Fuel Saving Tips

Small Engine Fuel Storage Tips

The use of a fuel stabilizer will help improve the likelihood that when you need your lawn mower, weed eater, chain saw or snow blower after a long term storage, that the engine will start. The fuel stabilizer will keep the gasoline from breaking down and gumming up your carburetor and fuel lines during long term storage.

Usually one ounce of fuel tabilizer will treat 2.5 gallons of fuel. For winter storage this will probably fill all of your small engines for storage. The stabilizer will probably treat 1-15 gallons of fuel depending upon the size of bottle stabilizer you buy. It does not hurt to run stabilizer through the engine in the late fall for the final lawn mowing or edging that you are doing. That way when the snow falls, you have the stabilizer in the engine already doing its job. The bottle will probably go bad before you use the entire stabilizer that you purchase. Usually the shelf life is about 3 years for the concentrated stabilizer.

Some things you may not know about the fuel you purchase:

• Ethanol-based fuels attract moisture, which eventually separate from the fuel.
• A layer of ethanol-enriched water forms at the bottom of the tank, which is highly corrosive for engine parts
• Gum and varnish forms as the fuel breaks down, resulting in stuck intake valves, clogged fuel line and carburetor jets
• Fuel can go stale in 30 days or less