# Equipment, Tools and Lawn Care product storage over the winter



## jedross86 (Apr 27, 2021)

Hey All. Looking for some advice here as I have yet to go through a winter in my house. I've got an attached (but unheated) garage, a shed, and there's a tiny bit of space I can store stuff in the basement without making my wife too angry.

What do you all do with your equipment and other lawn stuff? Seed is in bins and stays in the basement. I've heard some people say they bring their liquids inside, is there really an issue with storing these in an attached garage? What about mowers, battery powered tools, and then non-powered things like spreaders? Guessing shed should be off limits for anything motorized? I'm going to clean everything of debris regardless.

FWIW, I'm one of few houses that has a garage and one of few that has a basement in my neighborhood. So most of my neighbors are storing stuff in their sheds.

Thanks in advance!


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## PodScot (Mar 18, 2021)

I always keep batteries in the house when not in use and leave the tools in the garage. Gas powered stuff gets run out of gas and stays in the garage for the winter. Pressure washer is the only thing I bring in the basement.


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## San (Jun 21, 2021)

I keep everything except batteries and some liquids in the garage.

Thinking of adding a shed to move the snowblower, lawnmower and other bulky lawn tools to.


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## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

I agree with running the gas out of equipment that you don't plan to use instead of storing it with a fuel stabilizer. I even drain the carb bowl when possible.


Siphon off excess fuel from the tank.

Run the engine until it runs out of fuel.

Drain carb bowl if possible.

**Pull sparkplug and spray some fogging oil with the piston in at Bottom Dead Center or thereabouts and slowly cycle piston before reinstalling sparkplug.

Inspect or replace sparkplug.

Inspect air filter, clean or replace.

Change oil.

Sharpen blades if rotary mower.

**I only perform this step on equipment like my rolling leaf blower or snow blower that I don't plan on running for nearly a year or more. Stuff that just overwinters like a mower I usually skip this (especially vertical shaft).


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## Lawndry List (Jun 30, 2020)

You could always get one of the DIY garage door insulation kits & keep a lot of stuff in the garage through winter too. Luckily our garage doors were already insulated, but I added another layer of panels & it's a 15 degree difference with that second layer on + I upgraded the weatherstrip on the bottom of the garage doors


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

Lust4Lawn said:


> ....
> **I only perform this step on equipment like my rolling leaf blower or snow blower that I don't plan on running for nearly a year or more. Stuff that just overwinters like a mower I usually skip this (especially vertical shaft).


There's far more potential for problems with equipment that's inactive during the warmer months. Snowmobiles, Snowblowers, Leaf blowers, Chainsaws, etc. It's not just the seasonal use pattern that creates trouble, it's what season is the "off" season that really aggravates things.


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## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

MasterMech said:


> Lust4Lawn said:
> 
> 
> > ....
> ...


Great point.


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## violar (Nov 8, 2021)

When power tools are in use then can easily get up to 130, 150 degrees on the motor. So ambient temps are not a problem.

The only thing is cold weather can reduce your batteries charge and efficiency. So in the winter maybe store batteries inside or in a mud room
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## gooodawgs (Jul 10, 2020)

So do most change the oil before storing the mower away for winter? Or wait until Spring? I drained the gas from the greensmower and disconnected spark plug, but wasn't sure if more was needed.


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## Tinsmith292 (Oct 2, 2018)

I always wait till spring to change the oil , A mechanic friend of mine told me years ago to do it that way and so far never any trouble


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

gooodawgs said:


> So do most change the oil before storing the mower away for winter? Or wait until Spring? I drained the gas from the greensmower and disconnected spark plug, but wasn't sure if more was needed.


Humans being what humans are, it's rare for the engine oil to get changed prior to storage. We tend to procrastinate and perform the maintenance just prior to needing the equipment.

Speaking purely from a best practice standpoint, I'd prefer to change it at the end of the active season. If the machine gets used 1-2 more times prior to being put in storage, no biggie.

But why? Because if we think about why we change engine oil in the first place, who wants all that sitting in the sump for 3-6 months before the oil gets changed? Corrosion from acids is irreversible, and any solids settling out risks forming a layer on the walls of the sump which may not drain off with the post-storage oil change. Or worse, they re-suspend when fresh oil, with fresh detergents, is added. This either slugs the oil pump/filter early on in the service interval, or for engines with no pump/filter, re-contaminates the new oil for the duration of the service interval.

Admittedly, in practical application, most engines are maintained well enough that it won't matter much, unless discussing it on the internet. :lol:


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