Some question the value of outdoor power equipment preventative maintenance. The reasoning might be, “I’ll just have it repaired when it breaks”. The fact is however, that maintenance, is vital to the longevity of your equipment and can save you a lot of time, money and frustration in the long run. 

Maintenance vs. Repair
Outdoor power equipment never seems to break down at a convenient time. In fact, it usually happens just when you need it the most: your snow thrower won’t start the morning after that big storm and you need to get to work, your lawn mower is broken and you have your child’s graduation party to prep for, etc. Finding someone to fix it for you in an emergency situation can be difficult, frustrating and costly.

On the other hand preventive maintenance can be planned, budgeted and controlled. It can reduce your everyday stress. It performs maintenance that you would have to do anyway, such as yearly oil change, spark plug service, filter services, etc. And it often identifies problems that could result in much more expensive repairs and impact the life of your machine. 

In a routine maintenance call, a trained technician can spot those things that might need replacing soon. At that point, you are in control: you can choose to replace them or have them replaced before they break. You’ll save in the long run and won’t have to worry about your essential equipment breaking at the wrong time.

Maintenance Saves Money
Outdoor power equipment, is expensive. It’s expensive to purchase, expensive to repair, and eventually expensive to replace. Proper maintenance can help save money. Here's one example of how that works:

Equipment that has not been properly maintained becomes less efficient. For lawn equipment, this often means the equipment consumes more energy than it should, and extra load is placed on the engine which can result in premature failure. Or a rodent nesting inside your engine can cause the machine to overheat and perform poorly or even fail. Proper maintenance identifies these issues and keeps machinery running efficiently, saving you money in the long run.

Without question, routine maintenance should be a priority for all outdoor power equipment owners. Mobile Small Engine Service, LLC offers routine maintenance service you can depend on. Call us today for your equipment maintenance needs!

Spring is coming, and it's time to trade the snow blower for the lawn mower. Follow these off-season storage steps to make sure your blower starts up next season. Or easier still, schedule service with us and we'll do it for you!

1. Fuel

It's best to drain all the gas from your small engine before you store it. Some engines allow you to manually drain all of the fuel. A turkey baster works well to get the fuel out. If still fresh, you can transfer your snow blower fuel to your lawn mower or other summer equipment. Add a little high quality fuel stabilizer to the remaining fuel in your tank, start the machine and run it until it is out of gas and shuts down on its own.

2. Stabilizer

If your machine is equipped with a fuel shut-off valve and you don't want to drain the gas out, then be sure you add a high quality fuel stabilizer to your gas tank (follow the stabilizer instructions) and run the engine for a few minutes to circulate the stabilizer through the carburetor. While still running, shut off the fuel valve and let the machine run until it quits on its own.

3. Spark Plug

Remove your spark plug, and pour about a tablespoon of SAE30 motor oil into the hole where your spark plug was. Pull the starter cord gently a couple of times. This will distribute the oil onto the cylinder walls and help prevent rusting or corroding while in storage. Inspect your old spark plug and replace with a new one if necessary. Reinsert your spark plug. Be careful not to cross-thread it. Tighten it down snug, but avoid over tightening (15 ft. lbs. MAXIMUM ). Reconnect your spark plug boot cable.

4. Store it in a clean, rodent-free environment

Make sure to clean off any excessive salt or dirt from your snow blower. Leaving salt on the machine will cause it to rust while in storage.

Mice love to build nests in stored machinery. They can cause extensive and expensive damage to your machine, chewing up wiring a preventing your machine from operating when you need it. So store your out of season small engine in a clean, rodent-free environment. Consider placing mouse traps and/or moth balls around your machine to help prevent rodent related damage.

Following these simple steps will help prevent most no-start situations come next season. Finally, don't forget to schedule maintenance service before the start of winter!

The specific oil recommendations for your small engine are dependent on the engine's manufacturer. Your best source of information regarding the type and grade of oil for your unit's engine would be the manual that came with your machine. That being said, here are a few basic guidelines to help you chose the right oil for your small engine:

• Use standard SAE 30 in warmer temperatures of 40° F and higher (5° C and higher). Multi-viscosity oils (i.e. 10W-30, 5W-30 etc) break down more quickly in high summer temperatures, burn off and loose their ability to protect your engine.
  
• Use SAE 10W-30 for a varying temperature range of 0 to 100° F (-18 to 38° C), this grade of oil improves cold weather starting, but may increase oil consumption at 80° F(27° C) or higher. So keep an eye on your oil level if you are using this type of oil in your summer use machines.
• A synthetic oil SAE 5W-30 is the best for very cold temperatures of -20 to as high as 120° F (-30 to 40° C) providing the best protection at all temperatures as well as improved starting with less oil consumption
• Use SAE 5W-30 for very cold temperatures of 40° F and below (5° C and below)

Things to keep in mind when choosing lawn mower oil:

• Use a high quality detergent oil classified "For Service SF, SG, SH, SJ" or higher.
• Do not use special additives.
• Synthetic oils are an acceptable oil at all temperatures.
  

For basic information on how to check your oil level, please see the Brigg & Stratton video guide below:

Issue #1: Gas left in machine for an extended period. This seems to be the #1 cause of the problems most home owners are having. Small engines do not like ethanol. If left in the fuel line, the carburetor becomes clogged and can no longer function properly, resulting in a potentially costly repair. Problem is, ethanol is added to most gasoline available now. What to do? Use a fuel stabilizer like this one: Sta-Bil Marine Formula Ethanol Treatment . Also, even with a good stabilizer, it's a good practice to empty the fuel tank and burn any remaining gas out of the carburetor if your machine is going to be in storage for more than 6 months. Do these simple things, and more than likely your machine will start when you need it to.

Conclusion: If you don't use a good stabilizer in your small engine, you are looking for carb trouble.

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