storing ice auger for the summer

[sparky88]

Is it better to drain out all of the gas or just put fuel stabilizer in the tank to store my ice auger for the season? I was wondering if draining the gas out might dry out the diaphrams in the carb. thanks

[hanson]

I've always just propped my auger up in the corner of the garage and thats that.

5 years of poor maintenance and she'll still start 5 pulls or less next fall.

If I were to do any preventative maintenance, I would probably top the gas tank off and add Stabil. A shot of fogging oil into the cylinder wouldn't hurt either.

[DinkADunk]

Don't add Stabil to old gas! If your gas is older than a month then adding Stabil is a waste, the gas will go bad. Anyhow, for smaller motors (like an ice auger) I like to pour out most of the gas, run the motor until it's almost out of gas and when it's on it's last breath hit it with fogging oil. Then pull the plug, fog the cylinder a bit, reinstall the spark plug, wipe down the motor and the machine and spray a bit of WD-40 on exposed metal parts. Next fall, mix new gas, oil, and Stabil (with fresh gas) then start and run the motor until it runs clear. Finally, pull the plug, inspect then clean or replace, gap the plug, and reinstall. You engine will run great. I follow this on all my small motors and they all run extreemly well for many years.

[harvey lee]

DinkaDunk has got the game down. You can just leave it sit and it will probably start but going the other way should help with it running for a longer period of time.

Anything you can do to help with storage will help in keeping your motor at 100% for a longer period of time.

I have in the past let it sit with gas but I am starting to go through a few more steps tomaybe help the life of the motor.

[fishing tech]

I have mine hanging in the garage and once or twice a month I fire it up. Come next winter I dump out the rest of the gas, put in some fresh stuff and away we go.

[jigging-matt]

Definitely leave it full of gas. I learned this the hard way this year. When it was in getting worked on the guy told me to always leave it full of fresh gas and staibil or seafoam. I always thought it was better to empty it. Now I will always leave it full.

[jltimm]

I thought I read in my old Strikemaster manual it said to store with an empty gas tank, and that's how I've done mine for years with great success.Dump the gas,run it till it dies from running out of gas, and put it away.

[jwhjr]

Quote:

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I thought I read in my old Strikemaster manual it said to store with an empty gas tank, and that's how I've done mine for years with great success.Dump the gas,run it till it dies from running out of gas, and put it away.

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This is what I do as well. I pour the rest of the gas in my leaf blower, I run the rest of the gas out,clean it up, cover it, and hang it on the wall. And the leaf blower is used to blow all the sand etc. out of the garage . It fired right up and I "winterized" it the same way in the fall.

[chris63]

Just wondering..............how "old"do you think the gasoline is when you pump it from the gas station pumps?Do you know how long its stored at the refinery before it comes to say a Holiday gas station?Again just wondering?????c63

[Stradic]

Could there be more conflicting reports on this subject, lol?

I guess it all comes down to presonal preference.

[Scott M]

I had the same question. Check out this thread : Auger Storage Tips

[eyefever]

On my jiffy they said to pour 1 oz of oil into the cylinder and crank over. I wasn't thinking and actually did this and got oil all over my garage floor from the exhaust. If you lube this way instead of fogger be ready for some oil out the exhaust

[DinkADunk]

Gas isn't stored for very long at the refinery. After production the raw gasoline (no additives) is stored and then additives are added based on the orders received from the various distribution companies (Shell, Exxon, Marathon, BP, Holiday, etc). Once the gasoline has the additives added it is store in fairly small distribution tanks waiting for the various companies tankers to show up. All in all from the day it's refined to the day it's sent out the gas is between a couple of days and a week or so old - a month at the outside. Now, how long does that gas sit in your gas station? If you shop at a popular station they are probably refilling their tanks a couple of times a week. If you go to some place way out of the way that doesn't get much traffic, the gas can get fairly old. It also depends on the grade of gas. Stations tend to sell a lot of regular, not nearly as much premium. Unless they have sized their tanks appropriately, the premium can stay around for quite awhile. So, if you want to buy gasoline to store buy it from a busy gas station. If you're filling up a portable container add stabil to the container prior to filling and it will be mixed and ready to go when you need it. When I fill up my boat, which holds 40 gallons and I just don't go through it very fast, I fill up the tank with gas, record how much I put in, mix the appropriate amount of Stabil with a pint of gas and then add it to the tank. Each spring, I use my boat as a gas pump and fill up the Suburban until I've drained the tank (usually a couple of fill ups), then I fill up the boat with fresh gas and Stabil and I'm all set for the season.

[fdr01]

the guy at d-rock told me you want to get all of the gas out!with the ethonol in gas it can really wreck havoc on the small parts in the the carb.he even went as far as to say you should run it dry and with full choke to get everything out.

[Big-Al]

That is why I ALWAYS buy ethonol free gas for my small engines.

[fdr01]

ethenol free??? dosnt mn require gas to have at least 10%.where are you getting this ethonol free from?

[harvey lee]

I believe that Amoco has premium.

[Bobb-o]

many places sell the ethanol free for things such as augers, snowmobiles, vintage cars, etc. just look for nonoxygenated premium

[CatManLee]

I think either way you can run into problems. Bad gas or dried up gaskets, etc...I do what Hanson does, I have a wall mount for it and that's where it sits, full of gas all summer. In the fall I empty the old gas, add some new gas along with Seafoam and it hasn't let me down yet? But then again I do the same thing with all my stuff...Boat, Snowmobile, Auger, Mower, etc. The auger is the only thing I change the gas in and I haven't had any trouble yet, so this is what I will continue to do. I'm not saying this is what you "should" do, just saying this is what I do!

[Big-Al]

I buy most of my gas at Super America and it has the non-oxygenated (ethonol-free) and I believe most other stations have it also. Ethonol freely absorbs water and from what I understand it degrades faster.

[chris63]

I think your right ,ethenol is alcohol and when alcohol evaporates it's byproduct is h2o which "can" wreck havvock with any combustion engine espescially (spell?)small single cylyinder engines.c63

[G_man]

I think manufacturers recommend storing small engines for long periods of time without gasoline primarily from a safety perspective. CYA

[fishorgolf]

Drain all the gas out. run engine until it stalls. next season use fresh non-oxyenated gas stabilized with seafoam. I have everything from chain saws to augers "some over 20 years old" and this is what I do every spring and fall and have not had one gas related problem ever. Leaving gas in the engine is just asking for problems. I am not saying you will have problem only that the your chances go up greatly.

4 strokes are a different story but that is another tread.

[AF POL]

Ethenol itself only has a shelf life of about 6 months or so. Then it starts to break down and you start to get water... Typically it starts before that though....Your best bet is to just steer clear away from Ethenol if you dont plan on using it in a short amount of time.... Of course this is just my opinion and personal experience

[PiedmontAngler]

Remember tho if you're doing the drain and run-dry method, the last thing is that ethanol evaporating off of the diaphragm it can dry it out and crack it. If you're using non oxy gas there is no problem with the ethanol. I have seen this for years in lawnmowers, snowblowers and last year in my Jiffy. The cracks are usually too small to see, but will cause you a headache next season. My brother swears by the fogging oil for his small engines.