It's usually a good idea to change oil before storing away your mowers due to acids that can build up in motor oil as it's used.

how about draining the gas opposed to adding fuel additive?

There are so many opinions on both fuel and oil. Kudos for wanting to take care of these things properly. A stabilizer added to FRESH fuel and the equipment run for 5 to 10 minutes regardless of running them out of fuel or not will get you further than anything. Unless extra care is taken- fuel remains in the system. I don't personally run mine out. You could change your oil then if you were so inclined also. Start next season with fresh fuel and go ahead and add the rest of this years to the car if it is clean (and the car not diesel :)

I would tend to agree with Oranges Recommendation due to Acidic Reasoning Provided lol . Also agree with Tom use a Stabilizer and Leave Full or Run it dry , up to you !

Note: In Warm Storage you may wish to leave fuel system full due ro thermal cycles and condensation forming within the fuel tank (corrosion potential) small but still possible .

I have done many variations...but find it makes no difference. I have left the gas in, and they all start fine in the spring. I have drained, and they all start fine in the spring. And did the stabilizer thing too, same result.

I dose the fuel with MMO when I fill the tank. I run the carbs dry every time I park the stuff in the shed. I dont even take the battery out. I have used Stabil and I guess it helps. I have had to do a lot less carb maintenance, since I started running the carbs dry after every use and using a little MMO every fill. I do the same thing for my snow blowers and they both started easily a few weeks ago after sitting for 10 months. Not too bad for a pair of 30 somethin Ariens 24 "

Andyma: Preventative Maintenance goes a long ways , you have a good process :)

"Maintenance goes a long ways"...And then there is always the guy with the Craftsman mower that hasn't changed the oil in 11 years and only adds motor oil he has drained from his car and the engine still runs like new.

The Guy with the Craftsman days are long gone . The Ole Clinton and B&S and Tec's back in the 60's and 70's you got away with that . Seems the newer mowers have to be maintained quite a bit better to survive. Quite often you see more mowers being replaced due to operator negligence and poor maintenance .

Just laid my old Briggs 3.5 classic up (yes, the one with the blade stuck on with epoxy)! I drain the tank until there is just a little petrol left and then add 2-stroke oil sae 40 at about 100:1. I start it up and run for a minute or so or until she runs out of fuel. Ease her over to leave it on the compression stroke so both valves are shut and the springs aren't compressed and the job's done. Then it sits in the garage for 3 months with the car and firewood and the bucket of holly (picked early for christmas before the wood pigeons get ALL the berries). (It's thawing today but we've had a very cold week with 18" of snow.) Cold for Surrey - I guess you people in the middle of USA are used to 20F on a mild night!

Sounds like the forum largely believes running dry vs adding stabilizer is about the same? I had good luck for 15 years allowing my Lawnboy to run dry each year. I also would remove the spark plug, put in a teaspoon of 10/40 oil, replace the plug and pull a couple of times to distribute the oil. In the spring, a new plug. No one mentioned this; recommended or is this not a good idea with my one year old super recycler?

jaa: Your Process is similar to fogging a Marine Engine . The problem with running dry theory is in some carburator / engine designs residual fuel remains with the bowl or carb circuits and if ethanol based fuel is used then fuel clogging and gumming are a real issue later. Only Fuel Storage Additives will assist in preventing this process. Your other oil addition and new plug usage is a very sound investment within Preventative Maintenance Bro :)