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Home > Archive > Home Repair forum > April 2006 > Riding mower storage
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Riding mower storage
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| Bob B. 2006-04-27, 2:21 pm |
| Our new house came with a Craftsman II riding mower. Its old, but it
works (well, I saw it work a couple of months ago). We kept it in the
garage through the winter months, and will now probably keep it outside
with a cover of some sort. My question is, can it just stay outside all
the time, even in the winter? We are in the Sierra Nevada foothills, and
get a couple of feet of snow each winter. Is that too harsh for the
mower? Does it need to be in a shed, or will a cover be enough?
TIA
Bob B.
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| The manual states:
"Cover your tractor with a suitable protective cover that does not
retain moisture. Do not use plastic. Plastic cannot breathe which
allows condensation to form and will cause your tractor to rust."
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| Bob G. 2006-04-28, 11:21 am |
| On Thu, 27 Apr 2006 17:09:02 GMT, "Bob B." <bobinnv@sbcglobal.net>
wrote:
>Our new house came with a Craftsman II riding mower. Its old, but it
>works (well, I saw it work a couple of months ago). We kept it in the
>garage through the winter months, and will now probably keep it outside
>with a cover of some sort. My question is, can it just stay outside all
>the time, even in the winter? We are in the Sierra Nevada foothills, and
>get a couple of feet of snow each winter. Is that too harsh for the
>mower? Does it need to be in a shed, or will a cover be enough?
>
>TIA
>
>Bob B.
==================================
Personally I would just cover it, drain the gas from the tank and let
her run until it runs out of gas in the carb etc,..
As the other have implied (and rightly so) moisture accumulating under
a cover is bad... so make suree whatever you cover it with allows for
moisture to excape... I store my snow blower in the summer and my
tractor in the winter under a covered portion behind one of my
garages...sort of a " low" car port addition I added behind that
building... I do not cover either.
RUST IS BAD....but most of my problems over the last 40 pr so years
with mowers etc have concerned tires dry rotting..and the mower deck
rusting... .Its too much work but if I were younger I honestly would
remove the mowers deck from the machine and just lean it up against
the mower ...
That said in the 40 years I have owned this house the mower I now own
is only my second ...the first lasted 25 years ...replaceing the deck
(rusted) and tires on the original one was not much less expensive
then buying a new mower... so I bought another... (that was 15 years
ago).. Internation Cub Cadets in both cases...
..
Bob G.
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| Andy replies:
The manual will tell you how to put the unit up for long term
storage.
Here are a few things that should be covered :
1 Run the engine till the gas tank is dry. Then drain the carburetor,
2. Replace the engine oil while engine is warm.
3. Unscrew the spark plug and squirt in some oil. Crank the
shaft a few times to distribute it in the cylinder,,SLOWLY.
4 Remove battery and keep it in a place where it won't freeze.
Put a trickle charger on it, and check water level every month
to be sure it isn't overcharging too much ....
5 Keep unit in a sheltered area. if you cover it with plastic,
make sure that there is enough "openess" to let air
circulate to dissolve the moisture that accumulates on the
INSIDE surface of the cover, so that it doesn't drip on the
unit.....
6. Make SURE the blade housing is clean with no mud or
grass undeneath. This needs to be kept dry or the
housing will start to rust....A good time to generally clean
it....
Do not oil the shafts UNLESS the manual says to. Some of
the models will not tolerate external oil....
7 Set the unit on blocks so that the tires have little or no
weight on them... This is so that if a tire is a little leaky,
it won't end up distorted on the rim next spring and will
be easy to just pump back up...
8 This is a good time to clean the air filter. You will forget
to do it next spring....
All this stuff will probably be mentioned in the manual. If not,
do it anyway... It doesn't take long and will GREATLY extend
the "no shop repair" time you will get from your mower......
Oh, and EVERY time you use the mower, check the oil first.
It probly isn't necessary, but if you mess up, you will be sorry.
Good luck. My riding mowers last about 15 years, and they
have to mow a LOT of rural terrain stuff..... On a golf course
they would all outlive me........
Andy in Eureka, Texas
( If your Mexican neighbors have been very polite and
considerate lately, and smile a lot, you might live in
Eureka, Texas )
| |
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| Andy add:
One more thing.... If you don't want to do all this stuff,
there is another way.,..
Just go out and crank it up the first weekend of every
month and run it for 10 or 15 minutes..... This means that
you didn't need to winterize it for long term storage...
If it were me, I would cycle thru all the gears a couple times
and maybe engage the blades once or twice....Ride it
around the block once, maybe.....
Your neighbors will think you are nuts, but it'll keep
your mower in good shape..... I wouldn't try to
mow the snow, however.......
Andy in Eureka, Texas
| |
| Bob B. 2006-04-28, 2:21 pm |
| In article <1146236544.643857.7370@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com>,
"Andy" <andysharpe@juno.com> wrote:
> Andy replies:
>
> The manual will tell you how to put the unit up for long term
> storage.
>
> Here are a few things that should be covered :
>
> 1 Run the engine till the gas tank is dry. Then drain the carburetor,
>
> 2. Replace the engine oil while engine is warm.
>
> 3. Unscrew the spark plug and squirt in some oil. Crank the
> shaft a few times to distribute it in the cylinder,,SLOWLY.
>
> 4 Remove battery and keep it in a place where it won't freeze.
> Put a trickle charger on it, and check water level every month
> to be sure it isn't overcharging too much ....
>
> 5 Keep unit in a sheltered area. if you cover it with plastic,
> make sure that there is enough "openess" to let air
> circulate to dissolve the moisture that accumulates on the
> INSIDE surface of the cover, so that it doesn't drip on the
> unit.....
>
> 6. Make SURE the blade housing is clean with no mud or
> grass undeneath. This needs to be kept dry or the
> housing will start to rust....A good time to generally clean
> it....
> Do not oil the shafts UNLESS the manual says to. Some of
> the models will not tolerate external oil....
>
> 7 Set the unit on blocks so that the tires have little or no
> weight on them... This is so that if a tire is a little leaky,
> it won't end up distorted on the rim next spring and will
> be easy to just pump back up...
>
>
> 8 This is a good time to clean the air filter. You will forget
> to do it next spring....
>
>
> All this stuff will probably be mentioned in the manual. If not,
> do it anyway... It doesn't take long and will GREATLY extend
> the "no shop repair" time you will get from your mower......
>
> Oh, and EVERY time you use the mower, check the oil first.
> It probly isn't necessary, but if you mess up, you will be sorry.
>
> Good luck. My riding mowers last about 15 years, and they
> have to mow a LOT of rural terrain stuff..... On a golf course
> they would all outlive me........
>
> Andy in Eureka, Texas
>
>
> ( If your Mexican neighbors have been very polite and
> considerate lately, and smile a lot, you might live in
> Eureka, Texas )
Thanks, especially since I don't have a manual. In fact, nothing that
came with the house we bought has a manual, but that is another story..
Bob B.
| |
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| You should be able to download the manual from sears.com
| |
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| Andy comments:
Agreed. Sears is very good about having manual, both operating and
maintenance, on the internet, even for old, outdated models. It has
helped
me many times...
If you can't find it on "sears.com", just do a google search using
keywords like " manual Craftsman Model 1880", or some such.....
I've had good luck doing that, also...
Andy
| |
|
| I fill my gas tank to the top and add fuel stabilizer. Run it for a few
minutes to get the mixture into the carb. Just put the battery in yesterday
( keep it indoors) and it fired up after about 5 sec of cranking. Done it
this way for years.
MLD
..
"Andy" <andysharpe@juno.com> wrote in message
news:1146236544.643857.7370@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com...
> Andy replies:
>
> The manual will tell you how to put the unit up for long term
> storage.
>
> Here are a few things that should be covered :
>
> 1 Run the engine till the gas tank is dry. Then drain the carburetor,
>
> 2. Replace the engine oil while engine is warm.
>
> 3. Unscrew the spark plug and squirt in some oil. Crank the
> shaft a few times to distribute it in the cylinder,,SLOWLY.
>
> 4 Remove battery and keep it in a place where it won't freeze.
> Put a trickle charger on it, and check water level every month
> to be sure it isn't overcharging too much ....
>
> 5 Keep unit in a sheltered area. if you cover it with plastic,
> make sure that there is enough "openess" to let air
> circulate to dissolve the moisture that accumulates on the
> INSIDE surface of the cover, so that it doesn't drip on the
> unit.....
>
> 6. Make SURE the blade housing is clean with no mud or
> grass undeneath. This needs to be kept dry or the
> housing will start to rust....A good time to generally clean
> it....
> Do not oil the shafts UNLESS the manual says to. Some of
> the models will not tolerate external oil....
>
> 7 Set the unit on blocks so that the tires have little or no
> weight on them... This is so that if a tire is a little leaky,
> it won't end up distorted on the rim next spring and will
> be easy to just pump back up...
>
>
> 8 This is a good time to clean the air filter. You will forget
> to do it next spring....
>
>
> All this stuff will probably be mentioned in the manual. If not,
> do it anyway... It doesn't take long and will GREATLY extend
> the "no shop repair" time you will get from your mower......
>
> Oh, and EVERY time you use the mower, check the oil first.
> It probly isn't necessary, but if you mess up, you will be sorry.
>
> Good luck. My riding mowers last about 15 years, and they
> have to mow a LOT of rural terrain stuff..... On a golf course
> they would all outlive me........
>
> Andy in Eureka, Texas
>
>
> ( If your Mexican neighbors have been very polite and
> considerate lately, and smile a lot, you might live in
> Eureka, Texas )
>
| |
| John Lawrence 2006-04-29, 7:21 pm |
| And that's the right way.
"MLD" <MLD@verizon.net> wrote in message news:Ypw4g.12$W36.9@trndny08...
>I fill my gas tank to the top and add fuel stabilizer. Run it for a few
> minutes to get the mixture into the carb. Just put the battery in
> yesterday
> ( keep it indoors) and it fired up after about 5 sec of cranking. Done it
> this way for years.
> MLD
> .
> "Andy" <andysharpe@juno.com> wrote in message
> news:1146236544.643857.7370@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com...
>
>
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