John,
I keep hearing that gas won't keep but practice just
doesn't bear it out. Today's gasoline is so much
cleaner that the gunk we used to get... Ever notice
how you don't see the red varnish any more. Mobil
even cleaned out my old thero-quad before I junked it.
Where the gasoline sprays from my EFI there is never
any deposit. Just as clean as if I'd been spraying
acetone through there.
Talking with my small engine dealer in St. Louis last
fall, I've known him for 25 years, he has switched his
company around on recommendations for fueling lawn
mowers, trimmers, etc. John Deere (he's a JD small
equipment dealer, lawn stuff up to about 50 hp) now
recomends that fuel tanks be kept full. Through the
winter fill them as full as you can get. The idea is
to exclude all air. He has been having happier
customers and I sure have been having better luck
since I've been doing this, maybe 2-3 years. They
always (2 cycle & 4 cycle) start immediately in the
spring.
Well, Steve, that may be gasoline in Missouri, or even in Maryland, but
that is not gas in California. Our gas starts to smell bad in a mower
tank in a couple of weeks, and if left in the mower carb, it will gum
it up to the point of requiring disassembly in order to get the mower
back to running again.