thats an awfully lot of work to follow those procedures... i guess each person has very different results with storing engines big or small.
i have been doing a very simple tried & true procedure for my cars & small engine equipment for 25+ years living in the frigid upper midwest, temps can get to -20f-30f & regularly see single digit highs & negative single digit lows for weeks on end during winter storage of 5-6 months. i do use seafoam as a stabilizer & have also used stabil, they both work as intended & i never have any problems starting cars or small engines come spring.
all i do for mowers, weed trimmers, power washers & snowblowers etc is to add 1oz/gal of seafoam to the gas i use the last time they run, then i drain out as much gas as i can from the tank & run them until they shut off. thats it. & many times i dont run them dry if winter/snow sneaks up on me & i dont get around to draining & running them all dry... they all start great 5-6 months later on the old residual fuel, but they dont gum up the carbs or anything if they arent drained dry. my mower is 20 years old & snowblower is 25-30 years old, other stuff is 10-15 years old, all on original never opened carbs.
on my cars i store, i add the seafoam at 1-2oz/gal, with about 1/4 tank & take them for a final drive to circulate the treated fuel, then i shut them off & park them where they sit for 5-6 months, (one sits for 6-8 months before i get it out) all with vented tanks & carbs... they all start right up in the spring once the fuel reaches the carb, no sputtering or hard starting etc. then i drive them to run out most the gas & they run perfectly fine, i add fresh gas & notice no difference in how they run. i also dont start them during storage since i cant drive them to fully warm up the oil... starting & idling for a few minutes or even 10-15 minutes to get the coolant gauge up to temp does not get the oil hot enough to burn off condensation or fuel blow by.
i dont doubt the stories above about hard starting & multiple pulls required on small engines, but for 25+ years doing this & id say 45+ years for my father following the same steps (only he doesnt drain & run dry) for his motorcycle & small engines, i/we have never once experienced any problems starting after 5-6 months, without going to all the trouble mentioned above for storing. guess im just lucky when it comes to engine storage in some of the worst/coldest climate in the country. only difference is i dont use ethanol, but i have on occasion with the same results.
for those that havent tried or dont use a stabilizer... maybe its worth trying to see if your results change? works great for me!
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