Storage Question
 

I have too many cubs to run at the same time and some of them I haven't had out of the garage for a little over a year. However, I do try to start them every now and then. With that said, I was wondering what is the best way to store them, concerning the gas tank.....should I (a) store it with a full tank of fuel as manufacturer specs state (kind of worried with the modern fuel and its shelf life) or (b) store it with no fuel in the tank. I have used Sta-Bil and Marvel Mystery Oil on my cubs on a regular basis.

Thanks in advance for entertaining my question.

Cub Cadet 123

I've personally filled the tanks with stabil and shut the fuel off and let the carb run dry. And worst I've.had to do is.drain the.tank and fill with fresh fuel

No fuel. The ethanol in today's gas can absorb water, which will sink to the bottom and rust the tank.

DO NOT USE STABIL, it is worthless against today's ethanol. Leaving the tank and carb empty are also not the best options. There is a product on the market now, called Star-tron, it is in a blue bottle and sold many places(TSC, Ace Hardware, many Small Engine Dealers) Add it to your fuel and run the engine long enough to get it into the carb, then you should be safe.

If their going to be setting for a spell, I would drain the fuel, and run the tractor till it stops. Pull the plug and dump a table spoon of good 30w and turn it over by hand. A dry tank is better than one with fuel left in it.
Air up the tires and jack up the tractor (jack stands on all four corners) so the tires are off the floor so you don't end up flat spotting them.
Pull the battery and store in a warm location and pereodically charge it. This is what I do when I'm not going to be using one for awhile

StarTron. A gas enzyme. Been using it & my cubbies seem to run better. 2 others say the same thing. Ace has it.
Google it & read what it does to combat ethanol & less carbon build up inside the engine.

Nik,

Years ago I bought nearly a dozen CCs at once, most of which had been sitting outside, some for as many as 20 years. Some had gas in them, and some didn't. Practically every one that had gas in it had a bunch of crap in the carb and rust in the tank, and the ones that were dry stayed in near perfect shape.

I am not saying it is not a good option, I am just saying it is not as good as leaving them with Star-tron treated gas in them.

My thinking that long term years, one would drain everything. Over the winter ( months) I'd stick to the StarTron with a full tank of gas. Even using stabil & a full tank leaves NO room for condensation to accumulate because of ethanol.

Nik,

I would stick with the startron treatment myself. Startron claims to be a good stabilizer for 2yrs. I will attest to that claim. I put startron treated gas in my Mac chainsaw 2yrs ago. Had to dig it out the other day and the gas still smells as fresh as when I put it in and it still runs like a bear. I really think it makes my air cooled engines run better. I ran it in my truck for a couple months and really never noticed any difference.