?? That is about how often I use the generator. 

[Ed Kennell 38,146]

1 hour ago, JoeM said:

have been using the two cycle stuff

Same here Joe.    I use the same long term storage procedure on my 4 stroke engines as I use on my 2 and 4 stroke stroke outboards.

Start the engine, then pull off the fuel line and stick it in my can of Ed's storage cocktail.   Let it run till all the fuel pumps, bowls, carbs, and intakes are full.     Drain the fuel tanks as low as possible and add marine Sta-Bil to any fuel that can not be removed.  Remove the spark plugs and inject fogging oil in each cylinder while cranking the engine.    Never had a failure to start, but be ready for the smoke when you fire em up.

 

Ed's storage cocktail

2 parts E10 fuel

1 part Marine Sta-Bil

1 part 2 cycle marine oil

 

 

I should add, I have marine primer bulbs or electric fuel pumps on all my engines.   Saves your batteries and starters on start ups.

And I use the blue colored Marine Sta-Bil .  It is different than the red regular Stay-Bil.

 

 

Edited November 17, 2023 by Ed Kennell

[peter lena 8,613]

@JoeM  2 things that are , baseline for all my small engines , are , RISLONE , ZINC ADDITIVE  , and ,  STa BIL  FUEL TREATMENT .  went from  now and then erratic , not consistent  operation , to a very quick start / run , no engine smoke  and  solid running . also made a point of cleanout the existing debris / crud / fresh fuel filter , carb bowl , clear fuel line . if you do not take the time to correct an existing problem , how are things going to change ?  have this set up in 5 engines , with no issues, just my own personal experience , do a lot of experimental  changes on chronic problems , at each change point , get some usage time on it , good, ? bad ? better ? worse ?  thats what I do . sta bil in every bit of my ethanol fuel , clean filters , lines ,no debris in carb bowls , what am I doing wrong ?  just my own experience , make a change , Pete         

[JoeM 7,873]

39 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

Ed's storage cocktail

2 parts E10 fuel

1 part Marine Sta-Bil

1 part 2 cycle marine oil

E10 cause you have it or is there a special reason?

[Ed Kennell 38,146]

1 minute ago, JoeM said:

E10 cause you have it or is there a special reason?

Cause It is available.     100% gasoline is not available in Delaware where I spend my boating time and pretty limited here in SC Pa.     I have never had any issues with E10.

The blue Marine Sta-Bil is formulated to treat E10 as opposed to the regular red Sta-Bil that is formulated for 100% gasoline.

I have also seen Sea Foam clean up a funky funking engine.

[Achto 27,565]

I use corn squeezin's free gas all of the time, always mix 1oz of SeaFoam with every gallon.

 

For long term storage I start the tractor up, shut the fuel off & let it run out of gas. Then push it back in it's hibernation spot & put the trickle charger on it over night to make sure it has a full charge.

To wake 'em up, turn the gas on, wait a few minutes, turn the key & go. Never any issues. Except for my 520, that one always wants an eye opener shot of gas down it's throat first. Think it helps take the edge off after a long nap. 

  

[Handy Don 12,214]

43 minutes ago, Achto said:

Except for my 520, that one always wants an eye opener shot of gas down it's throat first. Think it helps take the edge off after a long nap. 

Maybe the liquid equivalent of a couple of Advil for the old timer?

 

@ri702bill’s comment about metal gas tanks made me think. All mine are plastic (except for the 854’s aluminum) as are all my storage cans. 

[Handy Don 12,214]

11 hours ago, kpinnc said:

Personally I think this was the only good thing about them. 

I dunno. My 1975 snowblower and the ’68 Lawn Ranger have been pretty darned faithful start/runners. Granting that I don’t have the same ruggedness or “long heavy duty service” expectations that I would for a K or M, but “horses for courses” right?

[Wishin4a416 2,191]

All my seasonal equipment is put to bed with non ethanol fuel with some seafoam added. Run it for 10 minutes to circulate through the lines and carb.

[RED-Z06 2,221]

I use Seafoam because i can get it cheap, but if yall do alot of volume, Marvel Mystery Oil has the same active ingredients as Seafoam...both Pale Oil/Naptha petro based.

[Pullstart 62,838]

ATF is magic!

 

https://www.wheelhorseforum.com/topic/105485-new-winter-truck/?tab=comments#comment-1144661

 

[RED-Z06 2,221]

Personally ive always tried to avoid using atf in places it will burn, its a super high detergent fluid, it cleans to an extent but when mixed with gas it can be a real headache if it sits too long, and it can cause ash buildup inside the combustion chamber.  At least seafoam and mmo are purely petroleum based

[c-series don 8,689]

I usually add Sta-bil to the fuel, run it for a while, suck out remaining gas in the tank. Then run it until the tank is empty and add Marvil Mystery Oil. Run it until it starts smoking and dies then I know the bowl has MMO in it and the piston and cylinder have a coating on them. Like Ed said it smokes on start up but clears up pretty quickly 

[Bill D 1,920]

On 11/16/2023 at 8:53 PM, RED-Z06 said:

I wish bowl drains were a thing still like the old tecs had

Many Hondas and clone engines still have them.

[RED-Z06 2,221]

20 minutes ago, Bill D said:

Many Hondas and clone engines still have them.

True.  I just miss pushing up on the stopper, it was so practical