What do you guys think is the best procedure for keeping motorized equipment running that you seldom use. Such as an auger with a motor on it. For some of us, once used, it might be a year or two before it's used again. Would you run it empty of gas? Use an additive? Crank it up every so often? Always drain it? Fill it full of fuel? E-free gas, for sure but what do you think? Whatever you buy, it's another motor to maintain. I try to crank anything with a motor every few months.
I have delt with this scenario in a couple ways. One was to use fresh fuel, and fire the units up once a month. Thats a hassle but it works. Anymore I use a canned 4 cycle fuel such as VP racing 94 octane small engine fuel or Sunoco optima 95 octane small engine fuel, mix oil in if a 2 stroke, and run them on it. Its good for 2 years in the machine and 5 in the Original can. I will also use fogging oil, per its instructions, on anything I know will set a year or more.
I personally dump the gas and let it idle until it runs the carb dry. The fog oil can be good too. You could also put a few drops of motor oil in the spark plug hole and pull it over slowly a couple times to keep the upper cylinder lubed. Most certainly do not store small engines with ethanol fuel in them unless you want to sharpen your carb rebuild skills.
I've told many the best procedure, IMO, is to stay away from ethanol gas altogether. When storing tools (namely chainsaws, weedeaters, mowers, etc), I recommend draining the fuel, adding some canned fuel (VP or others that you can buy from your big box stores, properly mixed for your application), Starting up the engine until you can specifically smell the exhaust (canned fuel has a smell all its own), and you'll be good to go for up to 4 years. When ready to use the tool again, simply top off with regular fuel, use the tool as per needed, and when storing again, repeat the canned fuel procedure. Never ever had an issue with this method. Even when storing tools for YEARS.
Because I'm not a high volume user, I buy VP racing 94 octane in 5 gallon cans from my nephew and it lasts me 1.5-2 years in my saws. I mix the whole 5 gallons at a time. Everything else gets E-free pump fuel. Canned fuel definitely has a smell all its own and its one of the reasons I use it over pump gas in saws where I'm more likely to smell it. I really dislike 2 stroke with pump gas smell anymore. The canned fuel all the time or for storage is the way to go.
For the 4 stroke equipment I own that doesn't get used on a regular basis, most have on/off valves for the gas. I add a little Stabil then turn the valve off and run the carb dry. For my 2 stroke stuff, the oil I use has stabilizers, so I don't drain but I do occasionally run them. Some once a year and they have stayed "good" that way. That being said, they are kept in my climate controlled basement which makes a difference. IF I were to store outside, I would drain tanks and run carbs dry. I'd recommend testing your source before relying on the advertisement of E-free. I've seen many a vid of people doing the test and finding ethanol where it wasn't supposed to be. And when confronted, the sellers always just push blame on the supplier, playin dumb.
