storing your tractor

An old timer told me once that when you store your lawn mower, tractor, dozer etc. you should run your gas tank empty then put a little diesel fuel in it. The oily base will keep the tank and carb from creating rust. Anyone ever heard this

YOu should run your carb empty... due to crapy gas...

as to the tank,, some say keep it full so it will not rust, but if storing very long the gas will go bad. And that much diesel will be weird... but would work... but keep the carb dry...

first: how long are you talking about storing the tractor? couple of months or years

if you think storing a metal gas tank (empty works out), go try and buy an old motor boat engine fuel tank that has been left empty for years, full of rust.

if just storing during the winter months and on a nice day, you do want to start it up and let run a bit.

I always store gas tank full of non ethanol fuel, add a can of sea foam fuel additive, let tractor run for a while to be sure the sea foam is inside the carb.

charge the battery: full charge.

change the oil with new oil filter and run it a while to insure all internal surfaces have a fresh clean oil coating. (do not leave old oil full of harsh chemicals and dirt in the crankcase).

change air filter oil

wipe down body fenders, hood and give them a good coat of wax,

I also do not store my tractor tires on the ground, I have a gravel bed inside my storage shed, so the tires are not on setting on dirt.

a few boxes of mice bait placed around under the tractor, in the seat, on top of the fuel tank, etc. they love to eat a stored tractor or trucks, seat cushions and wiring insulation.

good luck and you should be ready to fire off in the spring.

just how I do it, most times I have no problems in the spring firing up my tractor, mowers, tillers, etc.

A little diesel fuel wont hurt a thing, but don't use Marvel Mystry Oil, Thats bad news for long term storage.

I finished buttoning up my machines for their winter sleep last week. before I do any work on the tractors I fill my five gallon gasoline containers with TWICE the recommended amount of sta-bil. then I fill the fuel tanks with about eight to nine gallons of fuel each. not quite a full tank. then when they are ready to sit I start each engine and let it run a bit then shut fuel flow off.

I leave the batteries connected. usually a simple charge in the spring and they fire up. of course there are exceptions.

also make sure anti-freeze protection is good.

I am not crazy about having them sit on bare ground but that's the way it is.

been doing it this way for many years. actually the sta-bil is a recent addition to my winter care. up until about four years ago I did not do anything to the gasoline and never had a tank of gas go bad. sta-bil does not seem to hurt anything.

that's the way I do it. we all have our ways.

Steve, nice collection, are all 4 tractors Fergusons under the pine tree?

As for my self, I run only non-ethanol gas in mine and crank them up at least every two weeks or so and let them idle.....

three TO-35's and one MF 35 under the trees. one in driveway is TO-35. one up yonder is Ford 2000 offset

Thanks for your comments. All good ideas. Norm