Store your ATV for the winter

[ants]

What do you guys do as far as storing you ATvs for the winter. I have 2. One I will plow with but the other is done till spring. I dont have room for it in the garage so I have to put it in a unheated shed

[First-light]

Hi test gas and a fuel stabilizer. I could use some pointers also.

[Gthphtm]

First I would put Stabil in the fuel tank and run it for awhile,Pull the spark plug or plugs and fog the engine with Stabil fogging oil or a marine fogging oil,then drain the old used oil and put in fresh oil put a new oil filter on.It would not hurt to spray the switches and elec. connections and the winch cable if you have one with silocone spray,and armerorall the seats and plastic,put a little extra air in the tires,put an old tee shirt in the exhaust and make sure the air filter is covered (Mice love to hide in there in the winter.Also take the battery out ,I had one freeze and crack on me 2 years ago..

[WNYBuckHunter]

I agree with most of that,mbut I would get a rubber exhaust plug instead of stuffing a tee shirt or rag in there, which can hold moisture. Also, I would take the weight off of the tires, use some small jack stands and put the quad up on them, then let the air out of the tires. Also, get a trickle charger and leave it charging the battery In the garage or basement.

[ants]

Is it better to pull the battery and put it on a trickle or go out and start it up once every week or two?

[RifleSharpShot]

With the way the weather is looking you won't need to put it up at all.But all i do is start it and maybe ride it around the yard a little to warm up once a week.Its bad for the wheelers motor to sit over winter if is hasn't been fogged,Then water should cause rust in your crankcase and that would be no good at all.Good luck

~RSS~

[bkln]

What winter? LOL

[Whelen]

We store several quads up in Maine. All we do is Blue Stabil and trickle charge them- never have problems.

[ants]

Hate to sound like that guy but how do you "fog" an engine??? (Been riding ATV's for ever but im not much of a motor head)

)

[RifleSharpShot]

Hate to sound like that guy but how do you "fog" an engine??? (Been riding ATV's for ever but im not much of a motor head)

)

Well to do it at home the right way would be a pain in the @$$.Ive never done it i bring my snowmobile into my local shop and they take care of it.But I know it has to do a lot with making the fuel stable so that water doesn't get in there and cause rust..{Witch would score your cylinder,And blow the piston}..But if you google it you can learn more about it.

[RifleSharpShot]

We store several quads up in Maine. All we do is Blue Stabil and trickle charge them- never have problems.

Thats what i do for the most part I just took my snowmobile there because it was newer and cost me a lot more than my wheelers.And i love the trickle charger I got one for christmas and use it for my mototcyle.Great tool to have.

~RSS~

[Doc]

My ATV is the primary snow removal machine for our 1000' driveway, so it never really gets stored for any long periods of time. However, I wouldn't think that an ATV would be any different than either of my riding lawnmowers. With those, I just add some stabil fuel conditioner to the gas and pull the batteries and store them in the basement. I also keep a generous supply of mouse poison around the barn (year around).That can be a very important tip because not controlling the mouse population cost me a good garden tractor once when the mice decided to pack the cooling fins on the motor with fur/grass/etc. Because of the cowling, I was unaware that the engine was being cooked until it was too late.

[ants]

I pulled the battery yesterday and the fuel has stabilizer in it. I'll address the mouse thing today. Normally I would keep both ATVs in the garage, plow with one and run the other up and down the street every couple of weeks so it was never an issue. I ran out of garage space this year so one has to go in the back shed and once the deeper snow comes its on its own.

Thanks for the info.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Fogging the engine is easy, pull the plug(s) and spray the engine fogger into the cylinder and put the plug(s) back in. I wouldn't worry about the crank case. I've had small engines (atvs, dirt bikes, lawn mowers, chainsaws, weed eaters, boats, sleds jet skis) sit for over a year with just sta-bil and a trickle charger on the battery, and never had a problem. Like I said before though, I like to take the weight off of the tires.

[Dave]

Guys I have 3 , 220 bayou Kawasaki quads. two bought new in 1996 and one in 2001. I do absolutely nothing to them just close the gas valve. Come spring they usually start right up with no problems, have had the same response since I have had them. Only changed the batteries once in a while. Change the oil and filters in the late spring.

[ants]

Speaking of oil do you guys use ATV oil or regular car oil in the recommended weight ?

[WNYBuckHunter]

Car oil. The specific atv oil is a waste of the extra you pay for it.

[Dave]

Get all your oil at an auto barn, or any of those type car stores. Buying from a dealer is much more expensive and the oil is basically the same. Oil filters on line are also much cheaper.

[sits in trees]

save the stabilizer, just crank er over and let it run a couple times, it will be fine.

[ants]

I thought so on the oil. I've been using Castrol or Mobile. I get the filters at the auto parts store. Every time I go into the dealership (for something only they carry) they try to sell me an oil change kit. As I recall its about $7 more than the regular oil & filter you get at the parts place. Eveny cheaper at wally world

[bubba]

I leave the honda at camp in the shed. Put marine stabil in the tank let it run for about 10 minutes, pull the battery being it home and put it in the heated garage, The suzuki I have in the garage with the plow attaches and it runs when it snows and if it doesnt, I still run it every couple weeks.