Preparing your petrol powered equipment for winter 

If you own petrol powered garden machinery, preparing it for the winter is vitally important if you want it to work again in the spring!  

Fuel

I have written before about the introduction of E10 petrol in the UK back in September 2021. The addition of up to 10% ethanol content in unleaded petrol has the undesirable side effect of causing the petrol to degrade faster than without it. The “shelf life” of pump bought petrol is now approximately 1-2 months. After that point it will have degraded sufficiently to begin to cause starting difficulties for small engines.  As a general rule, to minimise the risk of this being a problem during the season, you shouldn’t buy more petrol than you can use in 1-2 months.

As winter approaches, there are lots of things that you could consider to mitigate against degrading petrol being a problem. 

Drain the fuel from your machinery at the end of the season

If this is done properly then you should have no problems in the spring.  The difficulty is getting all the fuel out, particularly from the carburettor. They don’t all have drain bolts and any amount left in could potentially cause a problem as it degrades and evaporates over winter.  Please dispose of any drained fuel carefully in an appropriate manner.

Add fuel stabiliser to your petrol when you buy it

There are several manufacturers of fuel stabiliser. We sell Briggs & Stratton Fuel Fit amongst others. Adding 50ml of Fuel Fit per 5 litres of unleaded petrol (E5) or 100ml of Fuel Fit per 5 litres of unleaded petrol (E10) will promote easy starting and slow the degrading process.  The fuel should stay good for about twice as long i.e. about 4 months.  This might be good enough for your needs.  It must be added when you buy the fuel.  It will not repair already degraded fuel!

Use Aspen alkylate fuel instead of unleaded petrol

This is the safest way to avoid fuel related issues.  Aspen fuel is ethanol-free alkylate petrol available as neat petrol (Aspen 4) suitable for lawnmowers, garden tractors, cultivators, boats and other 4-stroke engines or 2% pre-mixed (50:1) with  Aspen’s fully-synthetic two-stroke oil.  Aspen fuel can be stored for up to 5 years without any deterioration in quality, which makes your engine easy to start – even after long standstill periods.

Also Aspen fuel is virtually free from harmful substances such as benzene, aromatic hydrocarbons or olefins; substances that can cause serious health problems. Aspen Alkylate Petrol also keeps the spark plugs and combustion chamber of your machine cleaner. There are numerous environmental benefits, such as reducing the formation of ground-level ozone (smog) by about 40%. 

Servicing

At the end of the season, consider having your garden machinery serviced.  We can look after most reputable brands of garden machinery and will ensure that the manufacturers recommendations with regards to annual maintenance needs are carried out in our fully equipped workshops. Preventative maintenance will ensure easy starting and smooth running for the next season. Our workshops will then refuel your equipment with Aspen fuel to guarantee an easy start in the Spring. 

Any more questions?

If you have any more questions please don't hesitate to give us a ring on 01489 575242 or Contact Us here.  One of our team will be pleased to help.