How to Winterize Your Lawn & Garden Equipment

As winter approaches the end of the mowing season is also drawing near. It's time to start thinking of what you're going to do with your yard equipment for the winter.

I know most of us will most likely just push our mower up against the house or shed, leaving the tank half full of gas, and the mower covered in grass clippings. 

Can we suggest another option? By performing a few simple steps you can increase the life of your equipment and guarantee it will start for us next year. 

Winterizing your yard equipment

Clean up

Begin with a good cleaning of the equipment. As we use our equipment through out the summer we undoubtedly will get a build up of grass and dirt on different parts of the equipment. The most common area to get this build up on a lawn mower is on the under side of the deck. As you mow during the season grass clippings tend to cling to the deck and tend to build up rather thick. These grass clippings hold quite a bit of moisture and if left unattended can cause rust to form on the deck. This will greatly decrease the life of your mower. 

An easy way to clean the grime off your equipment is to use high pressured water. You can do this with a pressure washer or your hose with a high pressure nozzle attached. It is also a good idea to spray a water displacement chemical (WD-40) on the underside of the deck and other areas where rust is prone to form. This will help keep it dry and prevent rust from forming.

With your 2 stroke equipment make sure to clean around the fins that make up the engine. 2 stroke engines rely on air flow around the engine to help keep them cool. If debris is allowed to build up in and around these fins the engine may not be able to cool itself sufficiently and can cause damage to the engine.

Change Oil

Before draining the oil out of the engine check the oil level in the engine. If the level is okay start the engine and let it warm up for a couple of minutes. The warm oil will drain from the engine easier. Most lawn mowers will not have an actual drain plug. To drain the oil from the engine you will need to tip the mower on it's side (oil fill tube down) and drain the oil out of the fill tube. Once the oil has finished draining tip the mower back up and refill with the proper amount and weight of oil. 

 

 Gasoline Preparation

Out of all the items we list in this article this is the most critical to guarantee your equipment will start next season. If you don't do any of the other steps make sure you do this one.

With the ethanol in today's fuel it should not be stored for more than 30 days without treatment. This is true for fuel in your gas cans as well as fuel left in your equipment's fuel tank. There are a few different suggestions on how to store your engine in a way that will guarantee it to start next spring. 

One suggestion is to store your engine dry. The best way to do this is to run the engine until it is runs out of gas. Next, pour a little bit of gasoline that has been treated with a fuel stabilizer. Start the engine again and let it run until the engine dies again. With this scenario you do not want to leave any fuel in the engine or it can turn in to gummy deposits that can clog the carburetor jets.

Another suggestion for storing your engine is to fill the tank with a fuel that does not have ethanol in it. There are only certain gas stations that carry this fuel so you may have to search for it. A fuel that does not have ethanol in it will not degrade like fuel that contains ethanol. By leaving the tank full it does not allow open space for condensation to build up.

This same process can be done on your 2 stroke engines as well. Remember to use the correct gas to oil mix for your equipment.

Now would also be a good time to inspect your fuel lines. Besides causing fuel to degrade so quickly ethanol also weakens rubber and plastic. Over time the ethanol can cause the fuel lines to become brittle and break. Replace the fuel lines if necessary.

Some pieces of equipment also come equipped with a fuel filter. It's a good idea to replace the fuel filter on a regular basis.

Change the Spark Plug

Remove the spark plug from the cylinder head and replace it with the correct plug for your engine. Refer to your engine owners manual for this information.

Change the Air Filter

Remove and replace the air filter. Again your owners manual can provide you with the correct part information. A clean air filter can go a long way in extending the life or your equipment. 

Sharpen the Blade

Sharp blades means a healthier lawn. Dull blades don't cut the grass but instead break off the tips. Broken tips turn brown and your lawn will not look as healthy. After removing the blade inspect the cutting edge. If there are too many nicks taken out of the blade it is easier to just replace the blade. If the cutting blade is still in relatively good condition then it can be sharpened. After sharpening the blade it's a good idea to spray the cutting edges of the blade with WD-40. This will prevent rusting. 

Inspect & Replace

The last thing we recommend you do before storing your equipment is to look over your machine and look for any missing or broken pieces. Use the down time of winter to replace those pieces. 

Finalizing

If your equipment is equipped with a battery you should remove the battery and store it a place away from the cold temperatures. It's also a good idea to use a battery tender to maintain the charge. A battery tender will not over charge your battery. It turns off when the battery is fully charged.

You should also store your mower in an area that is dry and where it can be protected from the rain and snow.

* By following these few steps you can guarantee your equipment to start next season and will prolong the life of your mower.