# Newbie off-season



## fredct (Jan 9, 2017)

So I've been searching around, both on here and on the wider Internet, about what to do for off-season storage. Particularly with regards to gas, oil change, and other maintenance.
Gas wise, I think I get the idea that there are two schools of thought regarding leaving at full with stabilizer or running until empty. I have a Cub Cadet and both the blower manual and the engine manual tell me to run it until empty so I guess I'm leaning that way. I have kept stabilizer in it all along because with this low snow season I've had the same can since December, but I lean towards following the manual for warranty purposes if nothing else.
Question 1: However I have a semi-related question. It seems I should do the oil change at the beginning of the off-season, yes? No one seems to address that perhaps because it's so obvious to anyone who knows what they're talking about , but I'll ask anyway. Part of me wonders if it would it make more sense to do the oil change in the fall so next year I'm running with newer oil. I know for cars they say to do in oil change every several months even without a lot of miles because oil can go bad over time. But that doesn't apply here?
Question 2: The reason that is related is because my manual says I have to run until empty in order to do a oil change where I have to tip the blower. If I have to do an oil change at the end of the season, and I have to run until empty to do an oil change, I may as well probably just leave it empty in the off-season. Do those people who leave it full in the off-season not do an oil change before the off-season? Or do they fill it the gas back up afterwards? Or they do their units not require an empty tank to do an oil change?
Question 3: my manual talks about putting half an ounce or so of oil in the spark plug slot for the off-season. Is that just the same motor oil as for the engine? Do I have to wait it out in the fall before I start the blower? Or is it safe to leave in there?
Thanks for your insights for this noob!
Fred


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

I run the carb bowl empty. Mine has a fuel shutoff between the tank and carb, so I close that and run the carb empty. I always use stabilized gas, even during the snow season. The season can end suddenly, and it's cheap insurance. 

1: Change at the end of the usage season. That way the dirty, acidic oil is out of the machine when it's sitting around. 

2: I don't need to empty my tank to change the oil, nor do I need to tip it. So I can't really answer this. (I didn't realize some machines need to be topped for an oil change) 

3: Yup, normal motor oil. Just a little bit. With the engine set to off (key out, throttle down, etc), I'd pull the cord to spread the oil in the cylinder. Then start it normally in the fall.


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## 524SWE (Jan 20, 2017)

I always change at the end of the season too, in the spring. I've got a Cub Cadet and change the oil with it sitting level in my shop. The only time I tip the snowblower up on the bucket where the augers are is when I work on the drive area where the friction disc is. Then yes it is necessary to have half a tank or less of gas.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

Drain/siphon the tank down so you don't have to run it excessively to run it out of gas and change the oil at the end of the season. Use some engine oil in the cylinder or use a "Fogging" oil spray in there. Grease or oil any moving parts.


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## Bror Jace (Jan 13, 2015)

In addition to the above, I would use MMO or 2-stroke oil (TCW3) for oiling the cylinder for the off-season. It should burn off more cleanly next winter than motor oil .... especially synthetic.

I use a different spark plug (the B&S plug) when storing the machine ... then reinstall my newer NGK once I start the machine up and blow all the oil out of it. 

Yes, change the oil if the machine has seen over 25 hours of use. I use HDEO oils so they combat the byproducts of combustion (that form acids in your crankcase) better than regular motor oils. I'll have less than 20 hours on my machine this winter ... will skip the oil change this spring and simply store it.

WASH THE MACHINE. Get all the salt off it ... and for some reason, my machine is covered with mud as well. Let it dry THOROUGHLY and wipe down all the unpainted metal surfaces you can reach with an oily rag. Lube all the moving parts with a squirt of oil as well.

Spray the tires down with tire dressing (Armor All, etc ...) to prevent dry-rot. I can't imagine you will wear out the tires ... but dry rot is a serious possibility after a dozen years depending on where the beast is stored during the off season.

Break out the manual and look up all the zerk grease fittings and give each a few pumps of grease. Pull out your shear pins, spin your auger fins back and forth to distribute the grease inside the tubes so they don't seize together. Give those zerks a few extra pumps of grease as well. Reinstall the shear pins.


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## fredct (Jan 9, 2017)

I must have misread the manual because I looked again and there's nothing about draining the gas before an oil change. I must have confused topics. That's better.
I'm still leaning towards running the engine to empty because the tiebreaker is what the manual says.

To follow up on my oil change question, I know car manuals typically tell you to change every 6 months. That's probably conservative I guess. I should really have no concern on putting in new oil that will sit there for 7-8 months and then be used possibly for another 4-5 before I change it again?


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## Bror Jace (Jan 13, 2015)

*fredct,* you need not drain your gas before an oil change. You should use or drain your fuel before you tip your machine up and onto it's mouth/nose for _other _services. Oil changes on a snow blower are the easiest ... as long as you have a tube that extends from the back of the engine. Just loosen the cap, catch the draining oil, replace the cap and refill.

No need to worry about leaving fresh oil sitting in your machine. It does not age or spoil. Once the engine is broken in, I recommend changes every 25-50 hours. You can keep track of each time you use it (like I do) or just make an educated guess come spring.


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## tpenfield (Feb 24, 2015)

Well, I forgot to read the manual . . .

So, I just change the oil whenever I feel like it.

For the fuel, I run a bit of stabilizer and for the layup, I add some 2-cycle oil to the gas and run the engine for a while to essentially 'fog' the the intake and cylinder with oil. That is a procedure that I copied from my boat engines (7.4 L MPI sterndrives)

The little instruction tag that I got with my Briggs & Stratton 305cc said "Do not add oil to the gas" . . . OK, but they didn't say why. I hate it when they tell you to do something, but don't say why. I usually like to know why I am doing a certain thing. 

I assume the instruction is because the engine is a 4 stroke not a 2 stroke, but one can only assume,

Anyway, I just changed the oil on all of my blower engines, so that will be it until next year, and I will run 2-cycle oil in the gas (about 5%) to fog them for the layup.

Whatever gas is in the tank can stay there, but I prefer empty vs. full.


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## RIT333 (Feb 6, 2014)

Bror Jace said:


> Once the engine is broken in, I recommend changes every 25-50 hours. You can keep track of each time you use it (like I do) or just make an educated guess come spring.


Wow - for me that would be every few years, at best. I change my oil at the end of each Winter. I figure that $3-4 per year is a good investment. And, I use synthetic.


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

tpenfield said:


> For the fuel, I run a bit of stabilizer and for the layup, I add some 2-cycle oil to the gas and run the engine for a while to essentially 'fog' the the intake and cylinder with oil. That is a procedure that I copied from my boat engines (7.4 L MPI sterndrives)


That's an interesting approach, I'd never thought about that. Though to be honest, I never fog my engines at the end of the season, nor do I bother to rotate them by hand until both valves are closed. Now, maybe I *should* do that, I just haven't, and I have not noticed any issues (eg- grinding when trying to start the engine next season)  But of course, sometimes we only stay lucky for so long. Most of my small engines live in the garage, but the tractor is under the deck, covered. 



> The little instruction tag that I got with my Briggs & Stratton 305cc said "Do not add oil to the gas" . . . OK, but they didn't say why. I hate it when they tell you to do something, but don't say why. I usually like to know why I am doing a certain thing.


I can absolutely relate to this. If a "don't do it" warning is because it's just extra hassle for the user, that's one thing. But if a "don't do it" is because I'm going to cause serious damage to something, that's very different. I prefer to be able to make my own, informed, decisions. 



> I assume the instruction is because the engine is a 4 stroke not a 2 stroke, but one can only assume,


I think that's a good guess. 

5% oil is a 20:1 mix, which is a pretty heavy concentration of oil, if you were running it in a modern 2-stroke (I'd say 32:1 or 40:1 would be more common now). But that "extra" oil should help coat the internals, especially if you go to full throttle, turn the choke on Full (so you pull in lots of fuel), and then kill the ignition (so that you're not actually burning the beneficial oil). 

Unfortunately, this would leave the carb bowl full. I guess you could close the fuel shutoff, and wait 'till the engine just starts to sputter, then quickly turn the choke on, and kill the ignition. The bowl would be almost empty, but you'd have drawn unburned fuel into the engine. 

RIT333, changing it every season is almost certainly overkill, but definitely won't hurt anything. Like you said, the cost is moderate, even with synthetic. I typically change mine more like every other season. 

I put an hour meter on my blower after the end of the 2014-2015 season. If the meter has been working correctly (I think it was periodically resetting itself at one point), then I've put 7 hours on it in the last 2 seasons. Now, my driveway is not that big, and these were light winters. But still, I'm certainly not racking up 30 hours in a season, or anything like that. 

25 hours seems to be a fairly common oil change interval suggestion for engines like these, which don't have oil filters. Synthetic helps the oil keep its good properties longer, but unfiltered oil can still accumulate metal particles, etc, and the synthetic can't fix that aspect.


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## fredct (Jan 9, 2017)

RIT333 said:


> Bror Jace said:
> 
> 
> > Once the engine is broken in, I recommend changes every 25-50 hours. You can keep track of each time you use it (like I do) or just make an educated guess come spring.
> ...


Right that's why I said it's be a year before I change it again. My manual says every 50 hours and I can do my driveway in about an hour, maybe a bit under. I guess a huge snow might take somewhat longer. But I'm in NJ not Minnesota or upstate NY here. With he warm dry winter I barely got in 2 hours this first year. Having dozen blowable snows would be on the upper end. I can barely imagine exceeding 25 hours nevermind 50.

Thanks for the feedback. I guess a year is fine so I'll let the calendar turn to April probably and then burn off the tank and change the oil.


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## Bror Jace (Jan 13, 2015)

_"25 hours seems to be a fairly common oil change interval suggestion for engines like these, which don't have oil filters. Synthetic helps the oil keep its good properties longer, but unfiltered oil can still accumulate metal particles, etc, and the synthetic can't fix that aspect"_

Exactly. The gold standard for snowblower engine oil has been a 5W30 synthetic for at least a decade now. The manufacturers want the cold-flow ability of the synthetic ... but it will get contaminated with metal bits just like any other oil ... and you don't want to leave them circulating in your sump for a long time (which some synthetic producers and users promote). 

If a 5W30 synthetic is the Gold Standard ... then I use the "Platinum Standard" ... Chevron Delo 0W30 HDEO. You get the cold-flow ability of 0W30 along with the acid-fighting ability of an HDEO (gas or diesel engine oil). You want overkill? I give you the nectar of the god of overkill!  I just can't recommend this stuff for any sane person. It's expensive and almost impossible to find. In fact, I often refer to it as "Yeti Blood."

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee149/BrorJace/Oil%20Analysis/Chevron_Delo_0W-30_large.jpg

Once I use up what I currently have, I will move on to something a lil' more sensible ... honest I will 

For normal people who store their blower in a garage that gets at least a little residual heat, I think the best choice is this stuff:

http://r2.forconstructionpros.com/f...x9/1280x720/Shell_ROTELLAT5.57e2f006d7cb8.jpg 

It's a 10W30, synthetic blend HDEO. Should be OK for temps down to about the freezing point while being robust enough to resist burning off with hard use. The HDEO qualities also help neutralize acids if you store it for a long time after having skipped an oil annual oil change now 'n then. Lastly it's cheap: 4 quarts for well under $20.

Yes, with mild winters, we can see just a few, perhaps several hours of use of our machines before the Sun God Ra returns with his warming glow and makes us put them away. HOWEVER, some people use snowblowers as part of their business and they could see 50 hours in a winter ... easy! I try to give advice that encompasses the range of forum participants.


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## RickDangerous (Mar 27, 2017)

Great thread, very helpful as a new snowblower owner. So if I do the below I should be good:

1. End of season oil change

2. Put sta-bil in gas, run for a few minutes.

3. Close gas line, run blower until it runs itself dry

4. Place in storage, in fall, turn on gas, choke, prime, start blower, run for a five minutes.

Am I missing anything? Thanks!


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## RIT333 (Feb 6, 2014)

Yep - step #4 (for this procedure) should be In the Fall, start the Blower !

But, step 4 is correct for your mower !

Oh, wash it down to get rid of the salt, wax it (optional), grease the auger - if you have zerk fittings (after removing the sheer pins) and then rotate the auger and replace the sheer pins. and grease the transmission if you can, and also grease the axle shafts after removing the tires.


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## stromr (Jul 20, 2016)

as they said:




We may not have filters on most of our small engines but the idea's the same, oil is cheap, parts are not!


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## Bror Jace (Jan 13, 2015)

Rick,
Like RIT333 stated, be sure to wash the salt off your machine and hit all the zerk fittings with some grease. Those are the minimum additions to what you already said in your post.

I tried my link to the "Yeti Blood" picture above and it didn't work. Second attempt:

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee149/BrorJace/Oil Analysis/Chevron_Delo_0W-30_large.jpg


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## Tony P. (Jan 9, 2017)

There's some really good information and choices here. My two cents:

The main reason for changing oil in a snow blower is contamination - bits of metal, dirt and other stuff getting into the oil over time. 
From my perspective, spending $3 on a (full synthetic) oil change is nothing on a $1,000 machine so I do it annually as a precaution.
Since oil contamination is the reason for changing the oil, you want to get all the contaminents out. The only way to do that well is to run the engine for 3-4 minutes to get everthing into suspension. Otherwise the contaminants are dispersed throughout the engine and some will remain after draining. This means running the engine dry after changing the oil.
If you have more than a very small amount of gas in the tank, siphon the gas first. Running the engine for a long time to empty the tank is not a good idea.


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## Tony P. (Jan 9, 2017)

RickDangerous said:


> Great thread, very helpful as a new snowblower owner. So if I do the below I should be good:
> 
> 1. End of season oil change
> 
> ...


It's important to protect your engine during off-season with a coating of oil. You can do that by fogging - and there's plenty of information on how that's done. Alternatively, you can add a tablespoon or so of motor oil at the spark plug, turn the engine over a few times with some easy pulls, and return the spark plug.


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## Bror Jace (Jan 13, 2015)

*Tony P*, above you said:

_"Since oil contamination is the reason for changing the oil, you want to get all the contaminants out. The only way to do that well is to run the engine for 3-4 minutes to get everything into suspension. Otherwise the contaminants are dispersed throughout the engine and some will remain after draining. This means running the engine dry after changing the oil."_

I am not sure I follow you. You aren't advising people to run the machine after the oil has been drained, are you?


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## GoBlowSnow (Sep 4, 2015)

Folks- seriously- it really doesn't matter if you change the oil now, or if you decide to wait and do it at the beginning of next season. I have 30+ year old machines that run just fine where the oil has been left in for over 4 years and the machines continue to run juuuuuuuuuust fine.


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## Tony P. (Jan 9, 2017)

Bror Jace said:


> *Tony P*, above you said:
> 
> _"Since oil contamination is the reason for changing the oil, you want to get all the contaminants out. The only way to do that well is to run the engine for 3-4 minutes to get everything into suspension. Otherwise the contaminants are dispersed throughout the engine and some will remain after draining. This means running the engine dry after changing the oil."_
> 
> I am not sure I follow you. You aren't advising people to run the machine after the oil has been drained, are you?


Well, no. I'm not suggesting running the engine ever without oil. That would be a no-no. What I said was:


> This means running the engine dry after changing the oil.


So, 1. Run engine to get everything into suspension, 2. Change oil, 3. Siphon excess gas, 4. Run engine to empty.


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