Petrol garden tools.

[The Heron]

Well despite the warm weather it will soon be time to put away the garden tools with this in mind what is the best way to drain the two stroke mixture from my petrol trimmers etc as this is the first time I have needed to do this. 

[strimmer_13]

All I do is drain them, then run it till its dry, then air filter off, expose the carb and spray a little wd40 in there or carb cleaner. That's if I won't use it for a week or 3 months. 

Most carbs are cheap, I've a cheap Chinese one one of my stihls that didn't get stored right , cost under a tenner. 5 min job. If it won't start tidy I don't **** about, I rip it out and buy another. I'm not saying this will happen doing the above, far from it. It's more important to get the left over fuel out of the lines and carb then anything else. Service it if you want, I service mine in spring as its my busiest season atm hedge cutting ect. I use Ebay parts new, mostly Chinese and find them just as reliable. 

Also don't wanna tell you to suck eggs, but don't try starting it next year by spraying easy start or some such, it will kill the rings and lining. Straight 2 stroke from a spray bottle or a dropper into the carb is much better. 

 

Only other thing I can say is if you use aspen, or bought something that ran on aspen you might as well lob the carb. They never run right after, if you go back to 2 stroke. Not just me that thinks / has experience with this, plenty online saying the same. Avoid. 

 

 

Edited November 14, 2018 by strimmer_13

[figgy]

Strimmer_13 I run all my stuff on Aspen 2 as it’s only occasional use. The fuel keeps in the container. Don’t rot seals or lines so no need to drain. A gallon of fuel would last me six months. 

Will have a look at the aspen change of heart online. 

Only thing running Aspen 2 I have noticed is when starting after being stored , the engine will run a bit slow for first couple of minutes. 

[al4x]

Personally I have never bothered draining down.  The chainsaw will get the occasional run and the strimmer doubles as a hedge cutter so that gets the odd bit of pruning to do.  That way they get some fresh fuel at some stage and i’ve Never had a problem on first start of the season 

[JohnfromUK]

1 hour ago, al4x said:

Personally I have never bothered draining down.  The chainsaw will get the occasional run and the strimmer doubles as a hedge cutter so that gets the odd bit of pruning to do.  That way they get some fresh fuel at some stage and i’ve Never had a problem on first start of the season 

Nor have I with a Stihl blower and chainsaw.  I do use Stihl's own brand 2 stroke oil.  I don't do anything on the 4 strokes either, but change the oil at least every other year even if little used.

[harrycatcat1]

3 hours ago, al4x said:

Personally I have never bothered draining down.  The chainsaw will get the occasional run and the strimmer doubles as a hedge cutter so that gets the odd bit of pruning to do.  That way they get some fresh fuel at some stage and i’ve Never had a problem on first start of the season 

This 👍

[ditchman]

fill them up to the neck with fuel ...........then run them for 5 mins every 2 weeks...................

[ph5172]

4 minutes ago, ditchman said:

fill them up to the neck with fuel ...........then run them for 5 mins every 2 weeks...................

If the mechanical man says that’s the plan then that’s the plan

[The Heron]

Thanks everyone shows what I know about this stuff what is Aspen 2 and where would I purchase it.

[strimmer_13]

It's basically a fuel which you don't need to add 2 stroke oil too. It's cleaner for you, a lot cleaner for the environment ect ect. About £10 for 5 Ltr. That's over a year ago, probs gone up. I'm going to hold to my first comment tho, if you decide to run aspen stick with it as your tool won't run right changing back. Not without work. 

For occasional garden use it's ideal. Saves a lot of faffing about, and tbh 2 stroke stihl oil ain't cheap, I get it for £10 Ltr in mole Valley. 

[sandspider]

I think Aspen is now £20 per 5 litre!

I just use pump petrol and 2 stroke oil. Idle them empty and put them away for as long as necessary. Not had a problem (touch wood!) I do pull the pull starts every so often just to move things around a bit.

[The Heron]

Thank you everyone I think I will try the ditchman method.

[al4x]

Buy the stihl 1 shot containers unless you use a large amount.  At 50:1 it’s 1 per 5l and they are pretty cheap

[strimmer_13]

4 hours ago, al4x said:

Buy the stihl 1 shot containers unless you use a large amount.  At 50:1 it’s 1 per 5l and they are pretty cheap

£3.10 in mole Valley. Saves messing about. 

 

5 hours ago, sandspider said:

I think Aspen is now £20 per 5 litre!

I just use pump petrol and 2 stroke oil. Idle them empty and put them away for as long as necessary. Not had a problem (touch wood!) I do pull the pull starts every so often just to move things around a bit.

£20! Sod that I won't make any money 😂

[stevo_m]

I never drain fuel. If the diaphragm in the carb dries out it won’t start when you need it next year. I used to fly petrol engines in models, and the advice is never let them dry out.

[haynes]

I never bother. After about 10 years the diaphragm goes all floppy so i change them when they struggle to start. Seems to fix most problems. 

[markm]

I use proper 2 stroke in chainsaws and normally just about run them dry and pour out the last few drops  

Strimmer and leaf vac / blower, I use aspen all the time as they are stored in the garage with fuel in after short runs. 

[bigroomboy]

Aspen all the way. Just take a trip to the tip in the spring when the grass just starts to grow and see all of the almost new garden tools being thrown becausr they had old fuel left in them. I have bought many petrol tools not working for next to nothing, cleaned the carb and replaced perished diaphragms and have been running for years on aspen, never tried going back to pump fuel, why would you unlessbyou are a pro. Stinks, goes bad and ends up causing time wasting issues with small engines if you dont use them often.

[SpringDon]

14 hours ago, strimmer_13 said:

£3.10 in mole Valley. Saves messing about. 

 

£20! Sod that I won't make any money 😂

That’s £20 premixed with synthetic two stroke (not mole valley junk). You get better fuel economy, a five year shelf life and never have to worry about machines being idle.

For occasional users, it seems a no brainer. But since about 60% of my work comes from machines that have been left with old fuel in, perhaps I should be glad more people don’t use it.