Thinking about getting an off road go kart to keep up at the farm but we would only get out there several times a year with some long periods between visits.

Just from experience with the lawn mower, you can’t let a gas engine sit that long and expect it to fire up every time with no issue.  I am familiar with winterization and that is a separate topic.

Are there tips/tricks or products to mix in the fuel which will allow me to have a gas engine not get all gunked up after several months of inactivity?

There are also some EV go carts which should not exhibit this issue, but cost/performance/availability still goes to the gas engines.

Thoughts?

Best way is to put a fuel shutoff between your carb and gas tank.  When you do not expect to use it again for a while then shut the fuel off while it's running and let it run till it dies.  Some Stabil in the tank will give you maybe 30 days more use from fresh gas.

The biggest issue is fuel sitting in the carb as it evaporates and leaves deposits that gum up the works.  A lot of vehicles can run on pretty crappy gas.  It just kills the mileage.

FPNI.

I use pri-g fuel stabilizer.  On my generator, sometimes it'll go several months between starts.  Longest may have been 9 months.  There's been gas in its tank for over 2 years without any issues.  The generator has a petcock between the tank and the carb.  When I run it, i turn it off by turning off the fuel and letting the engine drink up any gas thats in the carb.  So far, thats worked out pretty well.

I also have a riding mower.  During some parts of the year, it'll sit for 5-6 months without getting started.  It doesnt have a fuel petcock.  I use the same gas with the same gas treatment in it.  The mower so far hasn't seemed to care.  It works fine, as long as the battery to start it hasn't died.

In addition to what was mentioned above.
On engines that are gonna sit for a while in between uses,  I like to use ethanol free gas.

use ethanol free gas

I put sta-bil and either techron or Marvel Mystery Oil in every gas can, and if my trimmer/mower/blower/whatever has sat all winter, I drain the old gas, fill it up, and it'll take 2-4 pulls instead of 1-2 to start, then it's fine.

As to ethanol, ethanol causes *A* problem.  Gas had other problems with sitting long-term long before ethanol was an ingredient, so don't buy into the hype that ethanol-free will solve all of your problems.

Good advice, thanks all.

I will add a petcock and shut it off or if the tank is small enough, I will empty it. I also ad Sta-Bil 360 to my gas cans every time I fill them up. Sta-Bil helps remove ethanol. I have been doing that for years with all my lawn equipment and haven't had any issues. I will also add it directly to the tank on my SxS too.

As others have said: Ethanol free gas, a stabilizer, and fuel cut off. I just splice something like this into the fuel line between the tank and carb. I think mine were Briggs or Sterns but look the same.

Stabil doesn’t remove ethanol. If it did, what does it do with it and where does it go? How much value stabilizers have on stored fuel is debatable. I go with the might not help, cannot hurt philosophy and use PRI G. Never had any problems using Stabil in years past either. The best way to preserve fuel is airtight storage.

All I know is that adding Sta-Bil 360 definitely does help no matter what it actually does to or with the ethanol. My wording might have been wrong and it doesn't remove ethanol bit treats it instead.

You're right, sta-bil doesn't remove ethanol.  The best that it COULD do (and it probably DOESN'T) would be to keep ethanol from being hygroscopic.  Ethanol itself isn't really much of a problem.  IF it absorbs water from the air, then the water CAN be.

I recently took apart the carb of a ~15 year old mower that never got ethanol-free, and never got winterized.  I expected to see the horror story that the Internet tells me it would surely be, no... the carb was fine.  It had a little varnishing, and got cleaned, but no real gumming or corrosion.

For fun, I talked to a guy at a local small engine repair shop, and I remarked that the Internet tells me that the carb would have been destroyed.  He said that he does get some machines in where sitting long periods with ethanol has caused that, but he sees more where it hasn't.   It kind of depends on the quality of your parts, what kind of environment your machine is exposed to, etc..

I believe you.  Gas was going bad well before ethanol in gas was common.  

Ethanol actually has some fuel system benefits...keeping the fuel system clean.  It's a great solvent.

Here is one example of the type of carbs I see on an almost daily basis.

Really bad carburetor on FB.

If you scroll there are many more carbs that were bad.  The one in this picture was not rebuildable.

 
Stabill will help but you will have to drain the gas or periodically run the motor.   Old is old.    At a min you need a shutoff valve so the old fuel doesn’t evaporate in the carb
If the motor is going to sit for an extended period pull the spark plug and fog the cylinder/cylinders
I use the quicksilver outboard since it foams.

I'm on 1.5 year old e10 in my Jeep and it is still running fine. No stabilizer.

I do plan on running it low and putting in some E free gas before winter. Two year old gas is pushing it.

alway use E free in my boat and lawn equipment and they sits for six plus months with no stabilizer. Never had an issue.

I do drain my generator as that may sit for years.