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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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!
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.
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.
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.
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 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 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!
I very much appreciate the Comic Sans subtitles in the "after start" section. Really completes the "no effort" gestalt. (I do mean this as a compliment, of course!)
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.
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
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.
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 🙂
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.
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
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.
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 🤔
Thanks for the reminder to check my snowblower. It's quite possible that it's completely broken at this point. It was left outside all year after both of my parents got cancer and passed away this spring. I don't think we put any stabilizer in our gas, but then again, we've never had any trouble starting the lawnmower every year. Our snowblower was a dirt-cheap one anyway.
"I saved 11% on this thing" said in the dryest of tones was almost overwhelmingly Midwestern. Jeepers, i just about went ass over teakettle with laughter 😆
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 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.
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.
Well from the testing I’ve seen stabilizer doesn’t do shit, non-ethanol fuel makes a bigger difference. Lookup “Teryl fixes all” on TH-cam he did a multi engine, multi fuel, multi month test. The best thing is just drain them dry and put them away. It will always start when you put fresh gas in a empty tank.
I start my mower with the same gas just topped off each year, no special treatment. Thought my mower was dead for good but it just needed the filter cleaned. Starts better the first time of the season than the second! Been going strong for 15 years!
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.
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
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.
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!
First time I've heard of this. We didn't have a snowblower but a Briggs and Stratton lawnmower. We just put a box over it before the snow and it started every time in the spring. The gasoline came from a 20 liter Jerry can that was wery heavy for 10 years old me, but lasted many summer without refill.
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.
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'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.
I have had all sorts of problems with my infrequently-used small engine garden equipment (chainsaw, string trimmer, wood chipper) as well as my ride-on mower when first starting it each spring. Then I saw the Car Wizard TH-cam channel mention Sta-Bil for collector cars that sit for a long time between uses and I ordered some to try. I've been using it ever since and I haven't had any further problems, even with my string trimmer that sat for 18 months with old fuel in it that was mixed with 2-stroke oil - started straight up. Maybe fuel stabilizer doesn't work, but it does a hell of a good job of pretending it does.
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).
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 concur with your assessment. Before I sold it in favor of battery electric, my old gas lawnmower sat all winter with fuel in the tank, Sta-bil added at fill-up. Started on the second pull. Other than our Mazda, I'm almost completely electric now.
@@charleslambert3368 I've got a DeWalt lawnmower, string trimmer, and blower all using the flex volt battery. They need to come out with a snowblower. I'm still using an old corded one which is a hassle in it's own way
We've wintered our lawnmower with unstabilized pump gas, and it was perfectly fine. Just a bit slow to start. Our first snow thrower was also summered with unstabilized gas, and it was a two-stroke. We only got rid of it because we were given another one (also two stroke), and that one needed a new auger (broken by a Christmas tree string), so we gave it away. Unfortunately the other one also had a problem (fuel leak), and it stopped starting. I just wish we'd kept the first one (although I'd much rather have a four stroke). That being said, this is a bad habit, and I would not recommend unstabilized gas for storage!
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.
It also depends on how long the fuel has been sitting and in what environment. I've had a pair of jery cans in the back of my car for the last 2 years (should probably swap that out) and it still works fine. Put some Seafoam fuel stabilizer in it when I first put it in the car and it still works alright. Used it to power a small auger without issue.
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.
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 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 usually just use ethanol free gas for the last two small engines I have, no stabil. Works ok I guess. I don't anticipate any problems starting the snow blower. Should probably pull it out and give it a check though. I'd rather it be electric but the thing won't die so I can justify replacing it.
I have the Ryobi 40v 5Ah battery powered single stage snow blower. My driveway is short, maybe 15-20yards, but double wide. Even if we get a few inches, I can clear the whole thing and still have half charge left on the battery. No idea what the snow load is in your neck of the woods compared to western PA where I live but have you investigated a battery powered option?
I use sta-bil too. Never had a problem. I just changed the oil on my two stage blower on Sunday and it fired right up. I've also switched to a battery mower. Greetings from West Michigan :)
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 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.
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 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.
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.
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've got mowers, chain saws, blowers, etc. Live in PA, used Sta-Bil one winter about 20 years ago, haven't used it since. No problems. Take it for what it is.
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.
But hey.. it's November 🤷🏽♀️
What do you mean the birds are awesome
It's good enough that the generated captions aren't as hilarious as they could have been.
I think it turned out fine
At least your Comic Sans subtitles were totally not trolling us
"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.
Beat me to it!
I heard that 11% and knew immedately where he got it. Menards stores are very common here in MN
@@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.
@@RandomDudeOne Many marinas have ethanol-free gas. Ethanol absorbs moisture and boats don't get used all that often.
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.
Buffalo NY, just got 7ft of snow.
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.
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!
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!
Been living that stabilizer life and so far haven't ruined any piece of small-engine equipment I've encountered. Amazing, I know.
@@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.
Just close fuel valve (install one if your machine doesn't have one) & run until the carb is dry.
I appreciate the advice from everyone, but this is the reply section to a throwaway TH-cam comment about how I'm lazy. Lol
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.
@@Muaddibize Great idea. But since most people have to store the fuel can in the garage perhaps not useful.
@@williampotter2098 Why store it at all ? I mean, just use it in your car.
@@Muaddibize most mowers don't run so well on diesel, and I'd rather not risk it the other way round.
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.
@@russlehman2070 that's why you use the handle of a broom or something to unclog it.
And his is only plastic. My thrower is twice the size and it's all metal. It will cut your hand clean off.
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.
Some things I've always appreciated about this channel are the tight scripting, careful execution, and technical excellence. But this is good, too.
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.
@@squidcaps4308 Can't wait for Captain Disillusion to come to debunk him
@@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!
@@Barnaclebeard calling this guy a total slacker is a bit of an understatement but I mean you can have your own opinion I guess
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.
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
@@lisaboban 👏👏👏👏👏👏
You want carburetor videos? I have plenty.
Ok -- that genuinely made me laugh. It's 100% the truth! 😂
Way too true. Right down to the "What the heck, I've tried it BOTH WAYS and it still doesn't work!"
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.
Lucky you're not a petroleum chemist then, because fuel stabilisers do nothing.
@@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.
@@Bonswally I guess since you are one you’ll have no issues citing your sources?
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.
It's a 2 gallon tank, that's why he puts in 2 ounces ;-)
@@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.
@@herzogsbuick
Gotta be careful not to use the wink emoticon while being incorrect. Bad combo.
@@Squitdoogenz 😙
I've never actually seen a snowblower discussed as I live in Australia thanks!
Sandblower
you guys use spider blowers down there instead
The Southern US never uses them, either.
@@5roundsrapid263 yeah which is why half an inch of snow shuts down entire states
@@noodlelynoodle. It’s not so much the snow, as the layer of ice it becomes. It goes both ways; people die in the Upper Midwest when it goes over 90F.
"I saved 11% on it" I bet that was in the form of a mail-in rebate sent to a PO Box in Elk Mound, Wisconsin! 😃
First thing I thought of when he said 11%. Haha
The jingle immediately played in my head
@@ToddHallJr "You save big money, save big money!"
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.
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.
@@Okurka. Thanks for the demonstration 😆
Kaw! Kaw! Kaw! Kaw! Kaw!
And utterly without any effort. As NEN _should_ be.
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
hmm, so the front scoops throw the snow into the chute and the top one blows it out? Makes sense!
Which type did James Bond avoid?
@@20chocsaday The Russian one...but not the Russian one with nice t*ts.
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.
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
When you talked about "small engines" the sentence "too many small engine appliances" popped into my head
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!
was wondering what those faint apocalyptic sounds were
> Kaw! Kaw! Kaaaaw! Kaw! Kawkaw! Kaw!
More than anything, I love your ongoing commitment to referring to Menards without telling us you went to Menards.
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.
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.
One thing that you should do after taking it out of storage is check the oil before starting… never know if it leaked out.
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.
Isn't it a 2 stroke engine?
Except the big pool of oil under it? But yeah always check.
@@baronvonlimbourgh1716 no. 4 stroke
@@zombanator3000 ok 👍
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.
you're not wrong, I was captivated by that can. Obviously the double dose of stabilizer worked because that thing didn't budge.
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 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!
Sounds good, doesn't seem to work in my experience.
Regular gas will still go bad over time if not stabilized.
@@Jacklsovakia1 Works for me.
@@00andJoe Nothing like ethanol gas does though.
I very much appreciate the Comic Sans subtitles in the "after start" section. Really completes the "no effort" gestalt. (I do mean this as a compliment, of course!)
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.
It's the fuel system. Injection doesn't care that much.
My dad was a chemical engineer. First winter without him to ask questions to. Nothing in this video surprised me. THANKS DAD.
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 would recommend not keeping your gas quite so long though it worked for you.
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.
Could it also happen if old fuel sits in the bowl mildly corroding things?
*ducks and runs*
mostly the Briggs stuff, from the looks of things.
If it's not too grody, I like pieces of guitar string trimmed short. Lots of very small diameters that you can't get in a normal jet cleaning kit.
@@exasperated It's almost as if the evidence that fuel stabilizer doesn't work is hidden right in the video 🧐😂
And why is that pilot jet clogged? From leaving fuel in 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 🙂
I have been enjoying your videos for 3 years or so and wanted to let you know how much I appreciate them. Thank you!
I adore the absolute and complete lack of effort. Bravo. Great video as always.
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.
One might argue a leaking carb bowl was not a bug, but a feature 😉
I dunno…. I think I’m going to need at least a 50 year test to be sold on stay bil. 38 years of perfect operation just isn’t enough to sway me over.
My 1998 Toro abhors having gas left in it off season. It causes terrible surging.
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.
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
I honestly loved hearing all the wildlife in the background. I could still hear your audio very clear. The birds just made it more interesting!
I somehow read the thumbnail as "Should I have drank the tank?" and I can't stop thinking about it.
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.
ah yes, nothing beats a November connextras video with comic sans hard captions
I really love how casual this video is for some reason, feels really comfy!
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 think the bigger heavier duty ones have an auger that pushes the snow into an impeller that does the throwing
Some lawnmowers do that.
And that's a single stage. A dual stage has a smaller propeller aimed up into the chute that sprays the snow back out.
You know it's No effort November since we have Comic Sans subtitles. Nailed it!
I came to comment on Comic Sans and was not disappointed that I was not first. 😂
Thanks for the reminder to check my snowblower. It's quite possible that it's completely broken at this point. It was left outside all year after both of my parents got cancer and passed away this spring. I don't think we put any stabilizer in our gas, but then again, we've never had any trouble starting the lawnmower every year. Our snowblower was a dirt-cheap one anyway.
Very useful video for me to randomly watch in Southern Louisiana!!!
"I saved 11% on this thing" said in the dryest of tones was almost overwhelmingly Midwestern. Jeepers, i just about went ass over teakettle with laughter 😆
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've been wanting confirmation. Thank you for the info. Good Video for the betterment of the people with small engine apparatuses. Thank you.
I love random videos on youtube, this was a real treat!
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.
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’ve done the same but without the stabilizer. One of the regional gas station brand has ethanol free premium
ethenol free is the best for sleeping engines lol
Thanks for reminding me that I should go rearrange my shed so I can access my snowblower. Should do that before the next snowstorm comes.
I love no-effort November. It's friggin hilarious. Top ten youtube channels.
Well from the testing I’ve seen stabilizer doesn’t do shit, non-ethanol fuel makes a bigger difference.
Lookup “Teryl fixes all” on TH-cam he did a multi engine, multi fuel, multi month test.
The best thing is just drain them dry and put them away. It will always start when you put fresh gas in a empty tank.
That´s the quality content I´m here for.
I start my mower with the same gas just topped off each year, no special treatment. Thought my mower was dead for good but it just needed the filter cleaned. Starts better the first time of the season than the second! Been going strong for 15 years!
You reminded me to buy a snow blower before the rush. So there's that. Appreciate it.
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.
There are several brands of it in the US: Tru-Fuel, SEF, Moto-Mix, etc. I think you can buy Aspen here, but it’s hard to find.
@@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.
sounds like they’ve engineered the stabiliser into the core formula! Pretty neat.
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.
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
This reminds me again why i am grateful that the Atlantic conveyor/Gulf stream exists and make snow issues in the UK very rare
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.
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!
This video is so effortless it could be considered art.
"No Effort November" = "Ramble-y Dad Talk: The Show" I love it!
First time I've heard of this. We didn't have a snowblower but a Briggs and Stratton lawnmower. We just put a box over it before the snow and it started every time in the spring. The gasoline came from a 20 liter Jerry can that was wery heavy for 10 years old me, but lasted many summer without refill.
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.
@@noahorr3480 diaphragm carbs are the bane of my outdoor existence
I actually quite enjoy the audio here. The crows, and the cold November wind are really great.
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'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.
Correctomundo sir
I keep a spare carb for every small engine I have on the shelf. As soon as I use one, I order the next spare.
I have had all sorts of problems with my infrequently-used small engine garden equipment (chainsaw, string trimmer, wood chipper) as well as my ride-on mower when first starting it each spring. Then I saw the Car Wizard TH-cam channel mention Sta-Bil for collector cars that sit for a long time between uses and I ordered some to try. I've been using it ever since and I haven't had any further problems, even with my string trimmer that sat for 18 months with old fuel in it that was mixed with 2-stroke oil - started straight up. Maybe fuel stabilizer doesn't work, but it does a hell of a good job of pretending it does.
That last line... 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Thanks for the reminder! Time to start mine up.
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).
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 concur with your assessment. Before I sold it in favor of battery electric, my old gas lawnmower sat all winter with fuel in the tank, Sta-bil added at fill-up. Started on the second pull. Other than our Mazda, I'm almost completely electric now.
Get all the seasonal ones battery-electric and you can swap the batteries around depending on what time of year it is.
@@charleslambert3368 I've got a DeWalt lawnmower, string trimmer, and blower all using the flex volt battery. They need to come out with a snowblower. I'm still using an old corded one which is a hassle in it's own way
We've wintered our lawnmower with unstabilized pump gas, and it was perfectly fine. Just a bit slow to start. Our first snow thrower was also summered with unstabilized gas, and it was a two-stroke. We only got rid of it because we were given another one (also two stroke), and that one needed a new auger (broken by a Christmas tree string), so we gave it away. Unfortunately the other one also had a problem (fuel leak), and it stopped starting. I just wish we'd kept the first one (although I'd much rather have a four stroke). That being said, this is a bad habit, and I would not recommend unstabilized gas for storage!
Ahhhh, that lovely sound!
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.
It also depends on how long the fuel has been sitting and in what environment.
I've had a pair of jery cans in the back of my car for the last 2 years (should probably swap that out) and it still works fine. Put some Seafoam fuel stabilizer in it when I first put it in the car and it still works alright. Used it to power a small auger without issue.
Great episode as always!
Please do an episode on solar panels for houses on the main channel.
I love the quality of this channel. It reminds me of youtube back in the good old days
This is Alec basically telling us “fuel stabilizer works fine for me. For additional proof take this debate to Project Farm” 🤣
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.
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 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.
You should offer stabil your endorsement for pay! 🤣
I love how low effort this is! Loved every second!
I usually just use ethanol free gas for the last two small engines I have, no stabil. Works ok I guess.
I don't anticipate any problems starting the snow blower. Should probably pull it out and give it a check though.
I'd rather it be electric but the thing won't die so I can justify replacing it.
I always use non-ethanol gas, too. Two-stroke oil works as well as Sta-Bil from what I’ve seen.
I have the Ryobi 40v 5Ah battery powered single stage snow blower. My driveway is short, maybe 15-20yards, but double wide. Even if we get a few inches, I can clear the whole thing and still have half charge left on the battery. No idea what the snow load is in your neck of the woods compared to western PA where I live but have you investigated a battery powered option?
Batteries are a joke
I use an Ego snowblower, love it! Beats the pants off of maintaining a gas engine and its associated components.
I love the crows. Crows are friends.
I use sta-bil too. Never had a problem. I just changed the oil on my two stage blower on Sunday and it fired right up. I've also switched to a battery mower. Greetings from West Michigan :)
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 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.
Alec is northern Illinois, and from bitter experience I can say with 100% certainty that he needs a snowblower.
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.
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 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.
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.
Electric is a joke
@@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.
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.
Do you have an electric snow blower? I've heard mixed results about how well they do
@@billdickson871 yeah I'm have also heard different things I bought a corded one today
Those midwestern crows in the background are adorable!
I've got mowers, chain saws, blowers, etc. Live in PA, used Sta-Bil one winter about 20 years ago, haven't used it since. No problems. Take it for what it is.
jeez that's a terrifying machine lmao
You should see a combine, if you think this looks dangerous :P
They're why there's deer meat in your wheat.