What should I do to safely store the engine for the winter?

treat the gas per instructions on the bottle of fuel stabilizer, try to keep it in a dry place avoiding tarps (they don't let water vapor out, condensating) change the oil, if you have a oil filter, change that. run the engine to make sure the stabilizer is in the carb, fill the tank up, if the air filters dirty, change this as well. if its time for a new spark plug, that too, gapped at .30

now if your planning on using the engine in the cold maybe, be sure to use a multi wieght oil not straight 30.

It's also a good idea to pull the spark plug and spray the cylinder down good with WD-40, Deep Creep, or a similar penetrating lube. This will keep the rings from sticking while its sitting up.

Hey BB,

You simply stick the WD-40 straw down into the spark plug hole and shoot the stuff right into the top of the cylinder??? What about slowly turning the motor over a few times by slowly pulling on the cord in order to work the WD-40 in betweent the rings and cylinder wall???

i just give em a good dose of mmo in with the stabilized gas, run em a little, change the oil, oil filter, plugs and air filter if need be and park it in the shed. you can use wd-40, rather would stick with engine oil though, briggs also sells a fogging spray to use. wd-40 if you use it, its a penetrant so it would work down but you can pull the cord a little with the spark plug out...... install the plug, leave it be. or if its electric start, just spin the flywheel by hand with the plug out.