# Storing thrower, outside vs inside advice



## jranaudo (Jan 25, 2015)

What does everyone think about storing the thrower outside vs inside? I have limited room and am thinking I can store it outside under a decent canvas tarp. 

Would this end up causing more rust or damage vs storing inside a shed? 

Any thoughts on this would be welcome. 

Thanks!


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

I have no experience storing outside, but I think you would want to do a couple things to help out. One would be get some blocks and/or an old pallet to keep it off the ground and the other would make sure the tarp can breathe. Basic plastic tarps can trap in moisture and humidity.

Do you have enough land for an extra shed or small outbuilding? There are a couple threads on here about free and cheap sheds if you don't mind doing some work.


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## jranaudo (Jan 25, 2015)

yea looking into some sheds too.


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## Spectrum (Jan 6, 2013)

Condensation and nesting critters are your enemies. You want a secure storage space. If you can't get it indoors consider building some sort of "dog house" and include adequate ventilation for drying and fume escape.


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## GustoGuy (Nov 19, 2012)

Garage and sheds is the only places I store mine. The sun destroys the paint on your machine and the elements will cause lots of rust to occur even in a very short time. The nicest stuff you will find has always been stored indoors.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

I would go with spectrum's idea of building a dog house. one of the toro 521's I got has a bad auger gear so I stored it outside under a tarp and now it won't roll so I've created more work


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

IMHO Unless it's already a 50-75 dollar blower leaving it outside over the summer will turn it into one. Paint fade, rust and corrosion, critters gnawing on the plug wire, belts ... and nesting in the transmission.
Do you know that you can store it up on it's auger (service position) so it takes up less room ??


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

My first car was a 1981 Mustang:










Bought it used in '88, when I was 19.
drove it all through college and a few years after..I LOVED that car! 
In the early 90's it was time to take it off the road..high mileage, over 10 years old,
and many things starting to go wrong..so it was time to get a new car.

I thought I would try to keep the Mustang, maybe restore it someday..
I had no place to store it indoors..so I parked it in my parents back yard, off
in a corner, and covered it up with tarps..

The rain couldn't get through the top..but lots of moisture also couldn't escape from
the bottom..the tarps basically turned the car into a big humid rain forest moisture bubble..
Five years later, it was a pile of rust and had to be hauled away to that great
junkyard in the sky..it was in MUCH worse shape than it was when I parked it, even while covered..

Tarps are fine if you need to keep the snowblower outside overnight, and its going to rain or snow..
short-term coverage, no more than a week. but otherwise they are actually pretty bad for long-term outdoor storage..
they keep the moisture IN..nearly as bad as not being covered at all.

Pete's "doghouse" would be the much better way to go..

Scot


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

If you have to space to build a small lean to shed on the side of your garage o r back of the house, that'd be the way to go. I've seen way too many machines reduced to piles of useless rust due to tarped storage. And don't just shove it under the deck either unless you can get it off the ground.


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## jranaudo (Jan 25, 2015)

thanks for the replies folks. Inside storage in my future!


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## jrom (Jan 10, 2014)

A couple of times over the years I've had to store a lawn tractor and lawn mower outside over the winter when I didn't have a shed, so I laid a tarp down on the ground, drove the tractor on top, pushed the mower next to it, then built a crude lean-to of firewood poles (no more than 6" diam. at the bottom and 10' to 15' long), then two tarps over the top. Tied it down, put another couple of poles on top for wind and kept some ventilation slots open where the two tarps overlap.

Mice did build some nests in a couple of spots, but no damage done.

I didn't have any problems with rust. I just hate having to keep machinery outside and hopefully I'll never have to do this again.


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

I don't have a shed, or a great place to put one. So my lawn tractor lives under my deck, with a tarp over it. 

Not ideal, I know  But better than being simply exposed, I guess. It's not sealed around the tarp or anything, maybe that lets it breathe slightly. 

The deck is 8-10' off the ground, so I have plenty of height to move around under it. But building some form of permanent shelter under the deck seems like it would look weird


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