# Snowblower operation & gas storage



## GoshenSnow (Oct 27, 2014)

We just received our first snowfall (WV). When I came home with a full gas can, my wife asked some questions, and I realized I was not 100% sure of the answer. 

The gas can (with Stabil) & snowblower (26", 8Hp MTD) are kept in an unheated garage. 

Question # 1: The night before I use the snowblower, should I move the gas can into a heated garage to improve starting or operating performance, or is this a stupid question?

Question # 2: The night before I use the snowblower, should I move the snowblower into the heated garage to improve starting or operating performance?

Thank you.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

most of us keep our machines in unheated garages and have no way to warm the garage up. we start our machines up and let the engine warm up before tackling the snow


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## Normex (Feb 21, 2014)

GoshenSnow said:


> We just received our first snowfall (WV). When I came home with a full gas can, my wife asked some questions, and I realized I was not 100% sure of the answer.
> 
> The gas can (with Stabil) & snowblower (26", 8Hp MTD) are kept in an unheated garage.
> 
> ...


First welcome to the forum and there are no stupid questions and as you probably know already only the stupid not dare ask.

For your question #1: Definitively no advantage to be gained by warming gas as it is governed by its flash point temperature and not by the ambient temperature in fact it might be slightly be more denser which is a good thing.
Question #2 The engine on your snow blower is either a Tecumseh or Briggs and Stratton and they are winterized engines as you probably have a primer bulb to help in cold starts, though being in a garage where the ambient temperature is around 25 deg far and higher makes it more easy to start the engine but you will be able to judge as you use it more. 
Full choke, throttle 3/4 with 3 or 4 primer push and crank, as soon as it starts put choke at halfway point and let it warm for a minute or so then no more choke should be needed. Before starting though check oil level everytime. Good Luck and come back should you need more assistance.


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## db9938 (Nov 17, 2013)

Welcome, and do not worry about heating either. In fact, taking cold gas into a warm area, may promote condensation inside the gas can, which can introduce water into your fuel system of your machine. Just take a broom or snow brush and knock as much snow off as you can prior to storing it. I do not believe your machine came with a fuel shut off, some believe that you should shut the machine off by turning the fuel off. I lean this direction, as most of the problems that I have ever seen with intermittently used OPE, has been gummed up carbs. Shut offs can be added pretty easily, if you choose to do so. 

One thing that is advisable, do not buy much more than you think you'll need to use. And what is left, use in your car/truck within two weeks. This way, you'll never use stale gas and it's not wasted. After your first couple times using your machine, you should get a pretty good idea on how much fuel to buy.


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

Yea, I wouldn't worry. I would make sure you have gas on hand before it snows though. The snow can make going out to get the gas an adventure, plus the gas station might not have power or something.

As for warming the blower, that might actually work against you. I have always heard the blowers and shovels work better when cold. If they are warm they can melt the snow slightly and actually cause it to stick more. I don't know how true that is, but seems logical to me.


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## Pathfinder13 (Feb 28, 2014)

+1 on what Shryp said, and add that it's kept in the cold it will probably turn over quicker/start better with synthetic oil than dino oil. One more thought : maybe bring it in the garage if the garage is over 32 degrees "after" so whatever snow is left in the impeller and bucket can melt and drain off rather than freeze up solid in there, if you have that option.


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## AL- (Oct 27, 2014)

GoshenSnow said:


> We just received our first snowfall (WV). When I came home with a full gas can, my wife asked some questions, and I realized I was not 100% sure of the answer.
> 
> The gas can (with Stabil) & snowblower (26", 8Hp MTD) are kept in an unheated garage.
> 
> ...


I'm a newbie at owning a snow blower and have similar questions. 
I was at the barber shop today and the barber told he uses his electric leaf blower to blow snow and water off his machine after using it so it won't freeze solid. 
I haven't tried starting my machine in real cold temperature yet , but thought it might help the motor out if I put a 60 watt light bulb near the base of the engine to warm the oil in the crankcase on cold days. This could act like the block heater in a car. I keep my machine in a small 6x8 unheated lean-too that I built at the back side of my house.


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## db9938 (Nov 17, 2013)

The leaf blower is not a bad idea. I would be carful with the light however.


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## suspicionofignorance2 (Jan 26, 2014)

I agree, the leaf blower does sound like a very good idea....Yet the 60w light probably worthless for warmth in a very cold, open air lean-to...IMO
Also, If blower is a used purchase, I'd remove the heat box and inspect carb area..then peeking in the carb inlet, I'd push the primer couple of times and be sure I could see a good up squirt of gas in there...If not, I'd buy a can of carb spray, just in case to use as prime....You'll definitely need a prime in colder temps...reinstall box...


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## dbert (Aug 25, 2013)

They make small block heaters that would be much safer and more efficient than a light bulb. Kats-1153-Handi-Heat-Magnetic-Heater


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## scrappy (Dec 7, 2014)

A spray can of ether/starting fluid is a good thing to have on hand winter or summer.


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## crazzywolfie (Jun 2, 2014)

my snow blowers generally stay outside unprotected from the cold or snow. my gas cans usually sits in a snowbank. if you can get ethanol free gas it would be advisable. it would last longer in a can than the the stuff with ethanol and is usually better for your machine. a machine with a proper winter engine should start just fine in any cold weather. it is still advisable that you let your engine run and warm up for a minute or 2 before putting it to work just to make sure nothing brakes.


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

I tried a leaf blower...unless its really cold, below 20F, it doesn't move the snow very well..a brush works much better in my experience..


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## SnowG (Dec 5, 2014)

db9938 said:


> Welcome, and do not worry about heating either. In fact, taking cold gas into a warm area, may promote condensation inside the gas can, which can introduce water into your fuel system of your machine. Just take a broom or snow brush and knock as much snow off as you can prior to storing it. I do not believe your machine came with a fuel shut off, some believe that you should shut the machine off by turning the fuel off. I lean this direction, as most of the problems that I have ever seen with intermittently used OPE, has been gummed up carbs. Shut offs can be added pretty easily, if you choose to do so.
> 
> One thing that is advisable, do not buy much more than you think you'll need to use. And what is left, use in your car/truck within two weeks. This way, you'll never use stale gas and it's not wasted. After your first couple times using your machine, you should get a pretty good idea on how much fuel to buy.


+ 1 on what db9938 said. Also, gas stability is a big issue if you use gas that contains ethanol. If so I strongly recommend you add the fuel shut-off he mentions, to run the carb dry when you put the machine away. I also use a small siphon to empty the tank every month or so, and transfer that fuel into my car's tank. Any gas that's kept in a jug for small engines gets used within a month and I refill the jugs, adding Stabil at time of purchase. 

I've had issues with stale fuel in the past, and phase separation, and strongly recommend ethanol-free fuel. That increases reliability and storage life by a factor of at least 10-fold. If they don't sell it at the pumps in your area, look for dealers who sell Trufuel or VP Small Engine Fuel. (Expensive, but worth it IMHO). I get 5 gallon cans of VP Small Engine Fuel for about $65 in my area. Find a Dealer - VP-SEF.com - Small Engine Fuels formulated by the "Mad Scientist"™ at VP Racing Fuels!


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## crazzywolfie (Jun 2, 2014)

SnowG said:


> I've had issues with stale fuel in the past, and phase separation, and strongly recommend ethanol-free fuel. That increases reliability and storage life by a factor of at least 10-fold. If they don't sell it at the pumps in your area, look for dealers who sell Trufuel or VP Small Engine Fuel. (Expensive, but worth it IMHO). I get 5 gallon cans of VP Small Engine Fuel for about $65 in my area. Find a Dealer - VP-SEF.com - Small Engine Fuels formulated by the "Mad Scientist"™ at VP Racing Fuels!


$65 for 5 gallons of fuel? what a rip off. definitely not worth the money. you would be better off running cheap ethanol fuel and paying a mechanic to clean the carb yearly. works out to about the same.


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## Pathfinder13 (Feb 28, 2014)

I take my gas can over to the airfield near where I live it's 4.95 a gallon for ethanol-free 94 octane unleaded and worth every penny everything starts good and no water/fuel separation issues. A 5 gallon can might last me a season if it's not a particularly snowy season like this year I doubt I will go through even one 5 gallon can. High quality fuel in storage is important for my generator as well. No gunky carb problems at all. Check your local airfield.. This gas you can always dump in your vehicle if you haven't used it up within a year . stay away from the lowlead 100 octane stuff leave that for the aircraft, you do want the ethanol free unleaded. ;-)


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## AL- (Oct 27, 2014)

*Star Tron*

I've had a good experience with a gas additive called StarTron. I bought a new Echo chainsaw and after about a year it got so that it would not rev-up. I trying tweaking the carburetor, but this did nothing. In talking to a friend of mine about it he said to try some starton . I put some in and after running it for awhile it slowly began to rev-up and after awhile then and every since its run fine. I've started adding startron to my snowblower gas.


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## rjgvt (Dec 29, 2014)

I stabilize all of my gas cans with Marine Stabil and Seafoam. 1 ounce of each per 5 gallons. I have two 2.5 gallon cans for my tractor and snowblower. I have four 5 gallon NATO jerry cans for my generator along with 45 to 50 gallons in my boat fuel tank that is also stabilized. The NATO cans are labeled with the date they were filled and get cycled through my truck and refilled. I learned my lesson on my last generator after let it go to crap. Got rid of it and bought a new one last year and run it on the 1st of every month. Ran my house on it on New Year's Day.


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## CO Snow (Dec 8, 2011)

List of gas stations with ethanol-free gas. 
http://pure-gas.org


I just paid $4.09/gal in CO.


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## crazzywolfie (Jun 2, 2014)

CO Snow said:


> List of gas stations with ethanol-free gas.
> Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada
> 
> 
> I just paid $4.09/gal in CO.


you just got to be careful with that website and may want to call the gas station ahead of just to verify they are still there and sell ethanol free gas. i know i have been told that some of the station on that list that use to sell ethanol free gas are actually no longer around at all. up here in Canada it is pretty easy to get ethanol free gas. pretty much every station sells the stuff.


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## SnowG (Dec 5, 2014)

crazzywolfie said:


> $65 for 5 gallons of fuel? what a rip off. definitely not worth the money. you would be better off running cheap ethanol fuel and paying a mechanic to clean the carb yearly. works out to about the same.


5 gallons of gas is about $15-20 at today's prices. I don't know any mechanic that charges less than $65 to even have a look at a machine, and more to clean a carb. More importantly, if the snow thrower doesn't start or run well when I need it... my time is valuable and I don't want to have the snow freeze solid while I'm focused on fixing something. 

Spending $45-50 more per year for improved reliability would seem to be pretty cheap insurance. Alternatively I could use E10 sold locally and add Stabil, and change it monthly, which I've done for years (this is the first year I bought VP fuel). Stabilized E10 can still degrade in as quick as 30 days from phase separation though and I don't know of a fuel treatment that stops that -- and I've tried the popular brands (Stabil, StarTron, etc.).

Ethanol free gas is illegal for road vehicles and is not sold at the pump in CT, and based on web research the nearest places are at least 90 miles away. I use less than 5 gallons a winter season. So again, paying about $45-50 more for a local supply can make sense for convenience. 

I like the idea of buying aviation gas at the local airport -- I'll check into that. Also, ValvTect marine gas is much more stable, but I have to make an appointment to have a marina open the pumps in winter -- not something they're willing to do for small sales. Maybe next year I'll make a late Fall purchase.


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## crazzywolfie (Jun 2, 2014)

i burn through more than 5 gallons in a winter. it would be cheaper to just run the cheap fuel and drain it when not in use. i guess lucky for me i got easy access to ethanol free fuel up here in Canada.


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## SnowG (Dec 5, 2014)

crazzywolfie said:


> i burn through more than 5 gallons in a winter. it would be cheaper to just run the cheap fuel and drain it when not in use. i guess lucky for me i got easy access to ethanol free fuel up here in Canada.


I agree, but to most people we're talking about pocket change. I easily spend about the same for dinner for 2 at a middle-priced restaurant when the wife doesn't feel like cooking.... and that's more frequent than once per winter. 

I can easily rationalize it this way: A happy wife and a reliable snow thrower allow me to be happy, too.


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