Your Checklist for Getting Your Small Equipment Back In The Game

It's going to be the first nice weekend, therefore, it might be time to take your small equipment and lawn equipment out of storage for the spring and summer months.

The first thing on your agenda is to ensure that all of our equipment is working properly.

Once you start taking your equipment out it's important to clean up your yard, trim your bushes and mow your lawn.

You take out your trimmer and start it up, except it doesn't start. Do not panic, in all likelihood you forgot to add a fuel stabilizer into your ethanol fuel. Following are some tips to make sure your gas-powered tools are ready for spring.

Tips for Preparing Your Small Equipment for Spring

The biggest challenge to all your gas-powered tools is the gas containing ethanol. Ethanol blended gasoline has corrosive alcohol. The best solution is not to leave fuel in your tools for more than thirty days and make sure to drain fuel tanks before storing tools for winter.

1. If you have not drained fuel from your tools before winter storage make sure that you responsibly drain it and fill with fresh fuel. You may have to replace parts such as fuel lines that cracked because of ethanol. Check your engine carefully for damaged parts.
2. Never use fuel that has more than 10 percent ethanol. Some gas stations are selling blends of up to 15 percent ethanol. The label on the fuel pump is either E15 or E85 fuel. It is dangerous and against the law to use fuel with fifteen percent ethanol in anything other than automobiles.
3. Use a fuel stabilizer in your ethanol blended gas. If you do not, make sure that the fuel in a tank is there for less than 30 days. Old fuel that is not treated causes fuel system deterioration and hard starting and rough running. Sometimes, untreated fuel damages the fuel system.

Tips Specifically for Your Lawn Mower

• Lubricate the throttle and all other moving parts. If your mower has adjustable heights, remember to oil the lever and all other parts of height assembly.
• Check and change the oil. After every five to eight hours of use change the oil filter and add new oil.
• Clean the air filter. Air filters protect the engine from dirt and debris and clog quickly. When this happens your mower can starve for oxygen and run with hesitation while coughing and sputtering.
• Put a new spark plug in at the beginning of the season. This is inexpensive insurance that your fuel will ignite from a working plug.
• Check the belt and/or battery and replace if needed.