How to drain fuel from the mower

gasolinelawn-mowerwinterizing

I have a Honda lawn mower (HRX217K2VKA) and I want to drain the fuel for winter. How should I do this? Three options spring to mind:

  1. Run the engine until the fuel is gone.
  2. Tip the mower to pour the fuel out.
  3. Siphon the fuel.

The manufacturer's manual (see page 13) recommends option 1, but I was wondering if anyone could recommend an alternative that didn't waste the gas.

Best Answer

I have always just had a "last mow of the year", where when I run the mower dry, and I've never had a problem. Then you're not really "wasting" the gas.

Depending on your model (and it looks like the one you specified ought to manage this), you may be able to do option 2 if you have a really full gas tank. Then, after emptying, you still ought to run it dry for what little remains.

I personally would not recommend siphoning it. Unless you wanted to go to the trouble of buying extra equipment to do it (and think about that - how often are you going to be siphoning gasoline? Enough to justify a special purchase?), that means a distinct risk of drinking a little bit of gasoline... not exactly a pleasant experience, nor good for you.

from this site:

Many adverse health effects of gasoline are due to individual chemicals in gasoline, mainly BTEX, that are present in small amounts. Breathing small amounts of gasoline vapors can lead to nose and throat irritation, headaches, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, confusion and breathing difficulties. Symptoms from swallowing small amounts of gasoline include mouth, throat and stomach irritation, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and headaches. Some effects of skin contact with gasoline include rashes, redness and swelling. Being exposed to large amounts of gasoline can lead to coma or death.

So, siphoning probably won't kill you, but I certainly wouldn't endorse it.

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