My lack of effort on the audio backfired tremendously. Oh, and it will be entertaining watching all the people confidently assert that fuel stabilizer doesn't do anything. I guess I am just the luckiest small-engine-having guy around.
"I saved 11% on this thing" is about the most Midwest thing I've heard this year. Side note...I too love Menards, just not a fan of anything battery or engine powered from there. I'm a mechanical engineer and I use Stabil...half because I'm lazy/forgetful and half because I can rebuild a carb if needed.
There's usually a gas station around that sells premium gas without ethanol added. Definitely the best thing for small engines. I still put some Stabil in though.
@@ebnertra0004 I mean, it's probably the second largest region since it's HQ is in WI located in Eau Claire. I used to work for a building materials company who had a contract with Menards. After knowing how they do handle contracts and the inner workings of their business, I do no business with them and buy nothing from them.
I expect a video of you clearing your driveway of snow with this machine as evidence of its efficacy. I'm from south-UK and we get maybe a sugar-coat of snow once a year if we're lucky, so I need to experience the snow life vicariously through you now. Don't disappoint me.
It's not fun. When you have one of those things it's basically like mowing your lawn but it's your driveway instead, but if you're going with the shovel method it can be pain and suffering depending on the type of snow you got (pray for fresh powder)
You do realise you've just jinxed us brits now? And that sugar-cating of snow we usually have will be an apocalyptic (aka average Canadian day) event now, not that it bothers me, I love snow and the chaos it causes britain because people always seem surprised that winter came again... :P
I live in southern California, and we're lucky if we get a light dusting of snow once a *decade*,. But I'll gladly let the people crazy enough to reside in snow country live the snow life privately. :)
I'm in Oklahoma. If we get more than an inch, the whole damned state shuts down. People call it the snowpocalypse here. I reluctantly say that, only because people don't understand me when I call it the Ragnarök.
Been putting off winterizing my lawn mower by running the gas through it. I might have put stabilizer in it, can't remember. But this video has given me the motivation to forget about it and let me deal with any consequences next year. Thanks!
@@TechnologyConnextras Yeah, I have Stabil in my shed.. just can't remember if I mixed it in on this last gas can fill up.. I'll figure it out next year lol
It will start just fine next spring. Just put some fresh gas in it in spring, shake it abojt a bit and it'll start just fine. Gas doesn't go bad in 6 months. Or a year or whatever.
Even when not deliberately putting in effort, and only half awake, your semi-automatic ability to couch everything in its necessary context for the sake of your viewers' comprehension is admirable and laudable. Bravo, sir! 👏👍
YOU DID IT!!!!!! You finally actually did a near-zero effort video, and I LOVE IT!!!! And I don't live in the Midwest, don't have a snow blower, don't need a snow blower because it rarely snows here and when it does it melts in a few days, and I've gotten rid of most of the things I had with small engines. The last thing was the lawn mower, and I got a battery powered one this year. But the video was still cool!
I'm pretty sure you're thinking of his other channel. Maybe like 5% of the videos on this channel are scripted and everything else is just kind of him talking in front of a camera
No, it is perfect. Making the script took a month, and then all the set design, editing and color correction to make it look like that when it was filmed in a studio, all the audio is all done in post, with bespoke foleys, ADR.. dude, you got to admire the dedication, he doesn't even own a snowblower, that's CGI from WETA.
@@the_undead OooOOOOooooohhhhhhhhh, you're right, I didn't notice where I was. Yeah, I was thinking about Technology Connections. This other guy is a total slacker!
When a dry sense of humor works, it works. Yours works the first minute. The kick, and "everyone ought to have one of those in their life" ! No loss of points for the outdoor setup and production. Well worthwhile. And clearly communicated. And usefully.
I’m a small engine mechanic by trade. I’ve been preaching fuel stabilizer for 20 years and people still think it’s a scam. My personal preference is the green Sta-Bil because of the ethanol. There is a such thing as too much, but I usually go 1.5-2 doses over myself. If you put too much in, it can actually turn to a gel. Also thanks for reminding me to get my snow thrower out of storage, I usually do mine in October lol
idk if I bought fuel stabilizer, it'd be worth more than the lawnmower already. I don't even drain it and it can sit for 10 months. I'm sure I can mistreat a used snowblower too without a problem.
I love seeing all the comments claiming it is useless at preventing varnish/lacquer build up, but they’re not replying to you! Too scared to challenge your mechanic expertise I think.
@@kaitlyn__L An appeal to authority will get you no where. You need to understand what a fuel stabiliser does before you can comment about "people being afriad". To start off with there's different stabilisers that do different things. You're focused on the issue of gumming so lets focus on that, What causes fuel to gum up the engine/lines and carb? The answer is oxidisation. When oxygen mixes with fuel and react causing some of the chemicals to break down, this process destabilises the fuel and the compounds that make it up can then degrade resulting in deposits that build up and harden over time. This is a natural process for fuel and air mixing. The only way to stop it is prevent air and fuel from mixing. The shelf life of fuel, is nothing more then the period of time where it can safely mix with fuel without it seriously breaking down. So what does a fuel stabilizer do to extend the shelf life of fuel? Well fuel stabilizers form a layer on top of the fuel and they undergo the oxygenation process before the fuel does. They are typically only comprised of light compounds thus the deposits they leave behind are smaller and less damaging to the engine. So not only do they not prevent build up, they are designed to produce build up just at a lower rate. In fact your new mechanic friend touches on this, If you use too much stabilizer you end up with a gel. This is because the fuel stabiliser breaks down quicker then so if you add too much you end up having the opposite effect of what you want. Whether you think fuel stabilisers are worth it, is your personal preference. But do call people out on providing input you don't understand.
I just bought a generator. The manual specifically recommended fuel stabilizer. It also recommends shutting off the fuel valve and letting the carburator run dry if you're storing it for a month. I normally don't bother draining tanks, but I do run carburator bowls dry.
Spot on. The main issue really isnt old gas just sitting in a tank, its gumming up the carburator, and deteriorating everthing rubber in there. Like you said, perfect combo is fuel stabilizer and run the carb dry, best of both worlds.
One good reason to drain it dry, is to avoid the risk of it exploding in case the garage catches on fire for some other completely unrelated reason. Stabilizers don`t protect you from that.
I'm waiting patiently for a full video explaining small engine chokes and if they're distantly related to usb A. It's also always initiallythe wrong position on the first try.
Wow, those things are terrifying when spinning. Since everything's more dangerous here in Australia, I'm certain these would cause a significant death toll every winter if we needed them. Thankfully snow is very rare except for a couple of towns.
The one I have has two augers which rotate toward each other, dragging the snow into the center and up the chute (where I think there's a third one to fling it out, that can't be seen from outside the housing). They turn much more slowly than that, but they're also helical metal blades with something like 15 horsepower behind them, so the effect is more like that bit in _Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade_ where the boat is getting slowly but inexorably chopped up by the ship's propeller. :)
What makes snowblowers extra dangerous is that they can cut off a finger even when turned off. The auger can get jammed with packed snow, and can be under enough tension that when the snow is cleared out, the tension is released and the auger can suddenly move far enough to chop off a finger.
You know what's really terrifying? They make these things with the spinny bit several meters in diameter for use with giant "machine carrying lorries" (no idea what the proper word for that is) which the road department around where I live uses to clear alpine roads when the snow gets a few meters high.
Just an FYI, it surges at idle because the pilot jet in the carb needs to be cleaned out. I use a micro drill bit to clean out the small hole. Happens all the time on the newer engines. Great video BTW.
The difference between the two (as I’ve read it) is that “snow throwers” are the single-stage kind, and “snow blowers” are the two-stage type. That is, a single stage model only has one spinning augur to pick up and fling the snow. A two stage has one augur that picks up the snow and feeds it to the second, which does the flinging.
That explains why I was shocked at how fast that augur was going, my dad has a big two stage White Outdoor blower and yeah the outer one is much slower as it just breaks up the snowpack to digest
I have used both, those single stage snowblowers are very efficient in heavy and wet snow, but they will struggle if it has frozen because the auger is often heavy rubber or plastic, so they're no good in ice and somewhat limited for pile at the end of the driveway if it had time to freeze or there are large ice chunks. A two stage snowblower is not as efficient in heavy, wet snow, but it still does the job well enough, but will beat a single stage in every other category, at the expense of ease of use and moving it around, the space it takes in the garage and of course the price. I live in Québec and while the two-stage snowblower is the most popular option a lot of people can clean their driveways with a single stage, the worst that can happen is usually having to break the pile of hard snow with a shovel before going through it with the snowblower. That said, a big storm will rarely exceed 12" of snow.
Love these outside videos - the wind chimes around 3:30 were a nice touch. Hope to see more playing around with stuff that have motors, I feel like there’s a lot of interesting yard care thingamajigs that would be great for videos!
I know you weren't going to engage the auger in that position, but seeing you start the engine while pointing the business end at the fuel can was suspenseful. 😁
Even if the blade managed to scoop the tank what's the worst that would happen? Maybe a broken snowblower and gas everywhere.. More likely it would just knock it over, though.
I have a Honda 1332 snowblower. It's less of an "amputation hazard" and more of a "human mulching hazard". A very impressive monster indeed. I think all carbs gum up over time, no matter what you do. Fuel stabilizer probably slows down the process a lot, but eventually you're gonna have to take it apart and clean it up. That's just the nature of carburetors.
The audio is awesome, makes us appreciate the effort you normally put in. I can't believe you put in double what they tell you too. I always assume in instructions they are telling you to put in extra anyway so you use more of their product.
@@herzogsbuick he says "1 ounce treats 2.5 gallons, this is a 2 gallon tank so I put in 2 ounces". So he's actually adding more than double the amount prescribed.
This is good advice. Any small engine that doesn't have a low oil warning or auto-shutdown system should be checked before each use. Over the years I've avoided ruining at least 3 small engines by making this a habit.
Fuel stabilizers are great for motorcycles as well. My first winter I didn't use any and it was almost impossible to start the next season. Fuel stabilizer make the next year real easy.
Can confirm, used Sta-bil in my bike last winter since it calls for 87 and i didn’t want to deal with potential knocking from using premium the following spring, and once i got it home in spring it started right up.
I would say it's perfectly fine for anything without a complicated exhaust system (more than just a cat). Wouldnt fuel my new european car with it, but motos or older engines will be perfectly fine I guess...
@@Tarukai788 premium won't cause knock in a low compression engine, it will cause reduced performance. If your bike is carbureted then the most common culprit for failure to start in the spring is ethanol in your gas. Ethanol separates out, attracts water, and can lacquer your jets. Many fuel stabilizers can actually exacerbate these problems. Fuel injected bikes don't tend to have the same issues, due to the higher pressure in the fuel system blasting any buildup out of the injectors. If you want to winterize a carbureted bike, try to fill it with a non-ethanol gasoline before you store it, close the petcock, and drain the carbs. When you start it in the spring, agitate the gas in the tank by rocking the bike back and forth, so any separated layers get mixed back together, before opening the petcock and starting as normal.
@@Tarukai788 wrong direction there. Premium would protect from knock, not cause it. But using premium when you don’t need it is wasting money AND can reduce fuel efficiency due to some physics stuff with aerosols and how anti-knock does it’s anti-knocking when under lower compression. I just dump a bottle of Techron in every 4th fill up or so to make up for the missing premium detergent pack.
@@mzaite Usually I 100% agree that premium is a waste for an engine not designed for it. However.... depending on where you get it, higher octane fuel has less ethanol, and that is the main issue with small carbureted engines. Stabilizer absolutely helps, but why not have a base that's better to begin with. The price difference isn't huge considering how little fuel one ends up buying over the course of a year for this purpose. So my formula: premium fuel during the season, and premium+stabilizer nearing the end of season (so that I'm assured the tank over the summer has stabilizer in it).
I generally agree with you. I think that Sta-bil is probably good enough "winterization" for most people. Especially ones who don't want to actually fuss with draining gas and getting it all over their hands, etc. But, I would also note that "it starts" shouldn't be 100% of the equation. You mentioned that the engine runs best with some choke applied and that it also has a tendency to surge. Those are both signs of a carburetor (and specifically the idle jet) that is starting to gum up. This is possibly due to leaving gas (albeit treated gas) in the tank long term. So, while it may continue to start each year it is also possible that your method may be slowly contributing to build-up which will eventually lead to a no start condition.
Exactly. I couldn’t agree with you more. That snowblower sounded like it was probably running on the high speed jet alone maybe with a small contribution from the plugged up idle jet. I also noticed that he didn’t demonstrate that it could even idle. That would have been interesting. I live in Minnesota and have 11 machines that have small engines. For the 4-stroke engines I always shut off the gas and drain the carburetor float bowl before putting the implement away for the off season. The last time I looked the Briggs & Stratton engines used in lower end snowblowers don’t even have bowl drains. So you’d have to remove the bowl itself to drain it. That’s just one of the reasons you’ll never find a B&S engine in my barn. I leave the gas in a full tank and treat it with Mercury Marine’s “QuickStore” fuel treatment which I also use in the 60 gallon gas tank on my boat which I store full. For my 2-cycle motors (chain saws and a backpack blower and backpack insecticide sprayer) I use straight gas without any ethanol and empty the fuel tanks and run the diaphragm carburetors dry before storing them. I would like to say that I’ve never had to clean a carburetor but I can typically go about 20 years before that happens by following the process I mentioned.
@@Dave-ei7kk a bowl drain is nice to have, but you can just shut off the fuel and run it dry as well. If your feeling particularly adventurous you can install a tee in the fuel line, with a second shut off to make draining the tank mess and hassle free.
I'd like to add that the surging it does was a thing from day one. That's not a new behavior - the closed throttle position is seemingly just a teeny bit too closed and the governor keeps blipping it open. When under the tiniest of loads it runs smoothly
Oh, and to Dave specifically - you heard it idling. The whole time. I don't know if you are unfamiliar with snowblowers but everyone that I've ever used runs on a governor to maintain a constant RPM. This one is no different. So when it was running in the background, that was as close to "idle" as it'll ever run. I had the choke closed a single click to keep it smooth (plus it wasn't fully warmed up) but if open all the way you would just hear the RPM bounce up and down a little bit.
@@TechnologyConnextras So what I hear you saying is that the snowblower you tested has no throttle control. That is a new one on me but not from lack of experience with small engines in general and snowblowers in particular. And my experience goes beyond operating them. I’ve probably disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled/tuned over 50 carburetors ranging from 4-Barrel Rochester QuadraJet models on big GM V8’s to slide valve carburetors on motorcycles and snowmobiles to diaphragm carburetors on weed trimmers and chainsaws. Over the last 3-4 decades I’ve also owned and/or operated well over a dozen snowblowers. I think where my experience is lacking is with the inexpensive single stage units like you demoed. So I’ll have to take your word for it that what we saw was all there is. For your information all the higher-end two stage snowblowers that I’ve experienced have throttle controls as well as a governor that control the engine RPM under full-throttle, high load conditions. When you pull the throttle back they will idle at a steady lower speed. For example, the Honda GX240 engine on my old Honda HS80 tracked snowblower specifies 3600RPM governed at full throttle and 2100RPM at the slower idle setting. Some smaller Honda engines idle around 1400RPM. With these higher end snowblowers I seen several occasions where they will run relatively well at full throttle with no load once you get them started and warmed up. But if the idle jets are plugged up due to extended off season storage with gasoline in the carburetor, the symptoms include inability to maintain governed RPM while blowing heavy snow, need to leave the choke partially closed to maintain performance, and inability to idle at all or surging idle and stalling if the throttle is advanced rapidly. The fact that you need to close the choke somewhat on your snowblower to maintain performance points to something impacting fuel delivery. Most likely your carburetor is gummed up. So, no, storing your snowblower the way you did wasn’t good for it. At least per your demonstration. That said, thank you for taking the time to share your experience and starting a discussion about proper off-season storage protocols. I agree that it is a murky area with lots of claims only supported by anecdotal data. In my case, draining the carburetor float bowls on off-season carbureted small engines has served me well for decades.
I gotta say... I edit legal and medical lectures all day, and this is some of the best camera audio I've ever heard. Thank you for caring about our ears even during November.
A couple of things that I have learned/experienced. Probably the #1 best way to winterize/summerize is to run Non-ethanol fuel at the end of the season. Possibly with stabilizer as well, though I usually just run without. Stabilizer is certainly better than nothing, but I have always had issues with running stabilizer and Ethanol fuel especially in newer smaller engines where they are becoming more heavily emissions regulated. This goes double for boats and equipment that might be exposed for long periods to High Humidity. Last thing I wanted to mention is that it generally is not good for the carburetor to run it dry and let it sit. This usually allows the gaskets and membranes to shrink and/or harden over time thus causing even more of a headache than if you were to leave ethanol fuel in it without stabilizer. This might become a thing of the past as materials advances occur, and as Injection becomes more popular on small engines, but I'd prefer to stay on the safe side for now.
I agree, I never use Ethanol in my small engines. I don't bother with stabilizer. Also I fill the tank in the off season to prevent condensation. Haven't had problems in the over 20 years I've owned my home.
Correct about ethanol, and leaving the tank full as it prevents moisture ingress from thermal cycling. Incorrect about leaving the carb dry, wicking effects are what dry out gaskets, and the acids left by small amounts of sulfur in the fuel when exposed to air and moisture
One thing I have personally noticed is the larger the engine the less the fuel has to be perfect. For everything besides my zero turn it gets drained. My tractor and zero turn never have issues sitting all winter long with nothing but e10 87 pump gas. All I do is put a battery maintainer on it.
We do the same thing - Stabil in 3 motorcycles when we put them away for the winter, and they always start just fine when it's warm enough to ride next spring. I'm told you can also save 11% on Concrete Blocks 🙂
Former Briggs & Stratton tech here, fuel stabilizers are hit and miss. They won't stop ethanol bringing in water but will usually help prevent the fuel from gumming up your carburetor as badly. The slight surging is most likely caused by a little water in the carburetor.
Yup, Stabil works great. However, I just started swapping my gas from snowblower to lawn mower and vice versa since I have a gas mower now. This vid was a good reminder that I need to do my seasonal snow blower maintenance too. Anyways, enjoy the vids as always. Cheers.
Ethanol free gas (if it's available) never drain gas in any of small engines. It's more expensive (and can be hard to find) but it's easier and faster than adding the additive and also better in general for small engines.
I’ve got a two stage Toro snowblower from 1984 (was my grandfather’s, then my dad’s, then now mine) that’s still going perfectly strong, it has always just fired right up. All three of us have only ever just used Sta-Bil and it has fired up every season, first try since the 80s. For a while the carb bowl was cracked and would leak so we would shut off the fuel and let it run until the bowl was empty, but since that was fixed we’ve just shut it off and had no problems the next year starting up.
The general sentiment is that Toro makes the best snowblowers still being produced. I personally use one my late father bought in 2017 and it's been fairly reliable.
While the Stay-bil isn't going to hurt anything, I've got a 1980 Craftsman 2 stage that also fires right up every year, with nothing done to the fuel. Gasoline doesn't go bad or gum up over the course of a year. It's only a problem if you store for several years without using it. When I took the blower from my grandparents 15 years ago, after it had sat unused for 5 years, (They bought a small single stage my grandma could use). I had to disassemble the carb and clean out the needles. since then it hasn't needed anything and just works.
I enjoyed the little punt-uation you gave the snowthrower during the introduction. Best comedic timing! The dear departed Paul Harvey would not have hawked Sta-Bil so fervently had it not been good and effective!
I've been using the same fuel in my lawn mower for the past 3 years. It has always started up on the first pull each spring. I use STA-BIL in a 5 gallon gas can. Never once drained the fuel from the mower itself. Though, I make sure to use 100% gasoline, not the ethanol mix.
I grew up in Oklahoma and the only small engine we had was the lawnmower. In the '90s we got one with a primer pump. Before that, you just had to pull the cord a whole lot. That thing never once started on the first try, and the first start of the year always felt like I was trying to start the old mower, the one without the primer. My dad never emptied the tank OR used stabilizer. I didn't learn about either of those things until I'd moved out. Now I don't have any need for a small engine. I live in the desert where lawns are basically illegal and snow never lasts more than a day unless it's in the shade, and I have solar power so I don't need a generator.
My dad used to drain the fuel every season, so that's what I did. I called the company that makes my snow thrower and asked them what they recommend. They said to leave the gas in there (with the stabilizer added). I forgot exactly why, but I think they said it could rust easier.
I've definitely seen plenty of o-rings and gaskets fail from getting dried out and cracking. Take out any old o-ring from a carburetor and measure it. Then leave it on the bench for a couple days. When you come back it'll be noticeably smaller. Often so small that you can't put it back where it goes. If you WANT to replace seals more than necessary, go ahead and drain the fuel every time. But as someone who's been a mechanic for over a decade, from motorcycle shops to aircraft, I say leave that shit full. Actually, extra tidbit. At my work if someone opens a package for an o-ring and realizes they don't need it, we have to throw it away. They'll dry out and not be as strong. We take that shit serious in single-engine aircraft.
@@2KXJ The tank is probably still made of steel though! Purely because of cost (stamping, welding, or whatever other work). And rust/crud from the tank could clog up whatever channels it goes through.
Fuel stabilizer is amazing. Full Tank with stabilizer will last two years at least. I use in my much larger thrower (yours is so cute!) Lawn tractors, weed wackers, lawn mowers, chainsaws, who knows what else. Oh my sports cars when they hibernate in winter. Never had an issue! Do a video on octane and really upset the masses!
I also heard, and had good experiences with it, that alkylate gasoline, also known as equipment gasoline, green gasoline or special fuel (brand: Aspen), can be stored for a long time, engines also start easily after months of standstill and it does not clog the carburetor. And the exhaust smells better (less bad) and is much less harmful to your health.
@@5roundsrapid263 Yes. Aspen is well known and advertised here in Switzerland and probably throughout Europe. Of course, there are also many brands of alkylate gasoline here, including brands from hardware stores and power tool manufacturers such as Husqvarna. In my experience, two-stroke engines in particular run problem-free and reliably with alkylate gasoline after a long standstill.
The problem with those fuels is that they cost a small fortune compared to gasoline, not a big problem for a home owner but if you use the equipment every day it becomes very costly. That said, it works so well and keeps the carburetors clean that Husqvarna gives a 5 year warranty if you buy their engineered fuel with a new weed wacker, they know if you use this, you'll never have a warranty claim on the engine because the spark arrestor and the carburetor will not be clogged.
@@OlivierCaron Agreed, alkylate fuel is currently twice as expensive as normal fuel here in Switzerland, in the past normal fuel was even three times cheaper. (In Switzerland, a five-liter container of alkylate gasoline costs around 20 Swiss francs, which is about US$ 16 per gallon.) I have used alkylate gasoline for a small outboard motor and a chainsaw, which were rarely used. I've never had sooty spark plugs or a clogged carburetor again.
I keep a few big jerry cans around with spare gas, just in case its handy. I like to rotate and refill them yearly if it doesn't get used sooner, but that stretches to two sometimes. Never had an issue with the fuel even after 2 years, which is what stabil claims its good for. I'm always mindful to keep the stabil in date too, according to the label that 2 year clock starts when you open the container the first time, not when you add it to fuel (and they helpfully add a line to the back for you to write down that date). Maybe gas keeps better than people think, but I think after 2 years stabil must be doing something
Do this with my generator. I keep two 5-gallon gas cans with Stabil in them. Once a season (fall/spring), I use one and refill it with gas and stabilizer. I'll also run the generator once a year to charge the battery, and get some fresh stabilized fuel through it. I use stabilizer at the last run of the season for all my equipment, and come spring, it all starts up with no issue. As a side bar, my brother-in-law would buy a new weed trimmer every year, because it wouldn't run right in spring. I told him about this, and he stopped buying a new trimmer once a year. $5 saved him $100+ a year. Good deal if you ask me.
It's actually not the fuel that's the problem, it's the "varnish" that precipitates out of it that gunks up everything. You're probably safe using REALLY old unstabilized fuel out of a can, as long as you don't slosh it around and you leave the last bit in the can. The last dregs will be the stuff you don't want clogging up your fuel system.
As a small engine mechanic I can confirm that stabilizer is the way to go, coupled with high test gas. And you must run the engine on the stabilized gas before you put it away
i think there is a third camp: those who go in search of ethanol free gas, and only put that into their machines, so they don't rust. Great video as usual!
Always wondered how a snow blower worked. It's basically a lawnmower then, just for snow! If it was a lawnmower it would fail by blowing the grass back over the lawn. Very interesting 🤔
I've had positive results both ways. If you store it in a good dry location (garage) you are fine. If you have to store it outside the day/night temperature swings (especially in the spring and fall) cause condensation on the cold engine and moisture gets into the carb. 2 cycle gas (and engines) store much better due to the protection from the oil, (I know yours is a 4 stroke) My aunt has an older 2 stroke snowblower shaped like this and I started it last month after it had been sitting for 4 years since I gave it to her! There's no way it would have fired right up if it were a 4 stroke, that carb would have been a mess. One thing I miss about living in a suburban area was all the lawn equipment i'd get for free every spring that just needed a carb cleaning. In the rural town I am in now no one throws stuff away that easily!
I have way more trouble with 2-stroke carbs than 4-stroke, because the 2-stroke carbs are usually the diaphragm operated kind, and once the gaskets harden up they stop working. I've always heard that Ethanol in the fuel is harder on small engines because it hardens rubber compounds and scores the cylinders (?) but I've never tried getting non-ethanol gas to test this myself.
The guy I bought my snow thrower from said the turn the gas feed off and run the carburetor dry every time I use it. I agree with Stabile, but most years I never get around to adding it, so I'll mix fresh gas in the tank. I never thought of starting it before the first snow. Good tip. Thanks.
I recall needing two of those before I moved south. One about that size for most snows, and then 'the big metal beast' for anything over 6" or so, or especially 'crunchy.'
I'm a big fan of electric gizmos and doo-dads for home and lawn and such. Having grown up fighting with a traditional gas lawnmower that not even the whole of a high school shop class could make run any better, having features like "always starts on first try" and "low-end torque that never dies" on things like a lawnmower or a snowblower, it's ... obvious. Especially if you don't mind corded because then you don't lose that top-end power. But ... yes, having grown up suffering the whims of gasoline, fuel stabilizers always worked fine for me, even if I'm happier as an adult to ditch that for electric. I also can't wait to see what the latest EV battery innovations will do to upgrade these middle-ground monsters of small engine variety ... some year.
I find that the battery powered lawn equipment is actually more powerful than the corded ones. The tradeoff is that they're an ungodly weight. Not a big deal for a mower but when you've got a weedeater, the heft is significant. That being said I still really like my cordless electric weedeater. The gas ones seem to only last me like one year and the corded ones aren't powerful enough to use with my edger attachment.
Small engine mechanic here and all those fancy features on the new stuff are junk, autochoke takes away all choke control, carb jets are unadjustable for emissions, lack of manual throttle control, etc. this is why i just personally stick with yard equipment from the 1930s-60s since its all adjustable, easily maintained and dead simple to figure out, on top of that good luck ever killing say a 1940s cast iron Wisconsin AKN, aint happening
Funny cuz I threw out my electric lawn equipment this year and upgraded to gas powered stuff. They all absolutely ripped through batteries and now I just toss some gas in it and I'm up and running. Worst offenders was the battery powered leaf blower.
I'm using a 40v ryobi multihead to cut, edge, and blow-clean the lawn afterwards(multihead so it's all powered by the same motor with a TON of mileage on it). A lot of the attachments have their own ports for easy re-greasing and reassembly. So yeah, regular disassembly and maintanence just like a piece of gas equipment. Only there's no finicky gas engine to "engage in negotiations" with. --Our house was finished in 2012 so the ryobi is like nine or ten years old at this point. //corrections
Well maybe you didn't have the right gas lawnmowers, cause as far as I've had experience with them, they are way more powerful. However, I go myself a Ryobi 42cm wide brushless battery powered lawnmower this year, to (a) make it possible for wife/daughter to mow if needed, (b) to make mowing quieter, and (c) to mow in narrower spaces where my 60cm wide has mower won't fit. I can say it fares well, with sufficient power, lighter construction, the only problems I see is that batteries are super expensive and quite bulky and heavy. I might want to try a battery powered snowblower (for same reasons, manuverability and less maintenance) but the ones I've seen so far haven't impressed me that much, though there is progress. Also do not forget that that lithium batteries don't quite like cold weather.
I am not at all surprised this guy is the type of person that not only tells us how much he saved on the purchase but then starts a snowblower early in the morning and lets the neighbor hear his cheapness.
Despite also being a Midwesterner, I've never used or owned a snow blower before. I suppose the main reason for that is that a member of the family has a big snowplow they put on their truck. But there have been a few times where I've had to shovel the driveway, by myself, multiple times a season. And let me tell you, even shoveling a modestly sized driveway is a pain in the rear
Yup. In the mountains in the rockies, you either have, or know someone who has, a plow. Or you just shovel it yourself. The only blowers i've seen have been operated by the city, at places like the courthouse, parks, nursing homes, and schools.
Huh, I have never used stabilizer (or even knew it was a thing) or intentionally ran my lawnmower dry at the end of the season. I never had a problem. Growing up I don't remember my dad doing either to the myriad of small engine devices we had. So glad to be 100% electric at this point. Thankfully my driveway is much shorter and my extension cord powered snow thrower works fine the 0-3 times I need to use it each season.
@@lucky43113 I loaned my 82 year old, 2-cycling loving grandfather (still super active) my cordless trimmer and now he has gone totally electric on everything but his mower.
Ah, interesting I'd never heard of fuel stabiliser before. I'm in the UK and our gasoline has only just changed to 10% ethanol, I wonder if this will become more of an issue going forward.
It doesn't magically become not an issue because you live far away lol. Yes, ethanol gas will gum. Gumming can cause headaches for systems. Learn how to deal with it and you'll be fine.
@@jada90 Ethanol is definitely a problem for sitting around in small engines, when I've had to disassemble the carb and clean it, I always find a green colored jelly solid.
I guess it depends on where you live in the midwest if you have a snowblower. In Ohio, my family never had one. In Minnesota, we definitely needed one. You could definitely rank each state by how necessary snowblowers are.
You must not have been in the Cleveland area. I’m not even in the snow belt and I get 3-4 blizzards of 4-6 inches each year. Snow belt will get 8-12” when I get 4-6”. Columbus? Never snows. But ODOT prioritizes their plows and salt trucks.
We have electric everything at our house and I cannot express how nice it is. We've built up an army of batteries and fast chargers so even on intense outdoor work days we never run out. I hate small engine maintenance and it's nice to not have to worry about it.
I live in Western Maryland and my Harley and my push mower hibernate. I know I should use stabilizer, but never had an issue. Bike is 2009 with fuel injection and the mower is only a couple years old. Come spring, they both start up fine. The bike gets its yearly oil change and a dose of fuel system cleaner. Mower gets fresh gas added, along with some cleaner, too. They both will burn off the old gas quickly enough
Do you have ethanol-free (E0) fuel available by you? It will be better for your engine as ethanol will degrade any rubber hoses or parts of the engine over time, and will allow you to be able to do away with fuel stabilizer altogether. I'm in the western suburbs of Chicago, and I typically need to make a run to Rochelle to be able to purchase that fuel and stock up for the season.
Or you could do what most people do and not bother with either. If the carb bungs up a bit, you'll have some extra priming and pulling with the throttle wide open, but it'll probably pull enough fuel through to start eventually and will sort itself out once you get some fresh fuel running through it. Plenty of small engine machines are routinely left for over a year at work and I think only once have I had to squirt fresh fuel into a carb to get the engine going. Of course, if you've got a fuel valve, it's definitely sensible to close it when you're not using it.
@@mjc0961 It's, at worst, a couple minutes to squirt fuel into the carb. But my point is that it so rarely causes much of an issue that it doesn't seem worth it to take either preventative action.
That's a cute tiny snowblower. :) I drain the carb of all my small engines (snowblower, generator, chainsaws, lawn mower) when they won't be used for a while, but not the tanks if there is a valve. Also I ALWAYS use 91 octane ethanol free gas with stabiliser. I've had to rebuild enough carbs due to ethanol fouling in the past). BTW surging at idle is likely to be your carb jet starting to be fouled... (I just took care of that problem on my dad's snowblower last week).
@@thatspiderbyte Yes, tiny. That looks to be a single-stage blower, walk-behind, and it isn't even self-propelled. There are two and three stage blowers, self-propelled options, wider and taller intakes, and yes, riding versions. There are blowers that mount to tractors, trucks, and front-end loaders. Depending on where you live, snow-removal can be a very big deal.
Yeah. I'm a Dad, probably older than yours. I learned from my Dad. I grew up in McHenry County, Il, and now live in Minnesota. We have gas powered lawn mower & snow blower. The lawn mower is Meh, but the snow blower is awesome. I used to have a 200 ft, 15% driveway, and the snow blower is tracked. I bought it used. I've had to replace the fuel shutoff, and change the oil. Every spring, we shut the fuel off, and burn it out of the carburetor and put Sta-Bil in the fuel tank. Every late autumn, I put Sea-Foam in the fuel tank (cleaner) and start the thing up. No problems. We do the opposite with the lawn mower. Also used. Yeah, 11% is a dead giveaway to a Midwesterner that you saved Big money! Keep it up, I liked this no-effort. Caffeine deprivation seems to turn you fatalistic.
I followed the advice of draining the tank on my snowblower, mower etc and making the carb dry and learnt the hard way that this will dry our your seals. It might not be year one, but it happens quickly doing this. Since then, its either ethanol blend gas with stabilizer or a non-ethanol gas and a pretty full tank to avoid less air in the tank for oxidization and gas aging.
I've had good luck with Sta-Bil as well, but I've also seen what kind of havoc and frustration a gummed-up carb can do. For equipment you KNOW you'll use seasonally and refill with fresh gas at least once a year it's probably fine. But for things like generators that you might use much more infrequently, best to drain the carb.
Yeah. There's also a safety thing. If you need your lawnmower, and it breaks, you have an unkempt yard for a few weeks. If you need your generator, and it breaks, you'd best hope the power comes back on before your food expires / your meds expire / you overheat / your boss fires you for not logging into your computer. If you need your motor vehicle, and it breaks, you'd best hope you can get by with delivery until the tow truck shows up.
With my dad, we never drain the fuel, we simply just start it. Perhaps we should stabilize it or drain it, but it seems to work okay, especially with a little extra fuel. 😅
Quality ethanol free gas works fine. I'm in lawn care professionally and never have a problem. No ethanol though. Don't drain the tank, don't add stabilizer. And never had a problem in the spring.
Yeah, maybe it's somehow bad, but with some fresh fuel in the tank along with the old fuel, everything seems fine? I have yet to stabilize either my lawn mower or my snow blower over the unused season and both are fine... so far!
@@pixels_ for me I don't have problems. My old snow blowers are from the late 60's and early 70's along with a Japanese made Honda. The Honda always starts great. And my old Ariens? 3-4 pulls every fall. And off they go.
@@pixels_ I will add, steel tanks I do prefer empty or full as a half full tank can condensate and rust. But my old Honda cl350 usually isn't stored empty or full and has a clean tank.
I have a push mower with a Honda engine. I've owned it for about 11 years and I've just been putting 89 gas in there without a stabilizer and it started on first pull every spring. I've cleaned the carburetor once, but now I don't even do that. Just run it with the choke closed quarter of the way one mow session and the extra pressure cleans it out on its own.
I was a landscaper for 10 years. We never drained our equipment at the end of the season. Knowing we would be using it again in only a few months the gas would be fine. Gas that is 8 months old should be fine on it's own. After a year I'd want to use that gas up. I think Project Farm did a fuel stabilizer test. Taryl Fixes All has an ongoing fuel stabilizer test. His conclusion is fuel stabilizer is snake oil. The stuff seems to gel up in the bowl as it absorbs moisture.
For both of the Taryl Fixes All Extended and Short Term Stabilizer Tests... I'd disagree that they "all" are Snake Oil. While the short term (5 months Winter Storage, Not Run) test actually showed "All" the Engines Starting... The original goal of the tests were to confirm if the stabilizers were providing any Ethanol protection/reducing gum varnish, etc... When checking the Carb Bowls there was evidence that the Control E10 87 Octane Base Fuel and some other additives couldn't stay clear without forming a gel or showing debris (but not all did, including Stabil 360 which was the last standing Ethanol Fuel Additive still showing good start/running characteristics even as it was run 7 months past its suggested (up to 12 months protection) and was finally breaking down....
For my whole life: I have never used fuel stabilizer or drained the engine. Same thing for my father. (I'm not sure about his father.) I have never had any problems with either lawn mowers or snow throwers not starting at the beginning of the season.
I've had the same lawn mower for 7 years now, it's a Briggs and Stratton engine. I have never used fuel stabilizer, never drained the gas. The gas sits in the small can until I need it, it starts every spring without issue. I'm convinced fuel stabilizer is a marketting gimmic. It's also an engine that specifically states to not drain the oil, just add more if it gets low. Located northern Canada.
I've had my snowblower for 13 years now. At the end of winter I just leave the gas in, and at the start of winter I just top off the tank with fuel before starting it. Probably not the smartest way to do it, but hey its worked thus far with no issues every year.
I agree, stabilizer worked for me for 14 years in a 2 stroke snowblower. I have switched this year to an eGo electric model, as the old model needed some work and it wasn’t worth the cost to have it done professionally. I gave it to a friend who was competent to do the repairs needed himself.
I used to run my snowblower and Lawn Mower dry before I put them away each season, but then I heard people talk about dry rot of the gas lines. I experienced that on an old snowblower, but it was a really old snowblower so I could have just been from that. Ever since then, before I put it away each year, I add some stayBil directly to the gas tank of the motor and then fill it up with gas. I then run it for a couple minutes so the gas can start circulating through the system and then I put it away. I've always had no problems starting things up the next time I needed them.
I got ele. Snow Blower last year ( I can't pull start ANYTHING) and 2, 50' cords, 1 from the house Towards the coop and the other from the barn/coop towards the house. I just need a path from house to coop. I go as far as the first cord then switch to the second cord and follow it back to the coop. My late husband used sti-bul in all his toys, morrows, tractors, chain saws, leaf blowers, weed whipper. If you don't run it dry, you must save YOUR tool with stil-bil.
I use high-octane fuel for both the lawn mower and my motorcycle. I live in Europe so high-octane is 100 octane. Fill the tank to the brim (or as safe) with high-octane fuel and make sure it gets thru the engine (run the engine) and there's no need to use stabilizer. The lawnmower lasted 16 years (same Briggs engine).
In own midwest US experience so long as you use non-ethanol gas (which is key) in lawn equipment there is no need to drain the tank between seasons. It's more important to store the equipment in a dry place while not in use. Earlier this fall I used my 4 cycle gas powered lawn edger for the first time since spring of 2019. It started on the 5th pull and ran just fine on mostly 2019 gas.
I also have been doing the double dose of Stabil on my 5 small engines (lawn mower, snowblower, generator, chainsaw and large backpack leaf blower) for close to 20 years now. I guess I too am lucky, and as I have had no problems whatsoever.
This video's great because its almost exactly the type of conversation I have with my parents neighbors almost every year at this time whenever I go over and help them with yard/driveway care stuff
