Re: Kawasaki/Kohler eng winter storage.?

Posted by JT on December 11, 2007 at 06:39:02 from (70.226.215.198):

In Reply to: Kawasaki/Kohler eng winter storage.? posted by BLinWMi on December 11, 2007 at 05:34:24:

Oh man, sounds like you have a know it nothing telling you what to do, so much fun. To tell you the truth, the best way I would suggest to store them and this is what I tell my customers:
1.Start engine, let it get good and warm, change oil and filter. Why? This will get all the carbon, dirt and acids out of the oil before it gets stored. Replace with a cheap detergent oil, does not matter as long as it is a detergent oil.
2.grease all the fittings, this gets all the dirt out, dirt absorbs moisture, this will lead to rust.
3.blow off all dirt and grass, again, this will attract moisture and lead to rust.
4. charge battery for at least 2 hours at 10-20amp to get a full charge.
5. start, let it warm up for 5 minutes or so.
6. put fuel stabilizer in it the gas, anything is good except Stabil, put in storage area, then shut off gas valve and let carb run dry and die.
I would not do any more than this because the blades can rust, then you have to resharpen them to get a clean cut, and all the belts and such can gt some environmental wear/damage from setting in the elements.
I know this all sounds extreme to do, but your bean counter wanted you to do it one way, and you want to do it the correct way. And this is really the proper way.
Then in spring time, change oil again to get rid of any moisture that might have collected in oil, then change and check you belts, blades, bearings, pulleys, air filters, tires and tire pressures, hydro filters and such. By doing it this way you will extend the life of the equipment. You do not have to do all this, but it sure will help the equipment last longer.
So, your bean counter is 10% correct, and 90% full of beans.
The reason we do a complete winter maintenance for consumer mowers is because we are not busy now, and if they waited until it was time to use the mower, we would be so covered up with mowers we would never get them done for the customer to use in the summer.
You as an individual for a small company can do it the correct way and it will cost your company a little in labor and parts, but the long term rewards would be worth it.
Jim

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