Fall is a busy time of year for power equipment. Mowers, weed trimmers, leaf blowers, chainsaws and other small-engine machinery are in heavy service, sometimes right up until the first snowflakes fly. But when the grass stops growing and every last leaf has fallen, yard equipment needs to be made ready for winter storage —…
The temperature is falling, the leaves are dropping and soon, it will be time to pull your snowmobile out of storage and hit the trails. But before that happens, you’ll want to make sure your sled is ready to ride. Nothing will suck the joy out of bombing fresh drifts more than a broken machine,…
Whether it’s the first mow of the season or the last mow before storage, it’s frustrating when your lawn mower is hard to start or won’t start at all. The good news is that most of the time, lawn mower problems are the result of dirty components or poor fuel storage; sometimes both. Luckily, these…
Oftentimes, seemingly big engine problems can be traced to small sources. What might seem like a complex, costly fix might actually be pretty simple and affordable. In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, car engines took a huge leap forward with the addition of a computer system. This modernization meant that engines could run much…
Owning a gas-powered vehicle comes with a wide range of ongoing expenses, none more persistent than filling up at the pump. And while you can’t control gas prices, you can make sure you’re doing all you can to get the best fuel economy possible. It’s common for gas mileage to fall from factory specs as…
For boaters, nothing ruins a day on the lake quicker than being stuck at the launch or stalled in the water troubleshooting an engine issue. Marine engines, just like the engine in your car or truck, require routine maintenance to run properly. And the engine on your boat likely doesn’t run nearly as frequently as…
The reality is that the oil you choose can make a significant difference in engine performance and wear over time. Here’s how to decode your oil type and why it matters. A MATTER OF THICKNESS For the purposes of this article, we’ll focus on multigrade oils, which are the oils most commonly used in cars…
Hard starting, rough idling and poor performance can plague any ATV after years of use. This is especially true if your machine sits unused for long periods of time or is run with old fuel or poor fuel blends. Whether your quad is carbureted or fuel injected, two stroke or four stroke, harmful deposits can,…
