jon@camano
ArboristSite Lurker
How is the best way to store a Stihl 500l long term? On carburetor saws I run them dry before long term storage. Will that hurt the injector on the 500i?
Thank you,
Jon
Thank you,
Jon
Stihl 500i long term storage
- Thread starter jon@camano
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Crftrapper535
ArboristSite Operative
I don't think it'll hurt the injector I rub all my saws dry and it works just fine I do unplug the spark plug I've been told it helps I don't know I'm trying it though now my buddy he takes his fuel lines off the carb and leaves gas in the saw I Don't think I recommend that but maybe also keep it in a dry place nobody likes a soaked chainsaw
Define long term storage. Months? Years?
Id run half a tank of decent alkylate fuel through it like aspen. I am obsessive about oil so Id probably add some extra two stroke oil to make it say 40:1 and squirt some into the cylinder and pull it over before storage.
I have never run a saw, weedeater, blower, or anything else dry.
The problem will be in the carb and you are kidding yourself if you think all the fuel will come out.
Mixed with air might even make it more likely to clot.
And, I have never had one not start.
I just dump the gas out, put fresh in , and go to work.
Most canned gas has a shelf life of two years. Fill with that and run it until you think it has pushed everything else out and leave it alone.
The problem will be in the carb and you are kidding yourself if you think all the fuel will come out.
Mixed with air might even make it more likely to clot.
And, I have never had one not start.
I just dump the gas out, put fresh in , and go to work.
Most canned gas has a shelf life of two years. Fill with that and run it until you think it has pushed everything else out and leave it alone.
Ultimately also its helpful to run the engines every few months. I have a bit of a mid winter session with alkylate fuel. I get every engine idling for a few minutes - two mowers, a brushcutter, four chainsaws and a blower.
Getting gas out of the carb is to remove the ethanol from the system. IF using EF free gas, there is no point to run a carb dry. In fact, you can't get it totally dry and are creating an environment with partial fluid in it (worse than full of EF gas).
Fuel injectors aren't affected one way or another by any of this.
Fuel injectors aren't affected one way or another by any of this.
LuDookie
ArboristSite Guru
Purge it with canned E-free fuel, run it dry, or not… and store it INDOORS. That’ll be the magic bullet. In a year’s time the fuel might not spark, but it won’t damage anything. Pour it out start over.
Storing a saw in a barn with big temp and humidity swings wears a saw out faster than a dull chain.
You can store pump gas in a saw and keep it in a climate controlled atmosphere, probably for years and I’d bet it would crank.
Loosen the chain or just take it off the powerhead.
But I also wouldn’t let a 500i sit long enough to worry about gas.
I also never let ethanol fuel sit in a saw. I rarely even run it. For a lot of jobs, e free is not cost effective, so I’ll run regular gas, but I hate it.
Storing a saw in a barn with big temp and humidity swings wears a saw out faster than a dull chain.
You can store pump gas in a saw and keep it in a climate controlled atmosphere, probably for years and I’d bet it would crank.
Loosen the chain or just take it off the powerhead.
But I also wouldn’t let a 500i sit long enough to worry about gas.
I also never let ethanol fuel sit in a saw. I rarely even run it. For a lot of jobs, e free is not cost effective, so I’ll run regular gas, but I hate it.
Sidecarflip
Addicted to ArboristSite
My 090 and my 075 are both devoid of fuel and oil but they have sat on the shelf up high in my shop which is climate controlled, winter (heat) and summer AC al, the time and I ran them dry on non corn squeezed gas anyway, put a shot of light oil in the cylinders and pulled them over, sparky out and then replaced it but left sparky finger tight.
My other saws I use, the 028 50 year old spinks saw started life on no corn squeezed gas anyway because ethanol didn't exist when I bought it (same time I bought the 090 and 075 as well.
I've since switched the 028 over to Echo Red Armor 50-1 canned gas and believe it or not, it's much happier on canned gas than it ever was on corn squeezed gas and small bottles of Stihl regular mix oil. Been a damn good saw considering it's age and like all my saws, never been apart, other than opening up the mufkin because all Stihl's especially the newer ones all suffer from a restricted mufkin across the board. The 2 Echo's are always been on canned fuel, either Red Armor or Tru-Fuel 50-1 right from the get go and I see no difference between the Tru-Fuel and d the Red Armor except the Red Armor is dyed red, kind of reminds me of off road diesel minus the diesel smell...
The 2 echo's have both had the mufkin mod done and the CS top handle, I tossed the Cat mufkin and replaced it with an OEM non-Cat mufkin and I took off the plastic shroud over the carb as well (did the same deal to the Timber Bear and installed the Red Beard oiled foam air cleaner / velocity stack and I never fooled with the mixture screws on them at all actually. They both 4 stroke slightly at WOT but get right with the program when putting them 'in the wood', no issues. It's my contention that Echo sets them rich from the factory. Limiter caps are still on both and I've never fiddled with either.
My also ancient Stihl FS66 brush trimer is now on canned gas as well and I just fired it up from sitting most of the fall and all winter, in the shop of course, fired right up on the second pull, no issue. I'm gonna get a new Echo straight shaft brush cutter this summer sometime, just not sure when and I guess I'll put the 66 on here in the used but not abused for sale section. It's a good brush cutter / string trimmer but it's getting time for an upgrade to a new Echo.
I have the Stihl tri cut poly head for it as well as a pair of scratcher blades and all the tools in the bright orange tool case as well. It has the optional handlebars and remote throttle / kill switch.
I can buy the Echo's at dealer cost anytime as the Kubota dealer I work at part time is also an Echo retailer and I get them at cost, with no markup at all. He's been selling a poop pile of Echo stuff lately, lots of smaller tractors as well but not too many big ones like I own, but then I farm with mine,
I don't cut the lawn or dig holes with the play toy backhoe's either. If I need a hoe, I can borrow my buddy's Kobeleco Excavator, all I have to do is put diesel in it and don't abuse it, and I don't. Just completely rebushed a big Case 4x4 extenda hoe. Turned all the bushings in the shop and picked up the 660 CA oil impregnated bronze cored blanks in Wauseon at the manufacturer.
BH's on small tractors are one of the most worthless implements you can ever buy. Even on my big 90 horse Kubota's they are basically expensive / worthless implements
My other saws I use, the 028 50 year old spinks saw started life on no corn squeezed gas anyway because ethanol didn't exist when I bought it (same time I bought the 090 and 075 as well.
I've since switched the 028 over to Echo Red Armor 50-1 canned gas and believe it or not, it's much happier on canned gas than it ever was on corn squeezed gas and small bottles of Stihl regular mix oil. Been a damn good saw considering it's age and like all my saws, never been apart, other than opening up the mufkin because all Stihl's especially the newer ones all suffer from a restricted mufkin across the board. The 2 Echo's are always been on canned fuel, either Red Armor or Tru-Fuel 50-1 right from the get go and I see no difference between the Tru-Fuel and d the Red Armor except the Red Armor is dyed red, kind of reminds me of off road diesel minus the diesel smell...
The 2 echo's have both had the mufkin mod done and the CS top handle, I tossed the Cat mufkin and replaced it with an OEM non-Cat mufkin and I took off the plastic shroud over the carb as well (did the same deal to the Timber Bear and installed the Red Beard oiled foam air cleaner / velocity stack and I never fooled with the mixture screws on them at all actually. They both 4 stroke slightly at WOT but get right with the program when putting them 'in the wood', no issues. It's my contention that Echo sets them rich from the factory. Limiter caps are still on both and I've never fiddled with either.
My also ancient Stihl FS66 brush trimer is now on canned gas as well and I just fired it up from sitting most of the fall and all winter, in the shop of course, fired right up on the second pull, no issue. I'm gonna get a new Echo straight shaft brush cutter this summer sometime, just not sure when and I guess I'll put the 66 on here in the used but not abused for sale section. It's a good brush cutter / string trimmer but it's getting time for an upgrade to a new Echo.
I have the Stihl tri cut poly head for it as well as a pair of scratcher blades and all the tools in the bright orange tool case as well. It has the optional handlebars and remote throttle / kill switch.
I can buy the Echo's at dealer cost anytime as the Kubota dealer I work at part time is also an Echo retailer and I get them at cost, with no markup at all. He's been selling a poop pile of Echo stuff lately, lots of smaller tractors as well but not too many big ones like I own, but then I farm with mine,
I don't cut the lawn or dig holes with the play toy backhoe's either. If I need a hoe, I can borrow my buddy's Kobeleco Excavator, all I have to do is put diesel in it and don't abuse it, and I don't. Just completely rebushed a big Case 4x4 extenda hoe. Turned all the bushings in the shop and picked up the 660 CA oil impregnated bronze cored blanks in Wauseon at the manufacturer.
BH's on small tractors are one of the most worthless implements you can ever buy. Even on my big 90 horse Kubota's they are basically expensive / worthless implements
I hate to admit this but I bought a 500i in 2021, made a few cuts with then a bunch happened in my life. Fast forward to 2024 I topped it off with fuel and oil and have been running it a ton this year. It started like the day I bought it. I used to mess around chasing down non-ethanol fuel and such. I think the oils have come a long way and help preserve the gas. I have tons of equipment that gets laid up for 6-11 months a year and minus a few pieces I have no issues. I swear those few pieces of equipment will give me grief if I let them sit for 2 weeks.
Tell me why every chainsaw/weedeater/blower/generator/etc I get from craigslist non-running that was left with gas in it won't run for **** until I clean out the carb from all the **** gas left in it?
LuDookie
ArboristSite Guru
I agree, I think the stabilizers in a lot of oils do a great deal to help.
The same reason I sometimes get as many as a dozen a week, maybe more, in the shop. And, I replace the carbs. I am not screwing with cleaning them.
So, you explain it to me. Never happens with my stuff. Like a couple of 35 year old Lawn Boy 2 cycles. A robin weed eater that ran 35 years before the NLA carb sight window broke. Countless chainsaws that come and go.
So, tell me.
I'm not the one claiming that I can leave gas in saws for years without gumming up. How would I tell you how you do it?
I've seen it happen a lot...so, it absolutely does happen. So to tell people to not run their saws dry with the only evidence being 'it doesn't happen to me' is ridiculous.
I've never got a saw that was run dry that had a gummed up carb. It seems like that's the better option for most people who don't have magical anti-gas-gumming powers like you.
Replacing a gummed up carb seems more expensive to me than cleaning it. Most of the time I can turn around a saw in 10-15 minutes cleaning the carb...most of them don't even need a kit. Disassemble, spray out, reassemble. Done. Are you replacing these carbs with OEM?
I leave them over the winter. Years is some noises in your head.
If you think you can clean most of these new fixed jet carbs then you obviously aren't doing it.
And, if you think running them dry works you aren't doing it either.
LuDookie
ArboristSite Guru
A lot of times my saws will sit during the hottest 3 to 4 months of the summer, and often during duck and deer season, but occasionally one of my saws will sit for about a year. I don’t drain fuel or run them empty. I just keep e-free fuel in them and keep them in my air conditioned gear closet. I’ve only had issues in the past using pump gas and storing them in the barn.
LarJea
ArboristSite Lurker
I have always run all my chainsaws out of fuel late winter if they are going to sit until spring and so far so good with no carb problems including my Stihl 034 that I bought new in 1991, but then again I always use non-ethanol fuel so maybe running it dry wouldn't have mattered anyway.
I went to buy some non ethanol yesterday. Store up the road had an issue with the non ethanol. Had a truck there pumping whatever off the bottom of the tank. That is normal maintenance on some schedule. The tanker drivers have a stick that can tell the water level through some magic. Anyhow, drove another 20 miles and bought 22 1/2 gallons of 93 non ethanol and it was like $180 . But, it should last me a while.
The title of this thread includes 'long term storage'. You believe a few months over winter is long term? I don't and I don't think most people would.
I won't even waste my time replying in depth to the other statements because you have no idea what I do, and that's blatantly clear. Because you're wrong on both accounts.
I leave all mine fueled up all year long. I try to start them up every month or so, just because I like the sound. Near me it pays to have a saw ready to go even in winter since there's always a possibility of trees coming down.
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