Putting away the boat for winter

[Double Barrel]

How to Winterize Your Boat - CLICK HERE

Putting away the boat for its first winter.What are the things I need to do before I put it away? Or is it something I need to take to a shop and have done? I'm thinking new oil and filter what about the gas? Any help would be appreciated.

How to Winterize Your Boat - CLICK HERE

[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 09-04-2004).]

[mnrstrider]

Already??? make sure you add some staible to the gas in proper amounts, more is not better follow the instructions, and you'll want to look into changeing your lower unit's oil to make sure there is not water in it.

My boat isn't going into storage until hard water, and maybe not even then....

[76k20]

Winterize? whats that? j/k as long as theres open water in redwing I wouldnt want the boat to be tucked away too deep. lower unit oil change fill the tank and add a fuel stabilizer. and mint extract on some cotten balls in the boat to keep the rodents away. Must be about time to fire up the auger and respool a few ice rods.

[joshb]

if it isn't gonna be in a heated garage i take the deep cycles out and put them somewhere that will stay above freezing for the winter. charging them with a float charger or just charging them a few times in the off season is a good idea to.

i bring the finders in where its warm to, i don't know if it is neccisary but it can't hurt.

[outdoor ran]

yep, bring in the graphs, the cold will destroy the screens.

[snowfighter]

Doublebarrel run your tilt on you motor up and down a couple of times to make sure all the water is drained out , sometimes air will trap water up above, marine mech. told me this, he's seen a couple motors damaged because of this.

[delmuts]

i have to agree that it is early, but. as said, you want to put stabil or seafoam in the gas and run the engine to get the stabilized fuel in and through the motor.( if a 2 cycle)( a 4 cycle , i don't know!) run the engine so it can warm up, then either spray some fogging oil into the carbs and engine, or shut it off and spray the fogging oil into the cylinders through the spark plug holes. rotate the engine a few times to spread it over the walls. change the lower unit oil. pull the prop off to clean and put a little grease on the prop shaft.i also spray the engine area with WD40 as a drying agent . grease the pivots on the motor,trailer jack, and wheel bearings.be sure that all storage compartments are dry. i leave the batt. in the boat, but plug my onboard chrg. in atleast once a month during the winter.take the prop off of the trolling motor if you have one to check for fishing line on the shaft. if you think you may have a problem with mice where you store it, put some moth balls in it to keep them out.store the motor in the down position to allow all water to drain out. del

[Surface Tension]

Fill the gas tank and treat the gas with Stabil. Hook the motor up to a set of muffs and and run the outboard till the stabilizer has made its way to the carb.
Look at your outboard manufacturers recommended proceeder for fogging.
You guys with older 2 strokes just follow the instructions on the can of the fogging agent.
If you have a 4 stroke change the oil and filter now while the engine is warm.

Lower the outboard, drain and refill the lower gear case. If you had water or the lube was milky refill and get the seals replaced before next season. I store my outboard tilted down so melted snow or rain doesn't go through the prop and into the lower unit and freeze. If you have an I/O store in the down position for the same reason and so the bellows doesn't take the memory of being tilted up..
Start out that long term storage with your batteries fully charged. I take mine into the house and maintain them though out the winter. This and a power inverter is my backup power supply in the house if the power should go out again.

Mouse pruff the boat. Its pretty hard to keep them out but you don't want them to find the Mother Load of food or nesting material once they get in either. I use moth balls in every compartment, every nook and cranny that looks like a good place for a mouse to hole up in.
Heres a thread with some Mouse Talk.
http://fishingminnesota.com/ubb/Forum9/HTML/002711.html

I take all the electronics into the house. I believe Minn Kota recommends storing their motors in a warm place as well.

[This message has been edited by Surface Tension (edited 10-06-2004).]

[Rick]

Here is some good information:

http://fishingminnesota.com/fishinfo4.html

[kato811]

thanks guys for all the good info im a 1st time boat owenr an dint know were to start . i was a mechanic so knew i could get it done if i knew what to do. btw i think i put it away way to soon this year. lol

[fishin789]

If you don't want your boat smelling like moth balls get some spearmint gum and put that in the compartmens. mice don't like mint. or get some mint extract and put that around.Way better smell then moth balls.

[Corey Bechtold]

Don't Winterize your boat, keep it ready for some open water and take it down to the river. This is a nice break from drilling holes and pulling fish through a hole in the ice. Also, your boat is then ready for spring!

Go get em'

Corey Bechtold

[CrappieJohn]

Atta boy, Corey!

[Navigator]

I'm with ya'....or as Chris Tucker says, "Oh hell no!" to winterizing the boat.

[EBass]

So if you don't winterize do you drain and replace the lower unit lube each time? I just changed mine then went on the sippi twice. I'm wondering if it's good to go or should I replace it again.

Also, does anyone store their boat/trailer on blocks?

[Surface Tension]

Ebass, no need to drain the lower unit oil again unless it had water in it. Just tip the outboard down to drain the water that gets trapped.

[EBass]

I think water seeps (spelling?) in there, but not much. I finally bought a little pump for the lower unit lube. All I can say is why didn't I buy that a long time ago. Those squeeze tubes are history