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Moving Advice from a Traveling Nurse

Growing up, my two main passions were helping others and traveling. These passions made choosing my dream career easy, and I am now a traveling nurse and love it. If there is anything I have mastered outside of the field of healthcare it is making quick moves around the country! There was a huge learning curve to it, because before I began traveling for work, I lived in the same house for my entire life. To help other people who move frequently for work purposes or who are just relocating for the first time in many years, I thought I would create a blog to share my moving tips. I plan to create new posts here and there during my downtime, and I hope I can help you master your next move with ease and without a lot of stress!

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Moving Advice from a Traveling Nurse

5 Tips For Safely Storing Lawn And Garden Equipment For Long Periods Of Time

by Tom Evans

If you're moving to a urban property with no yard only for a specific period of time, the idea of selling your lawnmower and snowblower just to buy new models later seems wasteful. This is especially true when you know you're going to be moving into a place with a yard within a few months or a year. Instead of selling off your lawn and garden equipment, keep it safe and in great condition by storing it properly until you need it again.

Drain the Fuel

It's fine to store lawnmowers and other gas-powered devices with gas in them over the winter if you add a fuel stabilizer, but this isn't a good idea for longer-term, enclosed storage. Draining out the gas prevents fumes from building up inside the storage unit and either damaging your other belongings or causing a dangerous explosive situation. Draining all of the gas out of a tiller or brush mower just by tipping the unit over can seem impossible, so consider either running the equipment until it shuts down from lack of fuel or using a siphon and pump device to safely transfer fuel to a fuel can.

Clean Off Messes

The mud and bits of grass clippings on your mower's deck and blades are more damaging than you think. Even a thin coating of dust can absorb moisture and lead to a serious rust problem that leaves your equipment in poor shape. Cleaning the equipment thoroughly also prevents it from making a mess in the storage unit that you'll have to clean up when you empty the space out again.

Oil Exposed Metal

Want both your hand tools and power tools to resist rust as much as possible while in storage? Aside from choosing a climate-controlled storage unit to reduce humidity, you can also rub down uncoated and exposed metal with the right oil. Many people choose a blended synthetic tool oil, but mineral oil also works. The oil must be non-oxidizing so that it doesn't go rancid over time and break down. These products create a seal around the metal that keeps both oxygen and moisture away from the surface so that rust can't form.

Remove the Batteries

As with gas left in the tank, batteries that power or start lawn equipment can create dangerous situations in enclosed spaces like storage units. A leaking battery spreads corrosive acids that can start a fire or seriously damage the concrete floor of the storage space. It's essential to at least disconnect the battery so that a weed trimmer can't start on its own, but removing the batteries and disposing of them correctly is far safer when you know the items will be in storage for longer than just a few months. Most equipment batteries are also best replaced after sitting that long without starting, so you're not losing out by choosing to discard them before storage.

Check the Rules

Each storage provider has a different set of rules about what they allow in their storage units and what's forbidden. Don't assume that you can roll your lawnmower into your unit just because you've paid for it and signed a contract. Storage unit owners often evict the belongings of customers on very short notice when they find out their rules have been violated, so you don't want to lose the lawn equipment you are trying to save just because you forgot to check the lease agreement. Let the storage company know what you want to do upfront so they can help you find the best unit for keeping outdoor equipment safe from the weather without causing damage to the space.

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